Vitamin C, We Can’t Live Without It!
• Why Is Vitamin C So Important?
• What Are Its Benefits?
• Are You Getting Enough?
• What Is Subscurvy?
Read The Latest About This Incredible Vitamin. Look Inside….
TOPIC: Vitamin C
During the Ice Ages, malnutrition and lack of vitamins was a constant threat. The ancient bones show vitamin intake was close to zero. A lack of vitamin C was the greatest problem. The inevitable result for many was scurvy, the vitamin C deficiency disease. Thus, for a number of generations, this disease was the largest single threat to the survival of the human race.– Matthias Rath, MD, Eradicating Heart Disease
Vitamin C: We Can’t Live Without It!
Without vitamin C, any one of us would die within a year. Why? Vitamin C is a vitamin. The word vita is Latin for life. All vitamins are essential to life. In the classic desert island scenario, vitamin C is the one to pack.
A remarkable number of functions require vitamin C. Among these are immunity, stress response, antioxidant and anti-toxin functions, the nervous system, blood coagulation, and cardiovascular health. It is necessary for the formation of bones, teeth, and cartilage. It is also essential in the healing of wounds, bruises, fractures, and capillary damage. And, it is needed for healthy skin.
It has been said that vitamin C has 1,000 functions we already know and possibly another 20,000 that we don’t know yet. The late double Nobel Laureate and vitamin C guru Linus Pauling, PhD, called the vitamin a “panacea” – a cure-all substance.3
Vitamin C: We Can’t Live Without It!
Footnote
3 Do read (and be both humbled and exalted by) the amazing life and astounding accomplishments of this extraordinary genius of the 20th Century.
Vitamin C Protects Against The Common Cold
After nearly 50 years, people continue to credit Linus Pauling’s advice about vitamin C and the common cold. And, researchers continue to challenge it.
Here’s what we know right now: People consistently taking at least 200 mg of supplemental vitamin C daily have fewer colds.1 Among children, the figure is 14% fewer colds while among adults, it is 8% fewer. (A good thing if you’re in the 8%.)
Protection increases greatly if you’re under extraordinary physical stress. In trials involving marathon runners, skiers, soldiers, and others exposed to extreme physical exercise and/or cold, the use of vitamin C in doses ranging from 250 mg/d to 1 gram/d reduced cold incidence by 50%!
All findings are identical on one point: Once a cold is in place starting to take the vitamin has no effect on the severity or duration. With one exception. In one study, patients who took a single dose of 8 grams of vitamin C on the day their symptoms began, experienced a cold of shorter duration than those who took a placebo.
Vitamin C Protects Against The Common Cold
Footnote
1 This study reflects another aspect of vitamin C. It is also an adaptogen, meaning it helps the body adapt to stress. Panax ginseng is the iconic example of an adaptogen.
Vitamin C Protects Against Cancer
And the controversy continues. Science, one of the world’s most prestigious journals, reports that vitamin C can kill tumor cells that carry a common cancer-causing mutation and – at least in mice – can curb the growth of tumors with the mutation.2 This is good news. After years of being hidden behind the door, the therapeutic use of vitamin C against cancer is stepping out of the shadows.
Meanwhile, as mainstream medicine in the US begins explore the use of vitamin C in cancer therapy, practitioners here and abroad have been using intravenous vitamin C injections since Pauling and Cameron first shared their findings back in the 1970s.
Two more revelations about vitamin C and cancer:
1) Oncotarget (March 2017) reports the first evidence that vitamin C can be used to target and kill cancer stem cells, “the cells responsible for fueling fatal tumours”.
2) Perlmutter Cancer Center published in Cell (August 2017) “suggesting” that vitamin C by IV might block leukemic stem cells from multiplying. (These were lab studies, not clinical.)
