# Evolution and nutritional needs

**URL:** <https://boards.straightdope.com/t/evolution-and-nutritional-needs/644300>\
**Category:** Factual Questions\
**Created:** [December 17, 2012, 1:26pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/evolution-and-nutritional-needs/644300 "2012-12-17T13:26:49Z")\
**Posts on this page:** 1\
**Page:** 2

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**Author:** ![barbitu8](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/839c29/32.png) [@barbitu8](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/barbitu8)\
**Post date:** [December 18, 2012, 9:24pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/evolution-and-nutritional-needs/644300/21 "2012-12-18T21:24:53Z")

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> [@Quercus](#):
>
> And, I don’t know much about the particular biochemistry of vitamin C, but it’s not completely far-fetched to think that there might be some advantage to getting rid of the gene to synthesize vitamin C. For instance, the enzyme that creates vitamin C might interfere chemically with some other important reactions in the cell, and dropping the vitamin C enzyme might allow the other reactions to be much more efficient in some way.

Dr. Linus Pauling maintained that we lost the ability to synthesize vitamin C because we were getting enough from our foods and synthesizing C would be a waste of energy. (BTW, he didn’t say “vitamin” C because he thought that C is a hormone.)

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