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From: scw@cepu.UUCP (Stephen C. Woods)
Newsgroups: net.cooks,net.flame
Subject: Re: Re: Truth in Advertising?
Message-ID: <415@cepu.UUCP>
Date: Mon, 26-Nov-84 15:59:42 EST
Article-I.D.: cepu.415
Posted: Mon Nov 26 15:59:42 1984
Date-Received: Thu, 29-Nov-84 05:32:43 EST
References: <2559@dartvax.UUCP> <642@watdcsu.UUCP> <1245@utah-gr.UUCP> <2804@ucbcad.UUCP>
Reply-To: scw@cepu.UUCP (Stephen C. Woods)
Organization: VA Wadsworth Med. Center; LA CA
Lines: 14
Xref: sdcrdcf net.cooks:1129 net.flame:3467
Summary: 

In article <2804@ucbcad.UUCP> faustus@ucbcad.UUCP writes:
>What I've always wondered is why the closer to the equator people live, the
>darker their skin tends to be. It seems that in the interests of maintainting
>a reasonable body temperature, it should be just the opposite.

Actually it's to help regulate the amount of vitamin D produced (the human body
produces vitamin D with the help of sunlight). Peoples whose diet includes large
amounts of vitamin D (Eskimos, Lapps, and some Northern Canadian Indian tribes)
also have relativly large amounts of menalin in their skins in spite of living
at high latitudes.
-- 
Stephen C. Woods (VA Wadsworth Med Ctr./UCLA Dept. of Neurology)
uucp:	{ {ihnp4, uiucdcs}!bradley, hao, trwrb}!cepu!scw
ARPA: cepu!scw@ucla-cs location: N 34 3' 9.1" W 118 27' 4.3"