Two hundred years ago, scurvy was the scourge of long ocean voyages and not a pretty sight. After two or three months at sea, sailors developed swollen legs, puffy and painful gums and large discoloured hemorrhages over the whole body. The sufferers fainted easily and experienced spasms of shivering and terrors.

By the mid 1700s, authorities knew this had something to do with the lack of fresh food on ships, as mariners made miraculous recoveries on land when they were fed fresh produce. Listen and learn how Captain Cook's spruce beer changed maritime history--and get the recipe!. Subscribe to our podcast feed so you can open the attachment below, or click here to listen to the mp3 audio file.