Pop Crooner James Blunt got scurvy after only eating meat for two months to annoy his vegan mates James Blunt is officially a pirate/sailor and got scurvy because he only ate meat for two months and this is the most James Blunt thing we’ve ever heard.
The You’re Beautiful singer was surrounded by vegetarian and vegan students while he was at university in Bristol. So, as an act of defiance, he decided to live on chicken and mince for eight weeks and pretty soon he started to feel really, really unwell. That’s when he was diagnosed with scurvy – a disease resulting from vitamin C deficiency, most commonly associated with sailors and pirates.
James drank loads of orange juice to get those vitamin C levels back up and almost developed acid reflux. The 46-year-old recounted his ridiculous tale to Jessie Ware as part of her Table Manners podcast. He got scurvy while studying at Bristol University. James, who was studying aerospace manufacturing, engineering and sociology, explained: ‘On the engineering side [of his course] there were 170 men – and only three girls. ‘And then on the sociology side of things there were 170 girls and only three boys, of which all the girls were vegetarian or vegans.
‘So out of principle I decided I’d become a carnivore and just lived on mince, some chicken, maybe with some mayonnaise. ‘And it took me about six to eight weeks to get very unhealthy and see a doctor, who then said “I think you’ve got the symptoms of scurvy”.’ What is scurvy? Scurvy is a disease resulting from a lack of vitamin C (ascorbic acid). Early symptoms of deficiency include weakness, reduced appetite, irritability, feeling tired and sore arms and legs. Without treatment, decreased red blood cells, gum disease, changes to hair, and bleeding from the skin may occur.
Tales from pirates and British sailors made the disease infamous. It was first reported in 1550 BC when people described the diagnosis and treatment using onions and vegetables. The body can’t make vitamin C, so it must be consumed through food and drink or supplements. The disease is easy to treat and eating five portions of fruit and vegetables a day should combat mild symptoms. James went on: ‘[The doctor] said you are really lacking in vitamin C so I took it upon myself to drink orange juice every night – then I nearly developed acid reflux.’
Original article: https://metro.co.uk/