Around 65 million years ago, a meteorite approximately 10 km in diameter sailed through our atmosphere and hit earth in the Yucatan, causing massive tsunamis and fires. A huge dust cloud entered the atmosphere, blocking the sun and causing an “impact” winter. Survival became very difficult, and many species died, including the dinosaurs (except for the avian or bird-like dinosaurs that did survive and evolved into todays birds).
There is evidence that the earliest primates were living at that time. These were very small animals that lived on fruit. There were two types, with one having dry noses and the other group having wet noses. With less fruit available, many of these primates starved. However, there is evidence that a mutation spontaneously occurred among the dry nose primates during that time that knocked out the ability to make vitamin C, and those primates carrying that mutation survived. Our group found that the loss of vitamin C allowed the animals to gain more fat for the same amount of fruit, and this was likely the reason they survived. Later these dry nosed primates went on to evolve into monkeys, apes and humans. In contrast, the wet nosed primates include the lemur and they also survived although with a more limited range.
Today most people with obesity have low vitamin C levels, and there is very good evidence that doses of 500 mg daily can help reduce weight gain, as well as reduce the risk for diabetes and high blood pressure. I recommend 500 mg vitamin C daily as part of the normal diet.