Vitamin C has been an essential ingredient to life since before evolution made its split into the animal and plant kingdoms. There is not one body process and not one disease or syndrome that is not influenced—directly or indirectly—by vitamin C.
50 Tablets per Bottle

About Vitamin C
Vitamin C, which is also called Ascorbic Acid, is an antioxidant needed for more than 300 different metabolic functions in your body, including repair and growth of tissue, healthy gums, and adrenal gland functions. Vitamin C also helps produce interferon (an important immune-system protein) and anti-stress hormones, and is also needed to help metabolize folic acid (sometimes called vitamin B9), and the enzymes tyrosine, and phenylalanine.
Several studies have shown that vitamin C can help reduce symptoms of asthma, and can also protect against the harmful effects of pollution and infection. It can also enhance immunity.
This vitamin can also reduce the levels of low-density lipoproteins (LDL, or "bad" cholesterol), while increasing the level of high-density lipoproteins (HDL, "good" cholesterol). And it has been shown to lower high blood pressure and help prevent atherosclerosis.
Vitamin C is essential in collagen formation (collagen is a connective protein in the body), and it protects against abnormal blood clotting and bruising. It may further reduce the risk of cataracts, and it promotes the healing of burns and wounds.
Vitamin C works with both vitamin E and beta-carotene. The effect of this cooperation is a clear case of the total being greater than the sum of the parts, and taking these supplements together can counter any adverse effects of taking these vitamins alone. Vitamin E hunts down dangerous free radicals in cell membranes, while vitamin C intercepts free radicals in biologic fluids. It is important to know that vitamin C, vitamin E, and beta-carotene both reinforce and extend each other's antioxidant properties and activities.
And here is a key point: because the body cannot manufacture vitamin C, you must obtain this vitamin from your diet or in the form of supplements.
You will find vitamin C is found in berries, citrus fruits, and green vegetables.

Vitamin C and Evolution
Vitamin C has been an essential ingredient to life since before evolution made its split into the animal and plant kingdoms. It is utilized throughout the body for so many things that it is probably not an overstatement to say that there are virtually no functions that it is not involved in. To quote Dr. Emanuel Cheraskin, Dr. Ringsdorf and Dr. Sisley from The Vitamin C Connection: "There are more than ten thousand published scientific papers that make it quite clear that there is not one body process (such as what goes on inside cells or tissues) and not one disease or syndrome (from the common cold to leprosy) that is not influenced—directly or indirectly—by vitamin C."
Among the most important areas where C plays a crucial role are building and maintaining our tissues and fortifying our immune systems.

Vitamin C as an Antioxidant

There is a lot of talk these days about the antioxidant vitamins, C, E and A. Oxygen, as you know, is a highly reactive element. We see the result of oxidation all around us. Rust, brittle rubber, food spoilage, these are all the result of oxidation. Oxidation is not always bad. The iron in your blood's hemoglobin oxidizes or "rusts" in order to carry oxygen to all the cells of the body. But much oxidation is damaging, accelerating aging and contributing to tissue and organ damage. Oxidation is also a contributor to heart disease (LDL oxidation has been linked to atherosclerosis) and cancer. As research continues, the more free-radical damage appears to contribute to chronic conditions and the more we realize that antioxidant nutrition supplementation is essential. Balz Frei, in his paper Vitamin C as an Antiatherogen: Mechanisms of Action published in Vitamin C in Health and Disease states: "Vitamin C (ascorbic acid) has been shown to be the most effective water-soluble antioxidant in human plasma."

Vitamin C is a powerful antioxidant that also recharges other antioxidants, such as vitamin E, to keep them potent. Its water solubility makes it an efficient free radical scavenger in body fluids. Some studies have shown that vitamin C is the first line of antioxidant defense in plasma against many different kinds of free radicals. The cells of the brain and spinal cord, which frequently incur free radical damage, can be protected by significant amounts of vitamin C. This vitamin also guards against atherosclerosis by preventing damage to the artery walls.

