re: #48 emcesq
Fairly recently there was an article in Scientific American on the latest findings regardin vitamin D (which is really a complex) and its influence on calcium absorption and other processes that just now are becoming understood. UV radiation required to make vit. D. Melanin in the skin protects against UV radiation. Not enough UV absorbed >> not enough vit. D >> problems (including rickets). That would be one of the reasons why peoples living in higher lattitudes lost their melanin (!?).
Plausible explanation to me. Remedy: along with their bible, people ought to read SciAm!!! But again who needs a balancing view and besides as someone said ‘science is hard’.
/just in case…
This is why we have “fair maiden” and “tall, dark, and handsome”. These cliches tie in to a genetic reality: in any given climate, there is an ideal skin tone, striking the perfect balance between dark, for protection from the sun, and light, for calcium.
But at that perfect tone, there is a split. Women need more calcium because they nurse the babies. So the ideal woman is lighter than the ideal man, and vice versa.