Busted Carrots Help You see in the Dark During World War II 1939 1945 the German military repeatedly bombed the United Kingdom Most German bombing raids happened at night The British used radar to detect German bombers But they The carrots allowed pilots to see in the dark the British said Many people believed the military Carrots earned the reputation for helping people see in the dark did not want the Germans to know about their technology Instead the As early as 490 BCE people believed diet and eyesight were connected It took nearly 1 000 years to learn how Ancient Greek thinker Hippocrates studied night British military claimed pilots were eating The British lots of carrots military said carrots helped pilots see in the dark 9 189 International units of vitamin A in 0 5 cup 227 g of raw carrots The British military said pilots ate carrots to improve their night vision Vitamins were discovered in foods in the early 1900s Vitamin A is used to make retinal which helps people see in dim light
A half cup of carrots gives you enough vitamin A for the day blindness People with night blindness cannot see in dim light Hippocrates thought eating raw liver could cure it Eating liver seemed to make night blindness go away Until the twentieth century nobody understood why In the early 1900s scientists studied the chemicals in foods Researchers suspected food contained unidentified nutrients In 1912 biochemist Casmir Funk identified substances in food He called them vital amines The vitamin A The vitamin A in liver and substances were later called other foods cures night blindness vitamins Liver contains lots of Carrots contain beta carotene a nutrient the body turns into vitamin A Your eyes need GEORGE WALD vitamin A to make retinal Retinal In 1932 New York doctor George Wald dissected 300 frog eyes He tested them to learn about the is a chemical It allows people to see in dim light Without getting enough beta carotene people might have trouble seeing in dim light But no amount of carrots chemicals inside He discovered the part of the eye called the retina contains vitamin A He will make human eyes see in confirmed a lack of vitamin A causes night blindness total darkness Eating carrots does not improve other eye problems either
Busted Vitamin C Prevents Colds By the time he won the Nobel Peace In 1970 people trusted the famous Prize in 1962 Linus Pauling was a scientist s advice Pauling conducted respected scientist He had also won a study with schoolchildren in the Nobel Prize in chemistry eight Switzerland He concluded that years prior His work in chemistry led taking a vitamin C pill prevents and him to study vitamins He wanted lessens cold symptoms Millions to discover if vitamin C prevented of people have colds C VITAMINS Pauling believed getting enough vitamin C could prevent illness 000
followed Dr Lemons limes and oranges help prevent scurvy Pauling's advice Other scientists tried to find the same evidence They conducted studies in the United States Canada and the Netherlands None of the studies backed up Pauling's findings They did find evidence that eating more produce helps people stay healthy Fruits and vegetables are high in vitamin C But further research fails to show they prevent the SCURVY common cold Before canned and frozen foods 100 were invented sailors got a disease called scurvy Many sailors on long voyages often got the disease They ate only dried meat and bread and got sick or died But sailors who ate citrus Percent of fruits and vegetables that contain vitamin C Pauling won the Nobel Prize in chemistry in 1954 and the Nobel Peace Prize in 1962 In 1970 Pauling found colds could be prevented with vitamin C pills Since 1970 scientists have failed to confirm his findings fruits stayed healthy People knew that eating citrus fruits helped keep scurvy at bay But for hundreds of years they did not know why In the 1930s scientists discovered the vitamin C in citrus fruits prevents scurvy O
