It wasn't that he juiced it at room temperature, it was boiling the juice to form an extract that destroyed the vitamin C, and rendered the extract ineffective. Vitamin C is destroyed by high temperatures.
Vitamin C is also destroyed be being exposed to air. So room temperature air will destroy Vitamin C and so will heating it. The Vitamin C must protected from air and heat until you consume it.
The science might be good but the history is dubious. James Lind was a surgeon, not a captain and he was dead by 1794. The battle of Trafalgar was 1805. The treatise was published in 1753.
According to wikipedia, an orange has more like 50 mg of vitamin C rather than just a few. It is listed in terms of mass, and oranges have much the density of water, and a range of sizes are given. Limes have about half that much. Lemons are similar to oranges. Grapefruit has the same amount per volume as limes, but they're much bigger, which should more than even things out with oranges. Linus Pauling claimed that Vitamin C could cure the common cold and lots of other things (cough, cough, cancer, cough). I've felt that it made a difference for colds with pink grapefruit. But if it *is* a real effect and not just placebo, it's not likely vitamin C. Perhaps there's something else in there. It's not much of an effect. Drinking half a gallon (2 liters) of water every day is better. Room temperature water is easier to drink than cold. For the record, i prefer the light blue double strength (and therefore extra expensive) placebo, except when i'm in Italy. en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Orange_(fruit)
Thank God for Khan Academy. It is about time to bring back free education! Our founding fathers wanted everyone to be educated. This is one of the main reason to live. We educated our selves since the day we are born. It is a never stopping thing we do. It is so fun! I really enjoy listen to Khan Academy.
I find it unlikely that Lind would have tried a controlled experiment like that on nuns. Particularly since it was inferred that he went so far as to see those afflicted die of scurvy. Imagine him writing this up then publishing it. A literal confession to committing murder. He would have had, at will, a large population of sailors, afflicted with scurvy, aboard any ship that spent a long time at sea which would be common in the age of sail. He would not be blamed for the scurvy nor if sailors died during the experiment since that was a common occurrence anyway. Even making a link between fresh fruit and curing scurvy, it didn't tell him what it was nor how environmental factors would affect it.
A large percentage of the lit and physics students at my college (about 400 students total, very small school) developed scurvy. I laughed so hard at all of them. Apparently that is what happens when you eat nothing but ramen noodles while doing schoolwork/video games pretty much literally 24/7. :p
The officers didn't seem to get scurvy perhaps from the wine they drank. Did it suit them to have some of there crew dead on the way back so as not to pay them.
Brenda Kern A medium-size orange is approximately 2 1/2 inches in diameter and weighs approximately 130 grams, or a little more than 4.5 ounces. You'll get nearly 70 milligrams of vitamin C from a medium orange. If you find bigger oranges that are 3 inches in diameter and weigh approximately 185 grams or 6.5 ounces, you'll get almost 100 milligrams of the vitamin. healthyeating.sfgate.com/many-mgs-vitamin-c-medium-oranges-6455.html
+Brenda Kern Yeah, the bloke doesn't know what he is talking about, there is more than a few mg of vitamin c in an orange, and it's more potent as a vitamin than the synthetic form. The synthetic form has anti oxidant capacity, but less vitamin activity. Both will prevent scurvy though. Caffeine and alcohol and other diuretics can increase the need for vitamin c, as it is lost through increased urination.
+Brenda Kern Yeah, the bloke doesn't know what he is talking about, there is more than a few mg of vitamin c in an orange, and it's more potent as a vitamin than the synthetic form. The synthetic form has anti oxidant capacity, but less vitamin activity. Both will prevent scurvy though. Caffeine and alcohol and other diuretics can increase the need for vitamin c, as it is lost through increased urination.
Scuvy and Corona both vased in immunue system.And it afects whoes immunesystem like old people.I think plazma and anzime are related also.lemon has vitamin c.
