![]() Vitamin D also has immune-modulating roles with potential effects on susceptibility to conditions ranging from multiple sclerosis to tuberculosis and accelerated lung function decline. It has a well described role in calcium metabolism, with deficiency resulting in rickets and osteomalacia. 1 Vitamin D is also found in some foods, particularly oily fish and, in small amounts, in egg yolks, cheese, beef, liver and some mushrooms. ![]() Vitamin D is a fat-soluble, secosteroid hormone, which in humans is largely synthesised in the skin when exposed to ultraviolet light, and is sometimes called “the sunshine vitamin”. While the consensus has been to attribute this to narrative conventions about morality and the necessary happiness of endings, we hypothesised that a major contribution to the defeat of evildoers in this context is their aversion to sunlight and their poor diet, which may lead to vitamin D deficiency and hence reduced martial prowess. Results: The vitamin D score was significantly higher among the good and victorious characters (mean, 3.4 SD, 0.5) than the evil and defeated ones (mean, 0.2 SD, 0.4 P < 0.001).Ĭonclusion: Further work is needed to see if these pilot results can be extrapolated to other fantastic situations and whether randomised intervention trials need to be imagined.Ī striking feature of fantasy literature has been the consistent victory of good characters over bad. Main outcome measures: Goodness and victoriousness of characters were scored with binary scales, and dietary intake and habitual sun exposure were used to calculate a vitamin D score (range, 0–4). We investigate the hypothesis that vitamin D deficiency, caused by both aversion to sunlight and unwholesome diet, could also be a significant contributor to the triumph of good over evil in fantasy literature.ĭesign: Data on the dietary habits, moral attributes and martial prowess of various inhabitants of Middle Earth were systematically extracted from J R R Tolkien’s novel The hobbit. Objective: Vitamin D has been proposed to have beneficial effects in a wide range of contexts. ![]()
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