The genuine vitamin C story has become clearer over recent years, as claims for unique health benefits of vitamin C are consistent with the available evidence.
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There is little scientific support for the idea that low (RDA level) doses of ascorbate are optimal for humans. Antioxidants like vitamin C are essential for life because disease processes almost invariably involve free radical attack, which antioxidant defenses can counteract.
People visiting a physician expect to receive clear, unbiased information about what ails them and its treatments. More importantly, they need to know what they can do to prevent disease. Patients would like to have the information necessary to make informed choices, but in many cases , this information is not provided, and when even doctors are often unable to evaluate the information they need to make decisions that are optimal for patients' interests.
People often disregard the advice of conventional experts and supplement their diet with gram-level doses of vitamin C and other antioxidants. Perhaps surprisingly, diverse groups of independent individuals can often produce more accurate solutions than those obtained by selected committees of experts. Thus, this popular decision could be a sign that medicine has gone astray and is refusing, unable, or unwilling, to respond rationally to the evidence.
Gram-level doses of vitamin C may prevent many diseases, but much higher does are required for treatment of illness. The massive doses needed for therapy are often greeted with disbelief, When we inform doctors that 50-100 grams ( 50,000-100,000 mg) of vitamin C per day may be required to treat a common cold, their skepticism is transferred from the efficacy of the treatment to the size of the dose.
Most clinical studies have considered doses of a single gram. A dose 100 times larger has very different properties. One reason for the vitamin C controversy is contradictory clinical results from trials that used inadequate doses, doses that are 100 times to small and have consistently broken the basic rules of pharmacology. For an analogy, imagine a study in which 20.000 fertile your women are placed on the contraceptive pill to prevent pregnancy. The researchers want to show the pill has no effect, so they give on pill a month, instead of one a day, as designed. Control subjects take one sugar pill (placebo) per month. Now, suppose the results of this five-year trial indicate that, when taking a contraceptive pill once a month, the women became pregnant at the same rate as those on the sugar pill.
No reasonable person would accept the claim that
You cannot expect a daily pill given monthly to have the same effect as the daily doseHowever, this methodology is equivalent to studies of "high-dose" vitamin C, which have purported to show it is ineffective.
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Scurvy
Many people connect the word scurvy with history lessons rather than modern day health. The British Admiralty finally, after a delay of fifty years, enacted James Lind 1747 finding that consumption of citrus fruit could prevent scurvy. In the intervening period, thousands of sailors dead. Unfortunately for them, the cost of providing citrus fruit was greater than the cost of a press gang. Then, as now, economic considerations often took priority over science or people's well-being.
People with acute scurvy eventually suffer bruising, bleeding into their joints causing swelling and severe pain, and loss of hair and teeth. These symptoms are, as we have explained, a result of collagen shortage. Earlier onset symptoms include fatigue, arising from the reduced ability to make carnitine, and susceptibility to stress because of lower levels of adrenaline and noradrenaline.
In developed countries, acute scurvy is rare, as consuming a few milligrams of vitamin C daily prevents the illness, while outbreaks of scurvy are more frequent in the Third World. However, even in developed areas, people with chronic illness, the infirm, elderly, and children can be at risk, and low blood levels of vitamin C are common.
Chronic scurvy may arise if a person has sufficient vitamin C intake to prevent a painful death in the short-term, but not enough to keep them healthy.
Preventing Heart Disease and Stroke
Many prospective studies indicate that low intakes of vitamin C are associated with an increased risk of cardiovascular disease. Despite such studies not including an investigation of higher intakes, it was assumed wrongly that approximately 100 mg of vitamin C per day gives a maximum risk reduction. The first National Health and Nutrition Examination Study (NHANES I) estimated that the risk of death from cardiovascular diseases was 25% lower in women and 42% lower in men who supplemented with vitamin C. The average intake of supplemental vitamin C was 300 mg per day.
A review of nine studies, covering 290.000 adults, found that those who supplemented with more than 700 mg of vitamin C per day had a 25% lower risk of heart disease. These subjects had apparently healthy cardiovascular systems at the start of the ten-year study. A study of over 85.000 female nurses over a period of sixteen years found that higher vitamin C intakes helped prevent heart disease. Once again, high intakes of vitamin C from supplements (average of 359 mg per day) were linked to a 27-28% reduction in risk of heart disease. Notably, nurses who did not take supplements did not benefit from this risk reduction.
Similiar results have been obtained with vitamin C and stroke. One study covered a twenty-year observation period documenting 196 cases of stroke (including 109 infarctions and 54 hemorrhages). The subjects with the highest vitamin C blood levels had a 29% lower risk of stroke than those with the lowest levels.
As might be expected from such a blunt experimental procedure, some prospective epidemiological studies have not revealed a lower risk of cardiovascular disease with vitamin C supplement use.
