2024 Author: Jasmine Walkman | [email protected]. Last modified: 2023-12-16 08:29
The year is 1499. The Portuguese navigator Vasco da Gama sailed back home after his first expedition to India. However, the fate of his crew is far from good. Of the 170 sailors, only 54 returned to Gama. A total of 116 people fell ill and died on board from scurvy. The reason is the lack of fresh food of plant and animal origin.
Ignorance at the time about the diseases and biochemistry of the human body led to these unfortunate events, because after the cargo from India there was a cure.
Scientists later called this mild antiscorbutic factor. They found that it is found in fresh nutrients and especially in lemons and oranges.
Until 1928, the chemical structure of antiscorbutic factor was unknown, but speculation began that it was a water-soluble vitamin. Various experiments have been done over the centuries, but they have often been unsuccessful in animals. Therefore, scientists believed that scurvy is an entirely human disease.
The truth was in the synthesis of vitamin C. Unlike humans, most animals can synthesize this vitamin on their own. We must receive it from external sources in ready form.
Like fat-soluble vitamins, vitamin C does not contain an amino group or even a nitrogen atom. However, it is indispensable for humans. It is involved in the synthesis of collagen, carnitine and some neurotransmitters. It also prevents the oxidation of iron and copper, and affects the electronic transport of eight different enzymes.
It is contained in high concentrations and in the cells associated with our immune system. It is not yet known how vitamin C interacts with it, but scientists know that in infections the vitamin is quickly depleted.
Therefore, it is good for colds and other diseases to strengthen our body with larger amounts of ascorbic acid. It is found in large quantities in acerola, rose hips, peppers, parsley, citrus fruits, kiwi, broccoli. It is also found in some animal products such as beef and beef liver, oysters, cod caviar, in almost all lamb trifles and some types of milk.
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