Vitamin C and Homeodynamics

Homeodynamics is a fairly recent term that updates "homeostasis", defined in the Bantam Medical Dictionary as: "the physiological process by which the internal systems of the body (e.g. blood pressure, body temperature, acid-base balance) are maintained at equilibrium, despite variations in the external conditions." Homeodynamics attempts to add emphasis to the dynamic, ever-adjusting nature of these processes.

When our body's are exposed to stress (stress means any influence which disturbs our calm balance, therefore all the physical and emotional pressures that we are exposed to make demands on our systems) our stores of Vitamin C are depleted, mostly by our adrenal gland (it takes a molecule of vitamin C to produce a molecule of adrenaline). It is an old wives tale that getting soaked in the rain causes us to catch cold. But, like so many of these, there is a basis of truth. Being wet and cold is stressful. It puts an additional strain on us to keep our body temperature up. This reduces our "resistance". Since vitamin C is vital to both our immune system and our natural balance, the day after coming in from a cold rain, we find ourselves with a scratchy throat and its downhill from there.

Vitamin C and Collagen

Symptoms of scurvy include bleeding gums, easy bruising and a tendency toward bone fractures. All these symptoms are a result of the requirement for Vitamin C in the development of the ground substance between our cells. This ground substance, primarily collagen, is the cement that gives our tissues form and substance (see description at left). Collagens are principal components of tendons, ligaments, skin, bone, teeth, cartilage, heart valves, intervertebral discs, cornea, eye lens, in addition to the ground substance between cells.

Some collagen forms in the absence of ascorbic acid, but the fibers are abnormal, resulting in skin lesions and blood vessel fragility, characteristics of scurvy.

Any tissue-related malady will have some basis in Vitamin C. There is a long continuum between scurvy and optimum tissue integrity. As most all of us suffer from sub-clinical scurvy, how is this evident from a tissue-integrity standpoint? Let's look at the conditions that are tissue related. Gum problems are an obvious first choice since they relate directly to scurvy, but there are many others. A Japanese study concluded that most disc herniations are the result of Vitamin C deficiency. This makes sense. The discs in our spinal column are like donuts, with a tough, gristle-like exterior and a soft interior to provide cushioning. Lack of proper amounts of Vitamin C will produce a disc with compromised integrity. The tough exterior won't be so tough. Over time and much wear and tear, this compromised exterior will wear down and a pinhole will result. Moving just the right way, or perhaps the wrong way, will push some of the soft interior material out this pinhole. That is a disc herniation. If this squished-out material touches a nerve in your spinal column, it causes pain and usually a lot of it. Adequate Vitamin C will toughen up the outside portion of the disc and a herniation is much less likely. By the way, laser surgery is now quite common to remove this balloon of squished-out disc material.

Vitamin C and the Immune System

Vitamin C is a requirement for the proper functioning of our immune systems. It is involved in white blood cell production, T-cells and macrophages. Without Vitamin C in adequate quantities, our own body's best defense against disease is left without ammunition. This has a distinct bearing on how much Vitamin C to take. A sickness such as a cold or virus is analogous to a brush fire. Destruction in its path, just as an infection wrecks havoc to our own internal ecology. If the sickness is the fire, then our immune systems are the fire department and Vitamin C is the water. If we take this analogy a little further, the fire department may use chemical fire retardents, which are loosely analogous to medicine. Now we would all agree that these chemicals are sometimes warranted, but surely we also know that they will have some consequences to the environment or ecology. This is similar to nutrition and medicine. Nutrition is the natural bolstering of our own systems. Medicine, on the contrary, is foreign and needs to be used with corresponding care.

Due to the strong relationship between C and our immune systems, it is not surprising that viral and bacterial infections can be dealt with by our own systems when adequate C is present. Ascorbic acid is toxic to viruses, bacteria, and many types of cultured cells, because of its prooxidant activity. It is particularly toxic to malignant tumor cells but much less toxic to nonmalignant normal cells, thus its therapeutic use in cancer.

Do We Need to Supplement Our Vitamin C Intake?

