3 ms·

I think the takeaway is that for anyone who is not vitamin A deficient, eating carrots will do nothing. Vitamin A deficiency certainly causes poor night vision

by teilo 10y ago

I think the takeaway is that for anyone who is not vitamin A deficient, eating carrots will do nothing. Vitamin A deficiency certainly causes poor night vision because the body cannot produce rhodopsin. But no amount of beta carotene will make normal night vision better, and therefore the article is not fake science at all.

omginternets 10y ago
>I think the takeaway is that for anyone who is not vitamin A deficient, eating carrots will do nothing. I imagine that vitamin-A deficiency must have occurred rather frequently under WWII rationing. Perhaps this was a real concern at the time?
- giardini 10y ago
  Vitamin A deficiency is surprisingly common today. An interesting story about Eduard Schwarz, an early doctor/researcher (plus much about vitamin A) is at: http://www.westonaprice.org/health-topics/abcs-of-nutrition/vitamin-a-saga/ http://www.westonaprice.org/health-topics/abcs-of-nutrition/... An Excerpt: "Eduard Schwarz (1831-1862), a ship’s doctor on an Austrian frigate that was sent around the world on a scientific exploration. Before his departure from Vienna, several physicians had asked Schwartz to test the old folk remedy of boiled ox liver against night blindness. On the voyage, 75 of the 352 men developed the condition. Every evening when dusk came, they lost their vision and had to be led about like the blind. Schwartz fed them ox or pork liver and found that the night vision in all of the afflicted was restored." More about Schwarz: http://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S0899900797002037 http://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S0899900797... Should you want to test yourself, a teaspoon of cod liver oil should do the trick. Animal-based versions of vitamin A seem to be more efficacious than their vegetable analogs. Meanwhile eat your liver(mmmm!), fish, carrots and blueberries.
  - teilo 10y ago
    I have experienced reduced night vision to a degree while driving at night. I now take cod liver oil capsules (for other reasons), and have no trouble at all now.
- jcranmer 10y ago
  The Blitz happened in 1940. At this time, the German rations were pretty much the least constrictive of major world powers--certainly better off than the UK ration situation. Germany didn't suffer majorly in food resources until 1944, when it lost the ability to strip France, Ukraine, and Poland of food for its home front. Obviously, if you weren't German, you had a much harder time getting your daily calories, but we're discussing in context of the Blitz, and soldiers in wartime invariably get much higher rations than the general populace.

by teilo 10y ago

omginternets 10y ago

>I think the takeaway is that for anyone who is not vitamin A deficient, eating carrots will do nothing. I imagine that vitamin-A deficiency must have occurred rather frequently under WWII rationing. Perhaps this was a real concern at the time?

giardini 10y ago
Vitamin A deficiency is surprisingly common today. An interesting story about Eduard Schwarz, an early doctor/researcher (plus much about vitamin A) is at: http://www.westonaprice.org/health-topics/abcs-of-nutrition/vitamin-a-saga/ http://www.westonaprice.org/health-topics/abcs-of-nutrition/... An Excerpt: "Eduard Schwarz (1831-1862), a ship’s doctor on an Austrian frigate that was sent around the world on a scientific exploration. Before his departure from Vienna, several physicians had asked Schwartz to test the old folk remedy of boiled ox liver against night blindness. On the voyage, 75 of the 352 men developed the condition. Every evening when dusk came, they lost their vision and had to be led about like the blind. Schwartz fed them ox or pork liver and found that the night vision in all of the afflicted was restored." More about Schwarz: http://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S0899900797002037 http://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S0899900797... Should you want to test yourself, a teaspoon of cod liver oil should do the trick. Animal-based versions of vitamin A seem to be more efficacious than their vegetable analogs. Meanwhile eat your liver(mmmm!), fish, carrots and blueberries.
- teilo 10y ago
  I have experienced reduced night vision to a degree while driving at night. I now take cod liver oil capsules (for other reasons), and have no trouble at all now.
jcranmer 10y ago
The Blitz happened in 1940. At this time, the German rations were pretty much the least constrictive of major world powers--certainly better off than the UK ration situation. Germany didn't suffer majorly in food resources until 1944, when it lost the ability to strip France, Ukraine, and Poland of food for its home front. Obviously, if you weren't German, you had a much harder time getting your daily calories, but we're discussing in context of the Blitz, and soldiers in wartime invariably get much higher rations than the general populace.