Урок 48: «Early Attempts to Identify Vitamins»

1. Read the text.

The value of eating a certain food to maintain health was recognized long before
vitamins were identified. The ancient Egyptians knew that feeding liver to a person
would help curenight blindness, an illness now known to be caused by a vitamin A
deficiency. The advancement of ocean voyages during the Renaissance resulted in
prolonged periods without access to fresh fruits and vegetables, and made illnesses
from vitamin deficiency common among ships' crews.

In 1747, the Scottish surgeon James Lind discovered that citrus foods helped
prevent scurvy, a particularly deadly disease in which collagen is not properly formed,
causing poor wound healing, bleeding of the gums, severe pain, and death. In 1753,
Lind published his Treatise on the Scurvy, which recommended using lemons and
limes to avoid scurvy, which was adopted by the British Royal Navy. This led to the
nickname Limey for sailors of that organization. Lind's discovery, however, was not
widely accepted by individuals in the Royal Navy's Arctic expeditions in the 19th
century, where it was widely believed that scurvy could be prevented by practicing
good hygiene, regular exercise, and maintaining the morale of the crew while on
board, rather than by a diet of fresh food. As a result, Arctic expeditions continued to
be plagued by scurvy and other deficiency diseases.
During the late 18th and early 19th centuries, the use of deprivation studies allowed
scientists to isolate and identify a number of vitamins. Lipid from fish oil was used to
cure rickets in rats, and the fat-soluble nutrient was called "antirachitic A". Thus, the
first "vitamin" bioactivity ever isolated, which cured rickets, was initially called
"vitamin A"; however, the bioactivity of this compound is now called vitamin D.

2. State which of the sentences are true and which are false:
1. The value of eating a certain food to maintain health was recognized not long before
vitamins were identified.
2. The ancient Egyptians knew that feeding liver to a person would help curenight
blindness, an illness now known to be caused by fat deficiency.
3. The Scottish surgeon James Lind discovered that vegetable foods helped prevent
scurvy.
4. During the late 18th and early 19th centuries, the use of deprivation studies allowed
scientists to isolate and identify a number of vitamins.
Choose the correct statement:
1. The ancient Egyptians knew that feeding ……… to a person would help
curenight blindness.
a) liver b) citrus foods c) spinach d) milk products
2. The advancement of ocean voyages during the Renaissance resulted in prolonged
periods without access to fresh fruits and vegetables, and made illnesses from
………….. deficiency common among ships' crews.
a) water b) meat c) vitamin d) carbohydrate
3. The Scottish surgeon James Lind discovered that citrus foods helped prevent
scurvy, a particularly deadly disease in which ……… is not properly formed.
a) folic acid b) collagen c) retinol d) carotenes
4. Lind published his Treatise on the Scurvy, which recommended using
………….. to avoid scurvy.
a) fish liver b) kidney c) eggs d) lemons and limes
5. The first "vitamin" bioactivity ever isolated, which cured rickets, was initially
called "vitamin A"; however, the bioactivity of this compound is now called
………….
a) vitamin D b) vitamin K c) biotin d) riboflavin