Papers of Dr Hugh Sinclair now available at MERL

Monday, 10 June 2013

Dr Hugh Sinclair teaching

The papers of the nutritionist Dr Hugh Sinclair have been made available at the University's Museum of English Rural Life. The archive will cover not only Dr Sinclair's work as an academic and pioneer in human nutrition, but also his interesting personal life.

The papers provide information on Dr Sinclair's early days in Edinburgh to the running of the International Institute of Human Nutrition from his home in Sutton Courtenay and his time as a visiting Lecturer at the University of Reading (1970-80).

The academic career of Dr Sinclair has had a great impact on us all, due to his pioneering belief that deficiencies in Essential Fatty Acids (EFAs) caused cholesterol and therefore were the main cause of  ‘diseases of civilisation' such as heart disease. Sinclair revealed these views in a controversial letter to medical journal The Lancet, and faced much scepticism and criticism as a result although such ideas are now more widely accepted.

Another notable point in his career is his time spent as director of the Oxford Nutrition Survey (ONS) which carried out nutrition surveys for the Government on a wide range of groups in the UK, such as pregnant women and manual workers. The surveys helped to ensure that ration levels were sufficient for maintaining a healthy population during WWII. The ONS also carried out important work in the British occupied areas of Germany and the Netherlands where people were suffering from malnutrition.

Dr Sinclair's work life and personal life overlapped during his work on the Inuit diet experiment into the importance of long-chain fatty acids of fish oils in decreasing thrombosis. Dr Sinclair existed for 100 days on an Inuit diet which consisted solely of seal, fish and water as part of what can arguably be described as his most famous experiment.

In 1995 the International Nutrition Foundation endowed the University's Department of Food Science and Technology with the proceeds from the late Dr Sinclair's estate, allowing the formation of the Hugh Sinclair Nutrition Unit (HSNU). The University appointed Professor Christine Williams (now Pro-Vice-Chancellor Research as the first Sinclair Professor of Human Nutrition, with Professor Ian Rowland appointed as her successor in 2007.

Professor Ian Rowland, said: "The archive of Dr Sinclair is potentially an extremely valuable, untapped source of data for researchers in the field of nutrition. The ONS surveys were of contemporary importance in ensuring adequate nutrition of the population, but may be of equal significance in the present day."

The Hugh Sinclair Trust at the University of Reading generously funded a project archivist to sort and catalogue the archive. This work is now complete and the papers can be viewed in the reading room at MERL.  Please note that restrictions may apply to some records.

The full catalogue can be found on the University's online catalogue www.reading.ac.uk/adlib/search.aspx  and select the ‘Archives - Museum of English Rural Life' box and search for the catalogue reference D HS.

All enquiries relating to the papers should be sent to merl@reading.ac.uk and information on visiting the reading room can be found at www.reading.ac.uk/merl/visitus/merl-readingroom.aspx