Some studies have shown that vitamin C works against a wide variety of cancers, including pancreatic, liver, colon, and breast cancers. Although vitamin C therapy remains controversial, there is general agreement that IV-C curbs the severity of treatment symptoms. Plus, patients experience elevated mood and an overall improvement in physical health.
A common comment from C researchers regards cost. Vitamin C is significantly less costly than standard treatment. In perspective, 9 months of intravenous vitamin C currently costs less than one dose of chemotherapy.
Vitamin C Protects Against Alzheimer’s Disease
In 2011, we reported that the amyloid plaque typifying Alzheimer’s disease (AD) could be dissolved by vitamin C.10 The researchers involved concluded, “These results support the notion that an inadequate supply of vitamin C could contribute to late onset AD.”
Further work appeared in Cell Death & Disease (2014). These researchers likewise obtained positive results with vitamin C. Working with mice (altered not to produce vitamin C), they found that oral vitamin C stopped the progression of AD though it did not reverse it.
In 2012, Journal of Alzheimer’s Disease published a review of vitamin C and cognitive decline. The author, FE Harrison, concluded that maintaining healthy vitamin C levels can have a protective effect against age-related cognitive decline and AD.
Finally, in January 2017, Pharmacy Times (online) reported positive results for the use of both vitamins C and E. Over 5000 Canadians aged 65 and older participated in the 11 year study. Patients who used supplemental vitamin C and/or E were significantly less likely to develop any type of dementia.
Within the cited studies, researchers mention two additional properties of vitamin C: 1) Disproportionate amounts are found in the neurons; 2) As a potent antioxidant, C limits oxidative damage to the brain.
Vitamin C Protects Against Alzheimer’s Disease
Footnote
10 Amyloid plaque is composed of lumps of misfolded protein aggregates which cause nerve cell death. Sadly, first nerves to be attacked are in the memory center.
Vitamin C Protects Against Skin Aging
Skin is 75% collagen. The application of C directly to skin’s surface builds collagen and protects against both UVA and UVB sun damage. Further, topical vitamin C can resolve hyperpigmentation. Importantly, delivering vitamin C topically is 20 times more effective for the skin than ingesting the vitamin.
When purchasing vitamin C-enhanced skin products, the following criteria are helpful. 1) Serums are most effective.
2) The product should contain 10-20% vitamin C. (Higher than 20% isn’t better.)
3) A well-documented article from Indian Dermatology suggests that because of its stability, magnesium ascorbyl phosphate (MAP) is a more desirable choice than straight ascorbic acid.
Want to make your own? It’s both simple and easy. Go to wellnessmama.com
Vitamin C Keeps Us Together.
This is the literal Truth. The primary biochemical function of vitamin C is the synthesis of collagen. Collagen is the body’s most important structural substance. It is a proteinous glue that supports and holds our tissues and organs together.
Collagen comprises about one-third of the body’s total protein weight, and is its most extensive tissue system. Collagen provides bones with toughness and flexibility while preventing brittleness. It strengthens the arteries and veins, supports the muscles, and toughens the ligaments. It supplies scar tissue for healing wounds and keeps our skin soft, firm, and youthful. No surprise, collagen is involved with the entire aging process.
Vitamin C Keeps Us Together.
Footnote
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What Happens Without Vitamin C?
Quite simply, the body disintegrates. This disintegration has a name. It is called scurvy. All vitamins have specific deficiency diseases. Scurvy is the deficiency disease of vitamin C. It has caused the deaths of untold millions.4 The C-deficient body is unable to produce collagen. Gums bleed, leading to loss of teeth; bones become brittle and fracture; weakened arteries rupture and hemorrhage; muscles are useless. Wounds and sores never heal. The afflicted die — of disintegration.
In the late 1700s, James Lind (an English surgeon) found that men sick with “the scurvy” recovered rapidly when given fresh citrus.5 Eventually, this lead to British sailors eating limes, hence, “Limeys”. Today in Western countries, scurvy is rare. Or is it?
