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To: Reeses
The vitamin D theory is popular but some scientists disagree with it. Not all northern populations have light skin and everyone was outdoors so much then that vitamin D deficiency should not have been a major problem.

Arctic natives have darker skin, but they live TOO far north for skin-synthesis of Vitamin D from sunlight to work, so light skin would have had no survival value to them. In the winter they get little or no sunlight, and all year they are covered up enough that they get minimal sun exposure. They get all the vitamins they need from fish and meat.

This also tends to disprove the vegan contention that vegetarianism is the most "natural" diet for humans. It's really hard for humans to get all the nutrients we need from just plants.

76 posted on 07/08/2010 7:03:31 AM PDT by PapaBear3625 (Public healthcare looks like it will work as well as public housing did.)
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To: PapaBear3625
Arctic natives have darker skin, but they live TOO far north for skin-synthesis of Vitamin D from sunlight to work, so light skin would have had no survival value to them.

Harvard medical researchers claim that 92% of American black children and 80% of Hispanic are currently vitamin D deficient. This has little evolutionary effect, they reproduce pretty well. Vitamin D deficiency has some but not much evolutionary pressure. It is insufficient to explain the sudden appearance of white skin. Wouldn't lighter skin have been sufficient to produce vitamin D more efficiently? Pure white skin is cosmetic, and could not have been primarily driven by a minor issue like vitamin D deficiency. The vitamin D theory is neat, tidy, and politically correct, but insufficient in reality. It is not settled science by any means.

83 posted on 07/08/2010 8:16:58 AM PDT by Reeses (Sowcialist: a voter bought with food stamps)
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