With very few exceptions, all animal species synthesize Vitamin C in their bodies. Man does not. The generally accepted theory is that a mutation occurred some tens of millions of years ago to the ancestors of modern man that disabled this synthesis. Natural selection dictates that there was adequate C from dietary sources to allow a reasonable level of health, otherwise the mutation could not have taken hold. Indeed, natural selection favors those organisms with only the absolutely necessary machinery.

Now, our diets have changed dramatically since then. We live in much less hospitable climates. We don't pick fresh fruits from trees or eat fresh, raw meat, both excellent sources of vitamin C, like our primate ancestors. Our diets are almost universally lacking in nutritional value. Also, vitamin C is also not stored well in our bodies. We use it constantly and yet our intake is meager. Only with regular supplementation in quantities that fill our body's every need will we approach optimum health and the elimination of disease.

Here's an interesting observation by Albert Szent-Gyorgyi, Nobel-prize winner for his discovery of vitamin C: "The medical profession itself took a very narrow and very wrong view. Lack of ascorbic acid caused scurvy, so if there was no scurvy there was no lack of ascorbic acid. Nothing could be clearer than this. The only trouble was that scurvy is not a first symptom of a lack but a final collapse, a premortal syndrome and there is a very wide gap between scurvy and full health."

The most important thing to keep in mind regarding dosages of vitamin C is that the RDA levels of less than 100 mg may keep scurvy at bay—and just—and keep you alive in the short term, but it won't get you close to optimum health.

How much Vitamin C Should I Take?

A common view is that a 150 pound adult would need about 4000 mg assuming 100% absorption, which is optimistic. If absorption is closer to 50%, which may still be optimistic, then the basic nutritional requirement doubles to 8000mg. However, everyone is different. Different foods don't agree with different people. Some people can tolerate lots of alcohol, for example, others can't. That's why drug dosage is a tricky business. These differences are referred to as "biochemical individuality".

The amount of C that you need will vary according to your body's need at any particular time. You will become sensitive to how much you can take. If you start to feel sick, however, you should taking 1000 mg tablets every hour. Again, you will need to judge for yourself. Generally, try to take as much as you can, several times a day. Some views hold that any excess C that one ingests is at best wasted or at worst dangerous. Vitamin C is completely nontoxic, except for some gastrointestinal distress, no amount has ever been shown to be harmful.

The best advice is to take as much as you can short of any discomfort. When a stress is added, such as a cold, much more C will be needed, so much more can be taken before discomfort starts. Under severe circumstances, a knowledgeable physician will administer vitamin C intravenously.

If you are convinced that vitamin C supplementation is a good idea, there are some things you should be aware of before you start taking 10 grams a day.

Taking too much C at one time will cause diarrhea (the point that it's not really diarrhea, is easily lost as you run to the bathroom). This level is refereed to as the bowel tolerance limit. Since you've been suffering from sub-clinical scurvy since conception, your body is not performing all the enzyme reactions it would if it could. As a result, your bowel tolerance limit will increase over time. We recommend that you take 1,000 mg tablets once or twice a day to start and increase your dosage every few days, backing off a little if you have the above mentioned symptom.
Also, the stuff the manufacturers add to the C to make it a pill may disagree with you. Try different types if this is the case. Some people are very sensitive to the acidity. Calcium ascorbate tablets are available for you if the ascorbic acid is troubling. Vitamin C powder will let you take 8-10 grams at one time.
What about "natural" vitamin C vs. synthesized. Linus Pauling points out that the chemical make-up is identical. If you made a 1000mg tablet entirely from rose hips, the tablet would be the size of a football, and even these tablets are mostly synthesized vitamin C. That is not to say that the natural sources don't provide nutritional elements not found in the non-natural tablets, but the most important thing is the C. Get inexpensive C that agrees with your system and take lots of it.

