If a person feels healthy with an adequate intake, then huzzah to that person. My point was -- maybe we can do better than "adequate." Or, maybe "adequate" isn't really "enough" for some people.

Sure, adequate doesn't necessarily equal optimal.

(I still COMMed amych's 'by definition', though, because there nearly was a coffee/monitor incident).

Some think that the "minimum daily requirements" are too low.

Didn't say anything about USDA recommendations. Said "adequate" - which, by definition, means you're getting enough. And that's a complicated picture which can vary in a lot of different circumstances, but we've got a hell of a tendency in this culture to think "I'm getting enough, but 200 times more would be even better!" And we've got a lot of people who love making big money off of marketing to people's susceptibilities.

For example, (IIRC) the minimum daily requirement for vitamin C is the smallest amount you have to eat to avoid scurvy

I'm having a bit of trouble putting my finger on the level of vitamin C that's needed to prevent scurvy -- however, I will note that the recommended amount in the UK is less than half the US or Canada recommendation, so I don't think we're in any great danger over here.

That said, vitamin C is quite harmless in larger doses, so ehh... waste of money is better than toxicity any day.

Bad man! Green beans taste not like ass, but in fact like deliciousness!

You're welcome to any stray ones that make it onto my plate, then. I can only stomach the stuff in soups where the tomato-ey taste of the stock completely masks the beans' actual flavor.

I'm totally tired of scraping ice off my windshield in the morning. This is California! Come on!

I'ma blame this nasty cold winter on you, P-C. You brought it with you when you moved out here.

If a person feels healthy with an adequate intake, then huzzah to that person. My point was -- maybe we can do better than "adequate." Or, maybe "adequate" isn't really "enough" for some people.

I'm sorry, Tep -- I didn't mean to come off as snarky as it looks in retrospect (and didn't even know it was commed). I was going after a different target, which was the idea of "we get enough, but maybe you should go ahead and have WAY MORE" that's implicit in a lot of supplementation arguments. But I mis-aimed.

On edit: Cindy, would you please remove the COMM post? It was (a) not very funny and (b) caused pain to Tep, whom I love.

I'ma blame this nasty cold winter on you, P-C. You brought it with you when you moved out here.

But a friend of mine just moved out of here...TO CANADA. Don't you think he would have cancelled me out?

I was zoning out in front of the TV last night and happened on a Nova doc about this "lost expedition" trying to find the northwest passage through Canada in the 1840s. Two ships, left in like 1845, nobody found alive (though it was hard to look for them), and the forensic stuff done in this century to track what happened.

Turns out, they got stuck in pack ice off some island 600 miles up into the tundra, and managed to survive (some of them) for SIX YEARS in the tundra with no hunting skills, minimal contact with local natives, and not all that much horse sense. The ice never broke around their ships, and they finally set off on land trying to cross 600 miles to the nearest white town, and of course all died off.

The reason they managed to live six years with no hunting skills: canned food. (And some of them resorted to cannibalism.)

Two of the many reasons they didn't live past six years:
1) the food cans were sealed with lead solder, and they all developed lead poisoning
2) lemon juice loses its ascorbic acid content after enough years in a can, and they all developed scurvy
3) the part where they were wandering around on the ice with no idea how to kill seals or fish effectively. Really, it's shocking they lasted as long as they did.

In other health news:

Not surprisingly, getting a lot of concussions may turn out to contribute to, over the long term, migraines, memory problems, and mood disorders. [link] While I am entertaining myself imagining Betsy as a linebacker (and an elegant linebacker she would be), I should think there would be more evidence to this sort of thing outside of professional football. Aren't there other professions (or for that matter hobbies, ita I am looking at you ) that tend to result in multiple concussions, that they could study for evidence? Like race car drivers or boxers or the guys from Jackass or something. Shouldn't this kind of already be proven?

But a friend of mine just moved out of here...TO CANADA.

Hey, P-C is friends... with a Canadian!

Obviously this plot to bring ice and snow to California is more complex than we thought....

Said "adequate" - which, by definition, means you're getting enough.

Enough for what, though? For thriving good health, or just enough to prevent deficiency-related disease?

I'm not shilling for indiscriminate use of massive doses of every vitamin on the shelf. But I think that, for some people (I'd even say "many," though I expect that to be challenged), the fact that their intake is adequate to prevent deficiency-related disease does not equal an intake that supports thriving good health/energy/etc.

On edit: Cindy, would you please remove the COMM post? It was (a) not very funny and (b) caused pain to Tep, whom I love.

Nah, that's not necessary. Seriously. (It *is* a funny exchange; I just didn't like my screed getting derailed b/c of semantics.)