Taken as a whole, however, these results suggest that in order to lower heart attack risk, vitamin C intakes may need to be high enough to maintain the body pool. It is also possible that much higher intakes of vitamin C could effectively eradicate heart disease from the population.
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Preventing Cancer
People generally accept that eating fruits and vegetables reduces that risk of many types of cancer. Vegetables contain a large number of phytonutrients and other cancer-preventing substances, so it is not obvious how much of the benefit might be a result of increased vitamin C intake.
Higher daily intakes of vitamin C are associated with a reduced risk of cancer in many organs, including the mouth, neck, lungs, and the digestive tract (esophagus, stomach, and colon). In one study, men with an intake of more than 83 mg of vitamin C daily had a 64% lower risk of lung cancer compared with those with an intake of less than 63 mg per day. This study followed 870 people over twenty-five years.
Studies have linked an increased vitamin C intake with a lower risk of stomach cancer. The ulcer-forming bacterium Helicobacter pylori are associated with increased risk of stomach cancer. Since this bacterium decreases the amount of vitamin C in stomach secretions, supplementation has been suggested as an adjunct to antibiotic therapy fo ulcers.
Most large surveys have found little association between breast cancer and the low intakes of vitamin C that are typically studied. However, in one study, overweight women with an average vitamin C intake of 110 mg each day were found to have a 39% lower risk of breast cancer compared to similar women with an intake of 31 mg a day. The Nurses' Health Study also suggests an association between low levels of vitamin C and breast cancer.
A 63% percent lower risk of breast cancer was found in premenopausal women with an average intake of 205 mg of vitamin C per day compared with similar women who consumed an average of 30 mg each day.
Viral Illnesses
Reported results of treatment with massive doses of vitamin C are almost without parallel in medical history. A classic example is a study by Frederick R. Klenner, M.D., on polio. Around 1950, Dr. Klenner claimed that he could cure polio in a few days using vitamin C. This was at a time before polio vaccination and often patients were paralyzed or died, but Dr. Klenner reported that none of his patients died or suffered paralysis.
A research group led by Dr. Jonathan Gould in the 1950s conducted a placebo-controlled trial of vitamin C as a treatment for polio. About seventy children were treated in the study; half the children were given vitamin C and the remainder a placebo. All the children given vitamin C recovered. However, in the placebo group, approximately 20% had a residual impairment. Dr. Gould did not report his conclusions because the Salk vaccine for polio had just been announced and, at that time, there was great hope and expectantcy for the benefits of vaccination. However, if the report was correct, these results with vitamin C are more fundamental.
Heavy Metal Toxicity
Heavy metal toxicity is a continuing problem. Lead has been a problem for humanity for thousands of years and, for a time, was thought to be responsible for the fall of the Roman Empire. One idea was that the toxic properties of lead pipes caused widespread mental deficits. It is more likely that such effects were small, but produced a loss vigor and fitness relative to other competing civilizations.
The toxic effect was not strong enough to prevent the burst of intellectual activity leading to and propelling the industrial revolution. Recent problems of heavy metal poisoning involve lead from car exhaust, aluminum in water, and mercury in fillings. We will use lead poisoning as an example of the protective role of vitamin C. This poisoning is occasionally seen in pregnant women, in whom it can induce abnormal growth and development of the fetus.
The response of blood lead levels to moderate intakes of vitamin C can occur in a matter of weeks. A placebo-controlled study of the effect of vitamin C supplementation (1.000 mg daily) on blood lead concentrations in 75 adult male smokers measured significant reductions (81%) in lead levels within a month. Lower intakes (200 mg per day) did not affect blood lead concentrations.
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Cataracts
Considering its role in protection from free radical damage, vitamin C might be predicted to prevent cataracts, one of the leading causes of visual impairment. Cataracts arise for a number of reasons, including long-term ultraviolet (UV) light exposure and other ionizing radiation. They are also associated with high glucose levels in diabetics and increase in frequency and severity with age. The primary effect of cataracts is to denature (deform) certain proteins called crystallins in the lens of the eye.
More severe cataracts are linked with low vitamin C levels in the eye. Unsurprisingly, therefore, increased blood plasma levels of vitamin C are also associated with decreased severity of cataracts. Increased vitamin C intake associates with lower cataracts in some but not all studies, presumably because the doses were not frequent enough to consistently raise blood and eye levels. A trial of antioxidant supplementation, including vitamin C (500 mg), vitamin E (400 IU), and beta-carotene (15 mg), in 4.629 adults over six years found no effect on the development and progression of cataracts.
At some stage, almost every chronic disease has been related to an insufficient intake of vitamin C. The scientific evidence available is sparse and it may take centuries to detemine which chronic illnesses are related to a shortage of vitamin C. In the meantime, the optimal amount of vitamin C is a matter of continued debate. It is time that medical scientists realized that attacking and denigrating vitamin C and other nutritional therapies can no longer be tolerated. An open, scientific approach to vitamin C and other nutrients could offer major benefits to humanity.
