Which of the following vitamins would MOST likely become deficient in a person who develops a completely carnivorous lifestyle?
Correct Answer: Vitamin C
Description: Ascorbic acid (vitamin C) is found in fresh fruits and vegetables. Deficiency of ascorbic acid produces scurvy, the "sailor's disease." Ascorbic acid is necessary for the hydroxylation of proline to hydroxyproline in collagen, a process required in the formation and maintenance of connective tissue. The failure of mesenchymal cells to form collagen causes the skeletal, dental, and connective tissue deterioration seen in scurvy. Thiamine, niacin, cobalamin, and pantothenic acid can all be obtained from fish or meat products. The nomenclature of vitamins began by classifying fat-soluble vitamins as A (followed by subsequent letters of the alphabet such as D, E, and K) and water-soluble vitamins as B. Components of the B vitamin fraction were then given subscripts, e.g., thiamine (B1), riboflavin (B2), niacin , pantothenic acid (B5), pyridoxine (B6), and cobalamin (B12). The water-soluble vitamins C, biotin, and folic acid do not follow the B nomenclature. Ref: Bender D.A. (2011). Chapter 44. Micronutrients: Vitamins & Minerals. In D.A. Bender, K.M. Botham, P.A. Weil, P.J. Kennelly, R.K. Murray, V.W. Rodwell (Eds),Harper's Illustrated Biochemistry, 29e.
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