Why did the British Navy only take limes with them? Why not other citrus fruits like oranges, lemons, or grapefruits? Did the limes keep longer, were they more readily available, or do they have the most vitamin C in them?
Too many mistakes: -Vitamin C doesn't degrade instantaneously in contact with air. So no, if you juice it you will still get most of the vitamin, only a minimal part will have degraded. OF course, you cannot let it sit on your kitchen for hours. -Industrial forms of vitamin C/juices are not completely degraded when they reach the consumers, if it was so everybody nowadays would have scurvy. Most people have terrible diets based on junk food. Luckily many of these foods have added vitamin c. That's why not even homeless people nowadays develop scurvy, they do not buy fresh fruits from whole foods. -Oranges do not contain a couple mgs of Vit C. They contain a lot more. Pills contain 500mgs or more, excessive but useful to treat people with deficiency.
Seriously, kid, you really should go Google that stuff. Get it straight. Stop making a fool of yourself. It was good fun at the start. Why spoil it by getting your knickers in a twist by pretending that this silly story is true? Maybe you believed it for a second. OK: admit it, laugh, and move on. Cheers, -dlj.
Ah yes, a story about something that actually happened isn't true because some guy on the internet says it didn't happen. I am so glad I have the internet to tell me what did and didn't happen to my goddamn friends in college. I definitely would have never known about Pam dating Dan until you came along and told me, David Lloyd Jones. OR WAIT. You didn't tell me. Does that mean... they didn't date? Shit. Fuck, did Mary actually get married or was that a fake rumor wedding we all went to?
Error! It was John Woodall John Woodall (1570-1643) was an English military surgeon, Paracelsian chemist, businessman, linguist and diplomat. He made a fortune through the stocking of medical chests for the East India Company and later the armed forces of England. He is remembered for his authorship of The Surgeon's Mate which was the standard text to advise ships surgeons on medical treatments while at sea and contains an advanced view on the treatment of scurvy.
Sauerkraut helps against Scurvy too, and they had it in the German navy. Hence why Germans are called Krauts. Americans used cranberries to stop scurvy in the past.
It's actually a good idea to take in more Vitamin C than you need. It's cheap, it's almost impossible to overdose, it is excreted quickly and it prevents hangover. Other health benefits are not as strong, but if you do a lot of sports, you might need more Vitamin C.
@sleep1iopen I'm not sure how you came to that conclusion. The Doc and Sal said that the definition of vitamins, including vitamin C, are molecules that the body can not create or synthesize, so we must get them from food or pills, or it's the scurvy for you my friend!
I enjoy history, so I'm a huge fan of Khan academy. I enjoy British history in particular. However I have doubts about Limes 'winning' the battle of Trafalgar. There is a powerful consensus on British naval leadership being very good, and their tactics being superior. British naval supremacy may have been helped through better nutrition, but if fruit was the deciding factor - the British would not have been able to maintain their dominance at sea for the next 100 or so years.
So if they're healthy and not diseased they're going to make better decisions and think more clearly. Maybe correlation doesn't equal causation here but it certainly was a factor.
@djmussy18 These were students who were extremely, extremely intelligent and also hardcore into video games. :p Their life was essentially "work, video games, WORK. MOAR VIDEO GAMES. OMG MOAR WOOOOORK... video games"
@lastchancemst1 It's more likely he asked him to elaborate on scurvy out of concern that there might be a viewer who didn't know what scurvy was. Also, I know what scurvy is from general knowledge, but it was never covered in my high school.
I really appreciate Khan as it brings me up to speed with university science. I start really basic during my university holidays and build up - easy, enjoyable and inspires me to keep learning. This one came up in my university readings. Thank you for making science, and history, interesting - and free too.
Again, you dramatically overestimate your ability to discern fiction from nonfiction. This is a pretty common trait in humans, but you are really bringing it to the next level by injecting your own personal pride into the mix.
Yes, built into tuition. One meal a day. You could pay more for either 2 or 3 meals per day, but 1 per day was free. And they still managed to get scurvy.