Linda,
I also thought how horrible it must have been to be on the "white rice" ship! That's the sort of experiment on humans that would certainly not be allowed today!
I used to think that, although I'm not the healthiest eater in the world, I certainly was getting all the vitamins and minerals I needed. WRONG! I was recently diagnosed with a Vitamin D deficiency and put on prescription supplements. The doctor told me that in some cases an individual's metabolism just doesn't process all ingested vitamins and minerals as it should, making supplements necessary.
Who knew? Not me!