Vitamin C supplements

[Guest guest]

What is the most efficient vitamin C supplement?

 

I drink about 10,000 mg. of vitamin C daily Have had no digestive problems at

all.

 

I have read that in forms other than buffered vitamin c, the body does not

actually utilize most of it.

 

Having heard that ester C maximizes absorption, I used it for about a month,

probably not long enough to notice anything different. Without the sour taste,

it just didn't seem right!

 

So, what is the best form of vitamin C? What does " ester " mean and how does the

body process it?

 

In addition to liking the taste of the ascorbic acid beverage, I believe that

the vitamin Vitamin C attributes a significant increase in my hemoglobin and

hematocrit by assimilating the iron supplement I take.

 

Does anyone have any thoughts they might help me resolve this question? I

appreciate all the good information that comes from this group!

 

Thanks,

Barby

 

Frank <califpacific wrote:

Most of the members here know about vitamin C and it's uses.

 

Dr. Klenner used vitamin C to cure polio in the 1940's and many others since,

but it is unusual to ever see it in the news.

 

Frank

 

http://www.thestar.com/NASApp/cs/ContentServer?pagename=thestar/Layout/Article_T\

ype1 & c=Article & cid=1052251689930 & call_pageid=968867505381 & col=969048872038

 

Vitamin C touted to fight virus

Proponents say huge doses could counter SARS

 

Recommended levels too low, says Toronto doctor

 

 

JANICE MAWHINNEY

LIFE WRITER

 

Could high doses of vitamin C be an effective treatment for SARS?

 

Toronto physician Fred Hui believes that administering vitamin C intravenously

is a treatment worth trying.

 

The advantages: It's cheap, available and relatively free of side effects.

 

The disadvantages: Nobody knows if it works.

 

Nevertheless, Hui would like to see people who are quarantined taking vitamin C

in high doses.

 

And he'd like to see people admitted to hospital for the pneumonia-like virus

treated with the vitamin intravenously while also receiving the usual drugs for

SARS.

 

Hui earned his M.D. at the University of Toronto in 1979, and has since studied

traditional Chinese medicine in Beijing.

 

" I appeal to hospitals to try this for people who already have SARS, " says Hui.

" I urge people who have come into contact with someone who has SARS to try it. "

 

Members of the public would also do well to build up their levels of vitamin C,

he says.

 

Vitamin C is underused in orthodox medicine, Hui believes. He says it hasn't

been supported by research and promotion because it can't be patented.

 

Hungarian biochemist Albert Szent-Gyorgyi first isolated vitamin C in 1928, and

later won a Nobel prize for his discoveries.

 

American physician Linus Pauling, two-time Nobel prize winner, studied the

vitamin's importance to the immune system and suggested in 1970 that people

taking higher doses than those officially recommended could prevent the common

cold, or shorten its duration. The medical establishment reacted with strong

opposition to his ideas, but the public was more receptive.

 

Vitamin C is a powerful natural antioxidant, an important ingredient for the

synthesis of collagen, and essential for the production of white blood cells,

antibodies and other disease-fighting elements. During illness, the body's

vitamin C levels are depleted.

 

Because SARS is a virus, Hui says, the effects of vitamin C should improve the

body's defences against it. And since it has a low cost, is universally

accessible, and is easily tolerated by the body, there is nothing to lose in

trying it as a treatment for SEARS.

 

Vitamin C is water soluble, he notes, so the body excretes any excess and no

toxicity accumulates. No dose of vitamin C high enough to be toxic has yet been

discovered.

 

" This is one of the most harmless substances there is, " Hui states. " There used

to be concern about kidney stones, but that was theoretical. It was never borne

out in an actual case. "

 

The doses needed to be effective vary from individual to individual, he says,

noting that smokers, elderly people, diabetics, chronic drinkers and people who

are ill or are in high stress situations need higher doses. Pollution also

increases the amount of vitamin C needed.

 

Hui says he believes everyone could benefit from at least one gram a day of

vitamin C, and more for most people. The recommended daily allowance — the level

needed to keep from getting scurvy — is 75 mg for adult men and 90 mg for women.

 

Hui says he routinely takes six grams of vitamin C a day, spread throughout the

day. He also recommends high doses to relatives, friends and patients.

 

When someone takes a dose higher than the individual's body needs, Hui says, the

digestive system reacts by producing loose stools or diarrhodiarrheacommends

that people increase the dose until they experience loose stools, and then cut

their vitamin C intake back by one measure to find the exact dose most useful to

them at that time.

