Nathan Lents: Why Human Have Such a Needy Diet

[jongarvey]

I’ll have to make do with lager and lime (washed down with proper English ale)

[T_aquaticus]

@Ashwin_s

Other mammals that don’t produce vitamin C such as guinea pigs, and bats also have a similar mechanism as per the paper… Shared ancestry perhaps???

There were independent mutations that “broke” the vitC gene differently in each lineage.

The GLO gene of anthropoid primates has lost seven of the twelve exons found in functional vertebrate GLO genes, whereas the guinea pig has lost its first and fifth exon as well as part of its sixth exon.
Drouin et al., 2011

[T_aquaticus]

@jongarvey

But beer prevents scurvy, doesn’t it?

A good belgian white ale with an orange wedge could do the trick.

[jongarvey]

At least we’ve proved that supplements are for wimps…