Well, they knew it was tied to sailing, long voyages, and diet. Scurvy became a problem with the age of sail, and even in the 1500's sailors were recommending

Well, they knew it was tied to sailing, long voyages, and diet. Scurvy became a problem with the age of sail, and even in the 1500's sailors were recommending citrus, making pine needle teas, and similar efforts. I think it is amazing that people figured out how to treat and prevent scurvy without a functional understanding of biology, and 300 years before Vitim C was discovered. I think the fact that they DID figure it out supports the theory more than a couple hundred year delay undermines it. How many tens of thousands of years did people have to figure it out?