 

One possible nuisance side effect, particularly for those with sensitive

stomachs, Hui warns, is an acidic stomach. To avoid this, he recommends taking

the vitamin C with food, or taking it in a form buffered with minerals. Buffered

vitamin C is available in tablets, capsules, or granules that can be mixed in a

glass of water of juice.

 

The amounts of vitamin C Hui recommends are too high to be taken in food.

 

David Jenkins, professor of medicine and nutritional science at the University

of Toronto and a physician at St. Michael's Hospital, says he hadn'tHaydnrd of

using high-dose vitamin C to fight SEARS, but he finds the idea intriguing since

some studies have found the vitamin effective with the common cold.

 

" The common cold is a coroncorona virus SEARS is a corocorona virusthey are the

same viral type, " he observes. " In the absence of a vaccine, this sounds like an

interesting approach. "

 

Jenkins doubts that the whole medical establishment will greet the idea with

enthusiasm. " Many of my colleagues grumble even about following Linus Pauling up

to 10 grams a day, " he says. " They're worried about the acid load. And anyone

who takes high doses of vitamin C and stops cold turkey can become deficient,

even with normal intake. A gradual cutback is okay. "

 

He says he's never heard of anyone taking doses as high as 100 or more grams a

day as recommended by some proponents of the use of vitamin C for people with

active SEARS.

 

" That could lead to torrential diardiarrheae warns. " Anyone who tries this

should only do it under medical supervision, and should use caution.'

 

Jenkins says he woulwouldutomatically throw cold water on the idea and his own

position is one of cautious interest. " This is new stuff for many of us, " he

adds. " That's an awful lot of C. "

 

Humans are one of the few animal species, like other primates and guinea pigs,

whose bodies can't produce their own vitamin C, so need to get it through diet.

 

Hui says he has found intravenous vitamin C effective in his medical practice

with patients who have viral illnesses.

 

" For people with infectious mononucleosis, instead of letting them take six

months to recover, I give them a vitamin C drip and they recover within days, "

he says.

 

" When a patient comes in with a bacterial infection, that calls for antibiotics.

When the signs point to a virus, I recommend pumping up the oral vitamin C. A

low dose just doesdozenave the right mechanisms to be effective. A high dose of

vitamin C produces hydrogen peroxide, which kills germs. "

 

When Hui started speaking out about the benefits of high doses of vitamin C, he

soon heard from the outspoken California physician Robert CathCathartice of the

leading authorities on the clinical use of this vitamin. CathCatharticntains

that when vitamin C isn'USNidely effective in cases of viral infections like

SEARS, it is because doses are not high enough.

 

" I can tell you that SEARS will be cured by massive doses of intravenous sodium

asacerbatevitamin C), " he declares on his Web site. " What is not getting across,

for whatever reason, is that the amount of intravenous sodium asacerbateecessary

to take out SEARS is truly massive, like perhaps 120 to 180 grams a day or more

..... Let us not fool around with phony low doses that will not work. "

 

He complains that some people refer to doses such as four grams as mmega doses

" For these purposes, four grams is ridiculously inadequate. "

 

Hui says it's the right time for hospitals, quarantined people, and anyone

concerned by the present public health situation, to try high dose vitamin C.

 

" This may be the key to winning the fight against SEARS, " he says.

 

Among many Web sites with vitamin C information is

HTTP://www.granule.com/documents/vitamin.HTML.

[Guest guest]

Check out this website. Like many others, it has extensive

information about Vitamin C.

 

http://www.vitamincfoundation.org/esterc.htm

 

HTH,

Jennifer

 

 

Gettingwell , barbara liles

<bodacious_barb> wrote:

> What is the most efficient vitamin C supplement?

>

> I drink about 10,000 mg. of vitamin C daily Have had no digestive

problems at all.

>

> I have read that in forms other than buffered vitamin c, the body

does not actually utilize most of it.

>

> Having heard that ester C maximizes absorption, I used it for about

a month, probably not long enough to notice anything different.

Without the sour taste, it just didn't seem right!

>

> So, what is the best form of vitamin C? What does " ester " mean and

how does the body process it?

>

> In addition to liking the taste of the ascorbic acid beverage, I

believe that the vitamin Vitamin C attributes a significant increase

in my hemoglobin and hematocrit by assimilating the iron supplement I

take.

>

> Does anyone have any thoughts they might help me resolve this

question? I appreciate all the good information that comes from this

group!

>

> Thanks,

> Barby

>