I have been reading the Aubrey-Maturin novels, and scurvey was a big problem on sailing ships in the 1800’s. Scurvey (Vitamin C deficiency) is very rare today, because most people have access to fresh fruit and vegetables. My question is: if you live off a diet of fast food, would you come down with scurvey? Is there enough vitamin c in a Big Mac to keep you well?
Every couple of years there’s a newspaper article about some college kid living off of Ramen and Cheez-Its who ends up in the doctor’s office because his teeth fell out.
That said, it doesn’t take a whole lot of ascorbic acid to ward of scurvy. And besides fruits, lots of animal products have vitamin C in them as well, as do many soft drinks.