In possibly the most 2020 showbiz news story of all time, James Blunt has revealed he developed scurvy thanks to eating an all-meat diet. According to, the singer ate meat for two months ‘to wind up his vegan pals’. Probably wasn’t worth the hassle, was it mate?
And it’s probably not surprising that he got the disease — an acute lack of vitamin C — while he was studying at university. He said on Jessie Ware’s Table Manners podcast: 'On the engineering side there were 170 men and only three girls. And then on the sociology side of things there were 170 girls and only three boys.
‘All the girls were vegetarian or vegans. So out of principle I decided I’d become a carnivore and just lived on mince, some chicken, maybe some mayonnaise.' Right! Sounds nutritious. He added:' It took me about six to eight weeks to get very unhealthy and see a doctor who then said, “I think you’ve got the symptoms of scurvy”.’
You've probably heard of scurvy from the times of sailors travelling the high seas, and symptoms include fatigue, bleeding gums and painful joints and muscles. The NHS says: 'Scurvy is caused by not having enough vitamin C in your diet for at least 3 months. Vitamin C is mainly found in fruit and vegetables. Even people who don't eat very healthily all the time aren't usually considered at risk of scurvy.
Anyway, James is fine now, by the way. He cured himself of the disease by drinking a load of orange juice. ‘I took it upon myself to drink orange juice every night — then I nearly developed acid reflux,’ he added.