Vitamins & for Anders "Reasons to be cheerful" .... (and in the tune to Ian Dury) ......

Puts a whole new meaning to the notion of "Reason's to be cheerful"....

Well, you will all be glad to hear that my hayfever seems to be getting under control! The skys in Scotland have opened up to flights, therefore I am assuming that most of the ash has dispersed (up my nose)!

To continue on the track of things that can go wrong with us, and remind us of why we should take vitamins and eat healthily - here is what I think is a fantastic chart which Anders & I found in upstate New York in a town called Andes (a town very appropriately named for our Anders who is a huge fan of vitamins). We bought it a couple of years ago and as I write, I hear Andrew who has just handed me my daily dose of vitamins saying (he knows what I am writing about) "you have to love the vitamins, I love vitamins"! The chart is from 1942 and reminded me of something Damian Hurst would have done when he was in his pharmacy phase and thought you might like it too, so in the interests of sharing..... NB I particularly like the pictures that depict the normal and deficiency! If you tap on the pictures they will increase in size so you enjoy them even more....

Vitamin A (carotene)- you get from shark liver oil, carrots, butter & eggs. If you don't take it you will get night blindness, skin & membrane irritations, tooth decay and your tactile senses dulled.

Vitamin B1 (thiamin chloride) - you get from many vegetables, grain, yeast, eggs, nuts, pork, legumes and enriched bread. If you don't take it you will get fatigue, loss of appetite, moodiness, fear, nervousness, beri-beri.

Vitamin B (ribo flavin) - many vegetables, grain, yeast, liver, eggs, kidney, pork, dried milk and enriched bread. If you don't take it you will get sores around mouth and nose, impaired eyesight, low skin vitality, disturbances in respiration of body cells.

Vitamin B (pantothenic acid) - many vegetables, yeast, liver, eggs, milk. If you don't take it you will get skin diseases, impaired growth, effect on man not fully established (back in 1942 anyway)!

Vitamin B (nicotinic acid) - some vegetables, yeast, liver, some fish, eggs, milk and enriched bread. If you don't take it you will get pellagra, black tongue in dogs.

Vitamin C (ascorbic acid) - citrus fruits, strawberries, tomatoes, found in some extent in all green vegetables. If you don't take it you will get rickets, tooth decay and tetany (muscle spasms).

Vitamin E - cotton seed oil, lettuce, water cress, wheat germ and wheat germ oil. If you don't take it you will have sterility, neuromuscular diseases, significance in humans not fully established (again in 1942).

Bet you can't wait to read my next blog?!!!