8A2 Vitamins and minerals
Who was James Lind?
In 1746 he investigated a cure for scurvy aboard HMS
Salisbury.
He chose 12 sailors sick with scurvy and gave each pair either:
• a quart of cider a day;
• a medicine containing the acid, vitriol, three times a day;
• a spoonful of vinegar three times a day;
• a half pint of sea water every day;
• an orange and a lemon every day;
• one pill containing garlic, mustard seed, balsam and myrrh every
day.
He observed the sailors every day for a week.
Only the sailors given citrus fruits showed any improvements.
All about vitamins
Vitamin
What is it used for?
Deficiency
disease
A
Vision, healthy skin
Night-blindness
B1
Healthy nerves,
release of energy
from cells
Beri-beri
C
Cell processes,
absorbing iron
Scurvy
D
Absorbing calcium
and making bones
Rickets
What foods
contain it?
Milk, cheese, oily
fish, carrots, dark
green vegetables
Whole-grain
cereals, yeast,
nuts, egg, liver,
peas, beans
Oranges,
lemons,
tomatoes,
blackcurrants
Oily fish, milk,
butter, eggs
All about minerals
Mineral
What is it used
for?
Deficiency
disease
What foods
contain it?
Calcium
Bones, teeth,
nerve cells
Rickets
Cheese, milk,
sardines,
chocolate, bread,
spinach
Iron
In red blood
cells, releasing
energy
Anaemia
Liver, meat,
eggs, cereals,
apricots,
spinach, cocoa
Who was FG Hopkins?
• FG Hopkins fed some rats on a diet of protein,
carbohydrate and fat.
• To some he also gave a small amount of milk each
day.
• Here is a graph of his results:
RDAs of vitamins and minerals
RDAs of vitamins and minerals (in milligrams, mg)
Vitamin A
Vitamin B1
Vitamin C
Vitamin D
Calcium
0.8
1.4
60
0.05
800
Iron
14
Do you know what RDA means?
Recommended daily allowance
Deficiency diseases
Match the deficiency disease to the food that will prevent
it. Click to reveal the answers.
rickets
cereals
anaemia
oranges
beri-beri
carrots
scurvy
liver
night-blindness
milk