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Article: Vitamin C-Rich Foods Help Fend Off Heart Disease, Cancer--Even Scurvy.
- Article from:
- Environmental Nutrition
- Article date:
- October 1, 2000
- Author:
CopyrightCOPYRIGHT 2000 Belvoir Media Group, LLC. This material is published under license from the publisher through the Gale Group, Farmington Hills, Michigan. All inquiries regarding rights should be directed to the Gale Group. (Hide copyright information)
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Scurvy? Isn't that the disease 16th century British sailors developed at sea before they learned to take fruits and vegetables along for the ride? Yes. Sailors developed bleeding gums, loose teeth, muscle weakness and eventually death due to a lack of vitamin C in the diet. Since the early 1900's, scurvy has been relatively unheard of in the U.S. This summer, however, the medical community was stunned by a report of a five-year-old boy who developed scurvy from eating a diet of Pop-Tarts, cheese pizza, biscuits and water for five months.
A dramatic example, to be sure, but this simple case points out how important it is to get vitamin C every day. The body doesn't ...