Was Bilbo Baggins low on vitamin D?
The hobbit — an unexpected deficiency
Scientists analysed The Hobbit and concluded Bilbo Baggins was probably low on vitamin D.
Hobbits live in holes in the ground, love indoor pipe-smoking, eat a lot of second breakfasts, and don’t go outside much. The authors (one of them a teenager at the time) mapped this against what we know about vitamin D.
Their diagnosis: Bilbo’s cosy lifestyle probably left him vitamin D deficient, and his adventure out in the sun may explain why he came home a braver hobbit.
Touch grass. Bilbo did, and he found a dragon.