Vitamin C is not a Vitamin—By Definition

According to the encyclopedia Britannica: "Since they generally cannot be synthesized by an animal (or, if synthesized, the amounts are insufficient to meet body needs) and must be obtained from the diet or from some synthetic source, vitamins are called essential nutrients. Vitamin C (also a water-soluble vitamin) can be synthesized by some organisms in sufficient amounts so that the dietary requirement is eliminated; vitamin C usually is considered a vitamin, however, because it must be included in the diet of man. Vitamins are distinct from many other compounds, which, although indispensable for proper animal functions, can be synthesized in adequate quantities."It would appear from this definition that vitamin C holds a special place in the definition of a vitamin. Inadequate synthesis is part of the definition of "vitamin", so while vitamin C is outside this definition for almost all plants and animals, it is still defined as a vitamin because man cannot synthesize vitamin C at all. Might vitamin C indeed be a special case and not a "vitamin" at all?Irwin Stone was a leading researcher concerning vitamin C. In fact, Dr. Linus Pauling credits Stone for his (Pauling's) early interest in vitamin C research. In his book The Healing Factor "Vitamin C" Against Disease, Irwin Stone discusses at length our biological ancestry and vitamin C. If vitamin C is a necessary enzyme for almost all plants and animals and almost all plants and animals synthesize their required vitamin C, then it is truly not a vitamin because the definition of a vitamin requires that, if synthesis takes place at all, it must be "insufficient to meet body needs". So what we have is two classes of organisms, one that makes C in sufficient quantities (most all) and those that have no ability, or have lost the ability, to make this essential nutrient.Vitamin C has been necessary for life before the evolutionary tree separated into the plant and animal kingdoms more than 600 million years ago. Since the inability to synthesize vitamin C is only present in a very few species and man possesses most of the mechanisms to synthesize vitamin C, it makes perfectly good sense that this could have developed from a genetic mutation.If vitamin C requirements were viewed in the context of this genetic mutation rather than as a nutrient required in trace amounts (i.e. a "vitamin"), dosage takes on a whole new meaning. Type I diabetics learn to utilize insulin to produce the best state of health. Likewise, those of us suffering from the genetic mutation concerning vitamin C synthesis (i.e. everybody), should use vitamin C dosage in terms of its contribution to a higher state of health and homeostasis. This paradigm shift would open our eyes and our research to utilizing vitamin C in amounts more in line with what our bodies might synthesize if we still had that ability.Indeed, much of the research that shows vitamin C to be only marginally effective was conducted based on this misconception of vitamin C's status and consequently dosages in those studies were most always very low. The conventional wisdom is that vitamin C will not prevent colds but that it will help shorten their duration somewhat. This conclusion is most likely due to the colds and vitamin C research being done with much too low a dose. When taken in adequate amounts, vitamin C's effectiveness is dramatically better than this.

Vitamin C References

How to Live Longer and Feel Better. Dr. Linus Pauling, Copyright 1986, W.H. Freeman and Company

The Healing Factor: 'Vitamin C Against Disease.' Irwin Stone, Copyright 1972, Grosset & Dunlap

The Vitamin C Connection. Dr. Emanuel Cheraskin, Dr. W. Marshall Ringsdorf, Jr. and Dr. Emily L. Sisle, Copyright 1983, Harper & Row

Vitamin C - Who Needs it? Dr. Emanuel Cheraskin, M.D., D.M.D, Copyright 1993, Arlinton Press and Company

The Vitamin C Controversy: Questions and Answers. Dr. Emanuel Cheraskin, Bio Communications

Nutrition Against Disease. Roger J. Williams, Copyright 1980, Bantem Books

Third Conference on Vitamin C. Edited by John J. Burns, Jerry M. Rivers, Lawrence J. Machlin, Copyright 1987, New York Academy of Sciences

Vitamin C in Health and Disease. Edited by Lester Packer, Jurgen Fuchs, Copyright 1997, Marcel Dekker, Inc.

Vitamin Bible. Mindell, Earl

Vitamins & You. Benowieez, Robert

The People's Guide to Vitamins & Minerals. Bosco, Dominick

The Complete Book of Vitamins. Gottlieb, William

Prescription for Nutritional Healing. Phyllis A. Balch, CNC and James F. Balch, M.D.
These statements have not been evaluated by the FDA. This product is not intended to diagnose, treat, cure or prevent any disease.