What Happens Without Vitamin C?
Footnote
4 In the great sea voyages of the 15th to 18th Centuries, an estimated two million seamen died of scurvy. More info in Scurvy: Disease of ?Discovery, Jonathan Lamb.
5 It was 70 years before the British Navy mandated the stowing of citrus fruits into ships’ stores!
Are We Falling Apart?
In 1972, Irwin Stone, a biochemist, introduced the concept of subscurvy in The Healing Factor: Vitamin C Against Disease (piquing Linus Pauling’s interest the vitamin). Stone studied ascorbic acid for over 50 years. He was convinced that the entire humanity suffers from a lack of vitamin C.
Stone’s theory is based on the human inability to produce vitamin C. Only four mammals lack this ability. (The other three are fruit bats, rhesus monkeys, and guinea pigs.) We are lacking a single step to the internal manufacture of vitamin C from glucose (blood sugar). Because of this, we are left to forge for our vitamin C.
Stone wrote that a lifetime of suboptimal vitamin C results in poor quality collagen. The possible consequences include arthritis and joint diseases, broken hips, strokes, cancer, and heart diseases of the later years.
The Heart Of The Matter
The #1 Killer of Americans, heart disease takes more more than 600,000 lives every year. In Prescription for Natural Cures, James F. Balch, MD, writes that poor diet (e.g., lack of fresh produce and low fiber intake), plus unhealthy lifestyle habits (e.g., smoking and lack of exercise) are the root cause of most heart disease. This disease, also called cardiovascular disease (CVD), includes atherosclerosis (blocked arteries), angina (chest pain), heart attack, high blood pressure, and stroke.
Besides providing collagen, vitamin C is a potent antioxidant. Oxidative damage is a major contributor to CVD. Fruits and veggies are our greatest source of vitamin C. Population studies show that people eating the largest quantities of fruits and veggies have a reduced risk of CVD. Researchers think the antioxidant property of C may play a role.
Enter Matthias Rath, MD. In 1987, Rath discovered the connection between vitamin C deficiency and lipoprotein(a), a classic risk factor for heart disease. In the early 1990s, while working with Dr. Pauling, Rath authored and published Eradicating Heart Disease. In it, he explained that heart attacks and strokes are not diseases, but the result of vitamin deficiency, particularly a lack of sufficient vitamin C (an example of Stone’s subscurvy). Today, Rath continues to help 1000s of heart patients with his drug-free supplement program.
Rath points out that mammals producing their own vitamin C don’t have heart disease – even though many have very high levels of cholesterol. For example, bears measure in at 400mg/dl while 200mg/dl is generally considered the safe upper level for humans. The heart arteries of C-producing animals are kept in better condition than ours by the constant internal bath of ascorbic acid, resulting in higher quality collagen.
The heart pumps 24/7 and each minute its arteries open and close dozens of times. Without sufficient vitamin C, the arteries weaken. Once damaged, the body tries to repair them by laying down plaque, which is made from oxidized cholesterol. With time, ever more plaque adheres to the artery walls, narrowing them (atheroclerosis). Eventually, they become too narrow for the heart to receive sufficient oxygen and other nutrients.
In summary, heart attacks are a combination of stress from the pumping heart, plaque narrowing the arteries, and weakened artery walls. By adding vitamin C (and a few other nutrients), Dr. Rath’s patients have reversed heart disease.
In addition to antioxidant support, vitamin C lowers the liver’s production of cholesterol. It optimizes cholesterol transport and its uptake by the cells. It inhibits blood cells from clumping together and forming clots, and it normalizes blood pressure. Plus, it recycles vitamin E and glutathione, two more powerful antioxidants, by “refreshing” them.
Rath recommends 1 gram (1000mg) per day of vitamin C, in several doses of 250-500mg each). Although as little as 300 mg per day have been shown to cut heart disease risk in half, a gram remains a conservative amount.6 The other supplements in Rath’s program are two amino acids, and the nutrients acetyl-L-carnitine (ALC) and CoQ10.
