15/05/2026
Great post on Vitamin C using science-based evidence!
The thing with science is that we need to accept that science is never “settled” or set in concrete, as better science can come along and dispel old myths from bad science. Science is about questioning current or popular beliefs, and even questioning accepted science!
If anyone, even in authority on a particular topic or health condition or science, says “the science is settled”, then it shows that they don’t understand science and they have a very closed mind to new science or alternative theories or evidence which may better explain the causes of something.
There are so many examples of changing beliefs, changing theories or even alleged “facts” on many topics of health and nutrition in the last 100 years, including the following:
1. Saturated fat and cholesterol causes heart disease – no it doesn’t!
2. Salt causes high blood pressure and heart disease – no it doesn't!
3. Fatty foods cause weight gain, diabetes and heart disease – it doesn’t!
4. Red meats and animal foods cause cancer - no they don’t!
5. Low calorie foods and low fat foods are healthier – no they aren’t!
6. And there’s many more examples.
One popular belief in nutrition is that vitamin C prevents scurvy, a terrible disease of many body tissues quite literally falling apart, as vitamin C is needed to make collagen. Low collagen production leads to poor connective tissue integrity and repair, tissue weakness including of blood vessels and skin, leading to a lot of symptoms.
In a recent interview on the ABC with a “food scientist” made unfounded and disproved claims that animal foods and a carnivore diet is dangerous, because it can lead to scurvy, high cholesterol and heart disease, digestive issues, and more health issues (ABC, 2022). None of these claims are true! It’s a big concern when someone who claims to be a health/nutrition expert makes ridiculous claims on Australia’s taxpayer funded (and federal government mouthpiece) news channel to a lot of people.
Vitamin C is believed to be the prevention and cure for scurvy, mostly found in sailors on long journeys, which and the “cure” was allegedly found only as recent as 1930. But it’s not well known that red meats and animal foods DO contain vitamin C too! More so in grass-fed and wild caught animal meats than from grain-fed meats.
With scurvy being an issue of a lack of collagen production, vitamin C is NOT the only nutrient needed to make collagen! Collagen is a PROTEIN, so sufficient protein is also needed in the diet! Zinc and copper are also needed to make collagen. So scurvy CANNOT possibly be just an issue of a vitamin C deficiency! With citrus fruits containing no protein or zinc or copper (or next to none), it’s also not possible for citrus fruits to be the prevention or cure for scurvy!
Fresh meat, especially grass-fed and wild caught, does have some vitamin C, albeit not as much as citrus fruit. That is why Inuits who live north of the Arctic Circle and tribes like the Massai in Africa who eat almost exclusively animal-based diets don’t get scurvy. In Napoleonic times, soldiers also contracted scurvy on long journeys and wars, and fresh horse meat was used instead as the cure! Not from lemons or limes!
Vitamin C degrades and reduces due to cooking, microwaving, processing and in aged or preserved foods. But the sailors of old times who were more susceptible to scurvy were more likely to develop scurvy on long voyages from a lack of FRESH foods which included meats for protein and zinc and copper to make collagen. Hence why people who have been carnivores for years don’t develop scurvy! The alleged “nutrition scientist” on the ABC is absolutely wrong!
Question everything! (Unlike the alleged nutrition scientist who clearly hasn’t questioned anything)
Stay healthy!
References:
ABC. (2022). Nutritionist warns carnivore diet may be harmful long-term. Retrieved 14th May 2025 from https://music.youtube.com/podcast/xLJDxrWTZ9w