What do you think? Please comment below and share this!
Higher daily intakes of vitamin C are associated with a reduced risk of cancer in many organs, including the mouth, neck, lungs, and the digestive tract (esophagus, stomach, and colon). In one study, men with an intake of more than 83 mg of vitamin C daily had a 64% lower risk of lung cancer compared with those with an intake of less than 63 mg per day. This study followed 870 people over twenty-five years.
Studies have linked an increased vitamin C intake with a lower risk of stomach cancer. The ulcer-forming bacterium Helicobacter pylori are associated with increased risk of stomach cancer. Since this bacterium decreases the amount of vitamin C in stomach secretions, supplementation has been suggested as an adjunct to antibiotic therapy fo ulcers.
Most large surveys have found little association between breast cancer and the low intakes of vitamin C that are typically studied. However, in one study, overweight women with an average vitamin C intake of 110 mg each day were found to have a 39% lower risk of breast cancer compared to similar women with an intake of 31 mg a day. The Nurses' Health Study also suggests an association between low levels of vitamin C and breast cancer.
A 63% percent lower risk of breast cancer was found in premenopausal women with an average intake of 205 mg of vitamin C per day compared with similar women who consumed an average of 30 mg each day.
Viral Illnesses
Reported results of treatment with massive doses of vitamin C are almost without parallel in medical history. A classic example is a study by Frederick R. Klenner, M.D., on polio. Around 1950, Dr. Klenner claimed that he could cure polio in a few days using vitamin C. This was at a time before polio vaccination and often patients were paralyzed or died, but Dr. Klenner reported that none of his patients died or suffered paralysis.
A research group led by Dr. Jonathan Gould in the 1950s conducted a placebo-controlled trial of vitamin C as a treatment for polio. About seventy children were treated in the study; half the children were given vitamin C and the remainder a placebo. All the children given vitamin C recovered. However, in the placebo group, approximately 20% had a residual impairment. Dr. Gould did not report his conclusions because the Salk vaccine for polio had just been announced and, at that time, there was great hope and expectantcy for the benefits of vaccination. However, if the report was correct, these results with vitamin C are more fundamental.
Heavy Metal Toxicity
Heavy metal toxicity is a continuing problem. Lead has been a problem for humanity for thousands of years and, for a time, was thought to be responsible for the fall of the Roman Empire. One idea was that the toxic properties of lead pipes caused widespread mental deficits. It is more likely that such effects were small, but produced a loss vigor and fitness relative to other competing civilizations.
The toxic effect was not strong enough to prevent the burst of intellectual activity leading to and propelling the industrial revolution. Recent problems of heavy metal poisoning involve lead from car exhaust, aluminum in water, and mercury in fillings. We will use lead poisoning as an example of the protective role of vitamin C. This poisoning is occasionally seen in pregnant women, in whom it can induce abnormal growth and development of the fetus.
The response of blood lead levels to moderate intakes of vitamin C can occur in a matter of weeks. A placebo-controlled study of the effect of vitamin C supplementation (1.000 mg daily) on blood lead concentrations in 75 adult male smokers measured significant reductions (81%) in lead levels within a month. Lower intakes (200 mg per day) did not affect blood lead concentrations.
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Cataracts
Considering its role in protection from free radical damage, vitamin C might be predicted to prevent cataracts, one of the leading causes of visual impairment. Cataracts arise for a number of reasons, including long-term ultraviolet (UV) light exposure and other ionizing radiation. They are also associated with high glucose levels in diabetics and increase in frequency and severity with age. The primary effect of cataracts is to denature (deform) certain proteins called crystallins in the lens of the eye.
More severe cataracts are linked with low vitamin C levels in the eye. Unsurprisingly, therefore, increased blood plasma levels of vitamin C are also associated with decreased severity of cataracts. Increased vitamin C intake associates with lower cataracts in some but not all studies, presumably because the doses were not frequent enough to consistently raise blood and eye levels. A trial of antioxidant supplementation, including vitamin C (500 mg), vitamin E (400 IU), and beta-carotene (15 mg), in 4.629 adults over six years found no effect on the development and progression of cataracts.
At some stage, almost every chronic disease has been related to an insufficient intake of vitamin C. The scientific evidence available is sparse and it may take centuries to detemine which chronic illnesses are related to a shortage of vitamin C. In the meantime, the optimal amount of vitamin C is a matter of continued debate. It is time that medical scientists realized that attacking and denigrating vitamin C and other nutritional therapies can no longer be tolerated. An open, scientific approach to vitamin C and other nutrients could offer major benefits to humanity.
What do you think? Please comment below and share this!
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