We are all dietetic sinners; only a small percent of what we eat nourishes us; the balance goes to waste and loss of energy.

Osler’s remark frames overeating and dietary excess as a near-universal moral and physiological failing: most people consume far more than the body can use, so the “balance” is squandered as waste and as a drain on vitality. The phrase “dietetic sinners” blends medical observation with ethical language, typical of late-19th/early-20th-century health rhetoric that linked moderation to character. The underlying point is pragmatic rather than ascetic—food is meant to nourish, and when intake exceeds need, digestion and metabolism become burdensome, diminishing energy rather than supplying it. In a quotations context, it functions as an early, memorable critique of dietary inefficiency and indulgence.