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Scurvy was common on long ship voyages in the past, in the dystopic world this may become a serious threat. Seeing as how you would become weakened, and maybe even pass out, in the advanced stages your teeth will fall out as your gums rot, and bleed. You can avoid this by taking vitamins, and trying your best to ration your food to get in vitamins C, and D at least once a day. This could be pretty nasty if not taken care of.
Some people wrestle with their personal demons.
I stabbed mine in the back of the head.
...He was a bleeder. |
Rosehips are a great source of vitamin C, as well as sumac. I know these are in MN, what do people have in other parts of the world?
All that needs to be said is this: FIRE = BAD
Most English teas, especially Earl Grey, contain a lot of Vitamin C & D. They are also extremely relaxing, so all the better for the stressed out zombie killer. After all, stress breeds paranoia, paranoia breeds hyperactivity, and hyperactivity often means an itchy trigger finger
Bury deep, pile on the stones
Yet I will, dig up the bones
I don't think we have those here in Florida. At least not many. Our best bet is to raid Wal-Mart pharmacy for Vitamin C pills. I would go to a hospital, but I'm sure that would end badly. Small clinics normally refer you to eckerds for prescriptions and vitamins, so that's out. Guess I'll stick with wheat bran products. It's exactly like Raisin Bran down here, except without the raisins.
Some people wrestle with their personal demons.
I stabbed mine in the back of the head.
...He was a bleeder.
Dude. You're in Florida. Even if there were no farmers, there would still be some oranges. If not oranges, there are plenty other tropical fruit that grows in your area that is chock full of vitamins.
All that needs to be said is this: FIRE = BAD
Beleive it or not there aren't fruit trees everywhere in florida. The tropical regions are to the south, where I live it still gets lower than 60 in winter.
Some people wrestle with their personal demons.
I stabbed mine in the back of the head.
...He was a bleeder.
Don't lie to me, I know Florida is filled with mangrove swamps and fruit trees...and apparently old people and naked people. Good times.
Seriously though, there are bound to be fruits (wild) that have good amounts of vitamin C, though I admit to some ignorance for tropical or subtrocpical regions.
If all else fails, move north or south.
All that needs to be said is this: FIRE = BAD
We could start growing orange trees in this area if we had a safe place to do it, but they would never be very big, and wouldn't produce much fruit. To the south, I would go there, but it has a much larger population than northern florida. I think I'd take my chances up north.
Some people wrestle with their personal demons.
I stabbed mine in the back of the head.
...He was a bleeder.
Excellent post here, something most people don't think a whole lot about! Many of your vitamins will come from fresh foods, if you can grow them safely. seasonal wild greens will get a person through many of the worries, Dandilions in spring, wild onions et al, but the amount that must be gathered is the problem, which is why ancient man was so short and had so many bone and teeth issues. Once we started farming beyond local produce and opening up trade routes, that was when humans began to get bigger, be healthier and live longer, we were adding vitamins to our diet as well as expanding our cuisine.
In a dystopic world, I'm afraid once the trade stops, our life span, our general health will go with it, so we must find a way to circumvent the problem. For a while, bottled vitamins will suffice, but eventually, we will have to find other alternatives. And that simply means growing food and trading for those things we can not produce. Our other problem will be the hardiness of the current crops, which are designed more for mass production than for ability to survive harsh conditions. Todays crops require LOTS of maintainence and care, something that would not be very useful in a world such as what we are talking about here. We would have to start to bring back the Heirloom crops, have a seed sharing program of those that are best suited very little care and harsher conditions, since weed control will be limited.
Wild friuts, greens and such will be a mainstay for many, and hopefully, we'll be able to keep communications and trade open to an extent for the rest. Get to know what grows local to you, and you should be fine.
Doc
Believe me, scurvy isn't really a problem. It only affected people who took long voyages on minimal food- people have learned to cope with it. Hell, native Americans learned to chew oak bark or brew it into tea during the winter. Any where you go where there is food or plant life, there will be ways to stave off scurvy. It shouldn't be a problem.
Be afraid. Hogan is worse than any zombie.
Pirates used to store lemons on board their ships to fight off scurvy because lemons are also high in vitamin c. However, not as tasty as oranges, lemons held a lot longer. So why hasn't anybody suggested their use in yet? They may be sour, but with a little bit of sugar (something everyone should carry either in their med. kit or back pack due to not only it's preservative quality, but also its healing properties when used on wounds)lemons are not that bad. Just food for thought.
"They drew first blood not me..." (Stallone in Rambo: First Blood)
