NEED TO KNOW
Arianna Erixson experienced severe scurvy symptoms as a child due to a lack of proper nutrition, she tells PEOPLE
Her viral TikTok about preventing scurvy with weekly salads and smoothies has over 13 million views
Erixson now prioritizes eating fruits and vegetables and encourages others to maintain proper vitamin intake
After suffering from scurvy as a child, Arianna Erixson now does everything she can to maintain her health.
Erixson, 27, tells PEOPLE that she didn’t “grow up in a nutritious household.” As a child, she constantly felt “unpleasant” and experienced fatigue. Her gums often bled, her scrapes and bruises took longer than usual to heal and she had persistent discomfort and pain in her knees and ankles.
“Luckily, this all coincided with a couple of appointments,” the Nebraska resident shares. “First, the dentist who told me my gums were bleeding way too much, then my physical, where my pediatrician told me my bloodwork was bad and that I needed to up multiple things, including vitamin C and vitamin D.”
Arianna Erixson
Credit: Courtesy of Arianna Erixson
Her pediatrician told her that her vitamin C deficiency and related symptoms were, in fact, scurvy. According to the Cleveland Clinic, scurvy is “caused by a serious vitamin C deficiency,” often the result of “not eating enough fruits and vegetables.” When left untreated, scurvy can lead to bleeding gums, loosened teeth and bleeding under the skin.
“I got on a supplement, bought some fruits and veg, and my symptoms started to subside within a week,” she shares.
Now that she’s an adult, Erixson makes it a priority to “eat nutritious meals.”
“I’m also super paranoid, so for scurvy specifically, I take a vitamin C supplement and have my weekly salad and smoothie night,” she says. “My salad is usually a salad kit from Walmart, because then I don’t have to measure or guess how much dressing, cheese or filler there is, and I add cucumber, bell peppers and lemon juice on top.”
“My smoothie has frozen berries, orange and lemon juice, a spoonful of plain Greek yogurt, and however much water I need to make it blend,” Erixson adds.
Erixson recently posted a TikTok about her conscious effort to eat fruits and vegetables, captioned, “I got scurvy as a kid, so now as an adult I have a weekly salad and smoothie night because I will never get that wack ass pirate disease again.”
The video went viral, amassing over 13 million views. Erixson tells PEOPLE the reaction to the short clip was “wild and huge.” Since then, people have shared their own experiences with the illness, with many asking about other ways to prevent scurvy.
Arianna Erixson with Solo, a dog from Hearts United for Animals
Credit: Courtesy of Arianna Erixson
“My scurvy incident happened when I was a kid; now that I’m a fully autonomous adult, I get my fruits and veg!” she says. “The way I see it, just because you have a ‘taco night’ doesn’t mean you’re barred from eating Mexican food all other nights. Same with my smoothie and salad night: it’s an added precaution to ease my paranoia.”
Erixson notes that she had scurvy for “months” before she even “started having symptoms,” but “it took less than a week on a vitamin C supplement for the symptoms to go away.”
“Scurvy sucks, but make sure you’re getting your vitamins, and you don’t even have to worry about it,” she emphasizes.
Ultimately, she shares, “Eat your fruits and veggies, get your vitamins in!”
Read the original article on People
