January 3, 2019 general

As promised, listed below is more of the vitamin C science that I recently stumbled upon.

Aging and Alzheimer’s. In this journal article authors noted that supplementation with vitamin C appeared to reduce inflammation, signs of aging and unwelcome brain alterations as well as extend lifespan. Bill Sardi got my attention when he told us that there was a dramatic loss of health and lifespan when mice were altered so that they could no longer make vitamin C internally from their blood sugar. He also taught us that, due to a genetic mutation, humans lost the ability to make their own vitamin C. Therefore, to maintain optimum blood levels of C, we must eat a lot of it and supplement. See end of this blog for a third option.

Allergies. This study showed that vitamin C helped allergy symptoms. That did not surprise me since vitamin C has long been known to have an anti-histamine effect. Clinics that test for allergies and chemical sensitivities are ready with intravenous vitamin C to quickly stop a bad reaction. The linked study used vitamin C in IV form because they needed high levels and I assume they could not rely on people to pop vitamin C pills throughout the day.

Bleeding Gums, frailty and mood. This is one of the first signs of “scurvy”, a disease that medicine thought was long abolished. Scurvy is caused by inadequate intake of vitamin C and can lead to severe complications such as bone pain, heart failure and even seizures. Although a lot of supposedly “healthy” people can have early symptoms of scurvy, those most at risk are alcoholics, isolated elderly folks, persons with mental illness, and those who have gastrointestinal problems or have had weight loss surgery. A recent case report of 2 elderly gentlemen concluded: “After a few weeks [of vitamin C supplementation], a significant improvement was noted in level of frailty, mood, bleeding tendency, and gum health.”

Diabetes. A study published in November is entitled:“Ascorbic acid [vitamin C] supplementation improves postprandial glycaemic [post after-meal blood sugar] control and blood pressure in individuals with type 2 diabetes. Those of us who don’t want to become diabetic should also take note.

Gallbladder Stones. This journal article noted: “Risk factors for cholesterol gallstones in humans include obesity, aging, estrogen treatment, pregnancy and diabetes. Plasma ascorbic acid [vitamin C] levels are reduced in these groups.”  

Glaucoma. This study showed that vitamin C is metabolized into a substance that lowers the pressure inside the eye.

Protection from Toxic Drug Effects. This animal study showed that vitamin C reduced the genetic damage caused by a potent drug—without decreasing its effectiveness. I imagine we’d find that same effect with many other medications. Note, a large number of drugs deplete vitamin C.

Stress. Vitamin C accumulates in different amounts in different tissues. For example it is important in how the adrenal glands handle stress. I like the title of this article in Psychology Today, Vitamin C: Stress Buster.

Visceral Obesity [fat around abdominal organs] and Nonalcoholic Fatty Liver Disease. Who would have thought of vitamin C as a way to fight fat? In an animal study, adding vitamin C to even a high fat diet reduced the risk of developing fat around organs and nonalcoholic fatty liver disease (a big problem these days). Mice were used in the study. They make their own vitamin C internally, so I think it is really interesting that supplements of extra C had such an effect.

The wide variety of benefits of vitamin C shown in last week’s blog and this one certainly suggest its importance. As Bill Sardi taught us, we can keep a bottle of vitamin C pills handy so we can take a supplement 4 times a day and more when we are under stress. I think Formula 216 is better option.