Stone, Irwin

The American biochemist Irwin Stone and Linus Pauling believed that humans inability to make their own vitamin C helped explain not only why they need it in their diet but also why they need so much of it. Twenty-five million years ago, Pauling theorized, a primate ancestor lived in an area where the local fruits and vegetables were particularly rich in vitamin C. In this environment, a mutation eliminating the ability to make vitamin C, perhaps through the loss of a needed enzyme, would not be fatal. There would be enough vitamin C in the diet to make up for it. 

Photo 39 Linus Pauling with Dr. Irwin Stone, who first interested him in studying the nutritional benefits of large intakes of vitamin C. Photo taken in 1973. 

Review of The Healing Factor Vitamin C Against Disease by Irwin Stone. 

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