#also the tingling tongue that op's mom mentioned sounds more like a B12 deficiency (which can take years to show up)

[kris-mage-fics]

[Obligatory disclaimer: I'm not a nutritionist, I'm just a nerd who's studied nutrition on and off for 27 years. I apologize if this ends up sounding condescending or frustrated, I'm not trying to be, I'm just upset that no one is taught nutrition in school. Also, I don't blame people for not learning about it on their own when there are so many other things that they have to deal with.] Just so y'all know, you aren't going to get scurvy if you stop using dairy milk and eating sugary cereal. Why? Because neither of them contain Vitamin C, nor are they fortified with Vitamin C. Just look at the nutrition labels, and read the ingredients and you won't find ascorbic acid is one of them. Also, a lot of commercial plant milks are fortified with Vitamins A & D, just like dairy milk is, as well as Calcium. So in most cases if you use plant milk you aren't getting less vitamins and minerals.

Some facts about Vitamin C: - Vitamin C is ascorbic acid, I totally understand why folks think it's citric acid but it isn't - There's a buffered form of Vitamin C, calcium ascorbate, which is a lot gentler on the stomach since it's not nearly so acidic (as you might expect, it also provides some calcium) - Vitamin C is very easy to destroy with heat, so fresh fruits and veggies are your best dietary source - Iron is absorbed better when you have Vitamin C in the same meal - Taking Vitamin C supplements when you are sick won't help you get well faster. While it's an important vitamin for the immune system, you need to generally have adequate levels of it to help keep your immune system working - Vitamin C is also really important for making collagen (As someone with a connective tissue disorder, taking Vitamin C has helped me a lot)

my mom spent months wondering why quitting smoking seems to have made her less healthy only to learn that she may have had scurvy