A junk food diet of cheese, crackers, soda, cookies, chocolate and water--along with no fruit and vegetables whatsoever--caused a young college student to develop scurvy, a condition brought on by vitamin C deficiency.
Scurvy, which once affected sailors who did not get enough vitamin C in their diets, is characterized by symptoms such as bleeding gums, loose teeth, muscle degeneration and weakness.
Another sign of scurvy is a change in skin color on the legs, which results from bleeding underneath the skin. The student went to the doctor because he was experiencing swelling and bruising on his legs. He was also found to have bleeding gums and a rapid heartbeat.
Although the student was eating enough calories, researchers estimated that his vitamin C intake was about 0.1 milligram per day--well below the 90 milligrams per day recommended daily allowance (RDA) for nonsmoking men. His blood level of vitamin C was found to be at least four-fold below normal range.
He was advised to take a multivitamin and a vitamin C supplement, and after four days of use his symptoms greatly improved. The condition improved further after an additional two weeks of extra vitamin C.
Researchers stressed that people need vitamin C every day, and even though they may be eating enough food, they may not be getting enough vitamin C.
Scurvy occurs more often among the elderly and alcoholics, who often have unbalanced diets. Previous research has shown that although many Americans have low levels of vitamin C, the deficiencies are not enough to cause scurvy.
Factors such as smoking cigarettes and feeling stressed may increase the amount of vitamin C that a person needs, researchers noted.
Annual Meeting of the American Society for Parenteral and Enteral Nutrition in San Antonio, Texas January 22, 2003
The case report described above provides an interesting observation on the health of our youth. Although the report is only one child, it seems reasonable to conclude that many other adolescents are similarly affected.
It is also quite obvious that the solution is not to pop a vitamin C pill. Scurvy is only one of the potentially unlimited health disasters that these kids are risking by choosing to avoid foods that their bodies were designed to eat. They are exchanging their health for convenience and the short-term pleasures of eating sweets and grains.
Not a very good exchange from my perspective.
So, what are some of the other problems that they can expect?
Well, I’d like to share a case history of a 27-year-old man I saw a few weeks ago. Several days prior to the visit, he had developed a severe case of Bell’s Palsy. This is a paralysis of the facial nerve that produces symptoms of facial paralysis. In many ways the symptoms are identical to a stroke. He had the classic symptoms of Bell’s Palsy including:
This is a serious problem as it can lead to irreversible symptoms if not aggressively treated, which is why I elected to see him on an urgent basis. Conventionally, it is thought that the condition results when a viral infection enters the facial canal in the skull and produces a virus-associated immune-mediated inflammatory process in the facial canal that crushes the facial (seventh cranial) nerve and causes it to have an impaired function.
Although it is likely a virus triggered the problem, there is no way a virus was the actual cause. His atrocious diet was.
He ate absolutely no vegetables, and the fluid he drank most often was soda--four cans a day. He lived primarily on breads, potatoes and fast food.
So, we "rescued" him with aggressive therapies of oral steroids and topical DMSO and daily doses of 1mg of vitamin B 12 transdermally. Of course we also gave him irrefutable dietary changes.
This was a wake up call for him, and I hope he will change his diet in the long-term rather than reverting back to his life-shortening habits.
It can be difficult to urge youth to maintain healthy eating habits.
We all have the choice to eat whatever foods we feel fit. I must admit, my passions and energies are clearly aimed toward those who are sincerely seeking the truth and earnestly striving to apply it in their lives. Most of these individuals are horribly confused by the spin that the drug companies and commercial food industry has put on them, and I perceive my role as one to help clear up their confusion and coach them back to health.