Question: Ton Hanks spends 4 years on the island, subsisting on nothing more than rainwater, coconuts, and fish. It's not shown, but possibly he might have caught some birds, too. He lost weight on that diet, but wouldn't the lack of certain vitamins and nutrients given him scurvy, pellagra, beri-beri to the point of death? (Scurvy takes just a few weeks to set in.).
Join the mailing list
Separate from membership, this is to get updates about mistakes in recent releases. Addresses are not passed on to any third party, and are used solely for direct communication from this site. You can unsubscribe at any time.
Check out the mistake & trivia books, on Kindle and in paperback.
Answer: Scurvy is prevented by Vitamin C, middle aged coconuts have Vitamin C in them, so that's scurvy prevented. Pellagra is mainly caused by malnutrition, but a diet consisting of fish, water and coconuts would be enough to prevent that, because middle aged coconuts also have vitamins A and B. Beri Beri is a result of a lack of vitamin B and thiamin, Fish have vitamin B necessary to keep Beri Beri at bay.
GalahadFairlight