Technically known as vitamin C deficiency, this is one of the oldest known nutritional disorders. Vitamin C is required for the formation of collagen, an important ingredient in most tissues. When you don't get enough, your body starts to become more fragile; you get bleeding gums, loose teeth, sore, stiff joints, internal bleeding, and anemia. Sailers often got scurvy when they went out to sea for months, and subsided on only fish and stored meat and bread, which do not contain much vitamin C.

Although the condition was known for centuries, it was not connected to nutrition until 1753, when the Naval Surgeon James Lind noted that Scurvy could be treated and cured by drinking the juice of oranges, lemons and limes. Captain James Cook was one of the first captains to insist on a diet that included orange extract, with the notable(at the time) result that none of his crew died of the disease during his explorations (But he did encounter several other diseases during his voyages that did the job quite handily).

To prevent scurvy, eat foods with lots of vitamin C. To cure scurvy, eat even more foods with lots of vitamin C.

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