The amino acids L-lysine and L-proline are indispensable to the formation of collagen. Recommended at 500mg each. (Take them on an empty stomach with juice or water. Protein foods interfere with their absorption.) Acetyl-L-carnitine (ALC, 250mg 2x/d) and coenzyme Q10 (25-150mg daily) improve the energy supply in the heart muscle cells.
Other important supplements are a multiple vitamin-mineral formula (containing chromium and selenium, 200 mcg of each); additional vitamin E (up to 600 IU); additional magnesium (up to 1200mg); and omega-3 oils from fish or krill (couple of grams).
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The Heart Of The Matter
Footnote
6 In 1992, Dr. James Enstrom from the School of Public Health at UCLA and colleagues studied more than 11,000 Americans for an average of 10 years.
Among their findings: In men, 300 mg of vitamin C from food or supplements cut heart disease risk by 50 percent; in women, it was cut by 33 percent.
Fill Your Cells With C!
Vitamin C and ascorbic acid are one and the same, whether consumed from fruits and vegetables or taken as a supplement. A water-soluble vitamin, C must be replenished daily. Remember, unlike most mammals, humans do not make their own C.
Most Americans get their vitamin C from citrus fruits and juices (think OJ), tomatoes and tomato juice, and potatoes.7 Other common sources include red and green peppers, broccoli, Brussels sprouts, strawberries, and cantaloupe. Since the feds recommend only 60-95mg daily to escape scurvy, ¾ cup of OJ fills the bill.8
The body is stingy about the amount of vitamin C it will carry in the tissues and plasma. Levels can be built up by ingesting gram amounts of the vitamin. However, the larger the amount ingested, the smaller the percentage of C taken up by the cells. For example, the body absorbs 70-90% at intakes of 30-180mg/d while at doses above 1g/d the rate falls to less than 50%. That still means the more vitamin C one ingests, the more one will have in the system, which is the whole idea.
Total body content of C ranges from 300mg (near scurvy) to about 2g (2000mg). The highest levels are in the leucocytes (white blood cells), eyes, adrenal glands, pituitary gland, and brain.
Vitamin C delivered intravenously (rather than orally) is a different story. IV drips the vitamin directly into the bloodstream, bypassing the intestines. Whereas oral vitamin C raises plasma concentrations to a max of 220 micromol/L, IV injection can produce concentrations as high as 26,000 micromol/L. These therapeutic concentrations are toxic to tumor cells.
Keep in mind the following factors. Heat destroys vitamin C and it dissipates with long term storage. Smokers need at least 35mg additional C daily. Smoke exposure, pregnancy, and illness increase the need. The elderly and persons living where fresh food is not readily available may not get adequate amounts. Babies, once weaned or taken off formula, may need supplemental C since there is none in cow’s milk nor in nut and grain milks. Lastly, chronically bleeding gums are a sure sign of vitamin C insufficiency.
Fill Your Cells With C!
Siri Says: Of course, I find the official recommendation laughable. I recommend 1g-3g daily of supplemental vitamin C, in addition to dietary C. Personally, I take 500mg 2x/d of “Ester C”. (Even the feds agree that it stays in the system longer.) Also, in our household, we eat a large amount of fresh produce every day.9
Fill Your Cells With C!
Footnote
7 All factual information about vitamin ?C in this section comes from the NIH Office of Dietary Supplements. Any exceptions are footnoted.
8 A 165 pound goat under stress produces 17,000 grams of vitamin C. Wyh would 60-95 mg be adequate for an adult human?
9 This typical day, along with proteins and fats, I ate a cup of fresh berries, two salads, a serving of steamed broccoli, sauteed red and green peppers with onions, two mangos a small apple and several fresh figs. Incidentally, vitamin C helps the body absorb plant-based iron.
