The Age of Scurvy (2017)
sciencehistory.org
sciencehistory.org
https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/193845.Scurvy
But if you’ve read TFA you mightn’t have enough time left to read the book because it’s nearly as long. ;-)
Difficult problem, scurvy, because of the large time between cause and effect. And the cause isn’t even an element - it is a lack.
Difficult!
https://www.amazon.com/Over-Edge-World-Terrifying-Circumnavi...
Just finished it yesterday.. recommended!!
Here's a short list: red/green peppers spinach watercress pok choi kale brussel sprouts chard cabbage peas
Just about any leafy green vegetable.
Heck, they could have ate the weeds growing in someone's garden: Purslane, fireweed, oxalys, and they would've had more than enough vitamin C.
i think it's the nature of being out at sea only eating processed reserves that made them so vulnerable to the disease.
I wonder what diseases we have that are easily counteracted... if we only knew the secret.
we've learned about asbestos and cigarettes, but I'll bet there are a bunch of direct cancer causing things that are still unknown.
Even early covid-19 awareness seemed to be about ventilators and hand-sanitizer. Now its more masks and vitamin D.
I also think that article is unfairly demonizing nicotine. In safe doses, it alone is not bad for you. In many ways it's like coffee; gives you a mild buzz. I'm actually surprised we don't have coffee infused with nicotine yet.
It's hard to do when you are several hundred miles from nearest garden and all you have is some dry biscuits. And this is after several months without a freezer, so all your vegetables with vit c are already consumed or decayed. People on land had access to vegetables and didn't suffer from scurvy that much.
Actually the root cause was not discovered easily due to a number of confounders. In fact it was discovered, then forgotten due to confounders, then eventually "properly" discovered again.
I can't remember the source, but I read somewhere that certain types of plants don't have the necessary vitamin C to protect you, so when ships were loaded with the wrong plant, people thought it must not be that. They spent their time looking at other potential causes before someone narrowed it down.