The Phenomenal Discovery of Vitamins and Citrus Fruits

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Ancient Times
During ancient times, nearly 3300 BCE to 100 CE, many things were being established, for example municipalities and continual cultivation. In Sumaria (in modern Iraq), it was discovered that food, not only allow human beings to stay alive but it has an immense impact on people’s health. This was an introductory concept that influenced the discovery of Vitamins in general. But this notion was probably already known by even earlier medicine experts, at that time called shaman (Jacks, 2007). But in Sumeria and many other regions, this idea was studied in greater detail. Their information was recorded in a writing system called cuneiform, which incorporated different styles of writing; logo syllabic, syllabic and alphabetic scripts (Ancient Scripts, 2012). In 2012, Ancient Scripts stated that this method has been used for the longest period in history. The information was written on clay tablets, called clay tokens, seen in Figure 1.0. There are still some evidence of this type of script but the majority of the exertion on Vitamins cannot be found today (Jacks, 2007). They have been demolished with time or they are still obscured. Furthermore, in Ancient Egypt, certain foods were identified to improve health and recommended to the population. During the 1500 BC, humans already used fruits to treat health problems like scurvy, which was named thousands of years later.
The word scurvy is obtained from the Latin term scorbutus (Scurvy Site, 2014).This disease has affected people since prehistoric ages. It is caused by the insufficiency of Vitamin C and commonly found among people who do not have a diet filled with fresh fruit and vegetables. The symptoms of scurvy consist of; loss of hunger, diarrhea, breathing complica...

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... have a hard time functioning that can eventually result in heart attacks or other problems (Vitamin C's Function, 2014).
Vitamin C is produced in most living animals except for humans, primates and guinea pigs, that is why they can attain scurvy. Other animals, like dogs and cats are able to synthesize their own Vitamin C. But humans cannot perform this because there is a mutation on the l-gulonolactone oxidase gene, therefore Vitamin C cannot be produced.
Ascorbic acid is an extremely vital element that is present in many fruits and vegetables, like oranges, lemons, tomatoes, broccoli and etc. But since it can break down easily with the presence of heat, it can be lost during cooking. That is why most foods have added vitamin C. The recommended daily amount of Vitamin C for adults is between 75mg to 90 mg. However, taking too much of Vitamin C can cause harm.

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