Top Ten Websites that Disseminate Misinformation about Vitamin C

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Vitamin C Foundation Releases Its List of the Top Ten Websites that

Disseminate Misinformation about Vitamin C

Published on 8/9/2004

by Healthy News Service

http://www.healthy.net/scr/news.asp?Id=9670

 

 

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HOUSTON, TX- The Vitamin C Foundation released a list of the Top Ten

Websites That Disseminate Misinformation About Vitamin C today. Topping the

list are websites hosted by prestigous organizations such as the National

Library of Medicine's " Medline Plus, " the National Institutes of Health,

the Mayo Clinic, Quackwatch, Consumerlab.com, WebMD and the Merck Manual.

The most often published misinformation about vitamin C is that mega-doses

of this vitamin are washed away in the urine and produce nothing more than

expensive urine. A recent study published by National Institutes of Health

researchers dispels this belief. High oral doses of vitamin C have now been

demonstrated to produce three times higher concentation in the blood plasma

than previously thought possible. [Annals Internal Medicine 2004 Apr

6;140(7):533-7] Since 1996 the National Institutes of Health and the

Institutes of Medicine have published spurious information that blood

plasma saturation for vitamin C is achieved with a 200 milligram of oral

dose and additional amounts are worthless.

 

Another mistaken but widely distributed fabrication regarding vitamin C is

that 5 servings of fruits and vegetables are sufficient to provide the 200

milligrams of vitamin C recommended by the Institutes of Medicine. In fact,

the most commonly consumed plant foods (iceberg lettuce, tomatoes, French

fries, orange juice and onions) provide only about 110 milligrams of

vitamin C, which is the typical consumption level for American adults.

Furthermore, the National Cancer Institute concedes five servings of plant

foods have not reduced the risk for cancer or heart disease and now

recommend nine servings.

 

Yet another widely held misconception disseminated by various health

organizations is that the Recommended Dietary Allowance (RDA = 75

milligrams for adult males, 90 milligrams for females and an additional 35

milligrams for smokers) is sufficient for 98 percent of the population. In

fact, more than 4 in 10 Americans do not even consume the RDA levels of

vitamin C. Furthermore, the RDA is misleading since it is established for

healthy people only, not millions of Americans who have increased need for

vitamin C (examples are smokers, pregnant women, diabetics, athletes, users

of aspirin, steroids, birth control pills or estrogen, anemic and

hospitalized individuals).

 

Among other commonly published falsehoods about vitamin C is the assertion

that high-dose vitamin C causes kidney stones, that high-dose vitamin C

induces iron overload, or that mega doses of vitamin C may cause DNA damage

and increase the risk of cancer. These widely held beliefs and not backed

by scientific investigation. [science. 2001 Sep 14; 293:1993-5; Int J

Vitamin Nutr Res 1999 Mar;69:67-82; J Am Society Nephrology 1999

Apr;10:840-5; Nutrition Reviews 1999 Mar;57:71-7; Clin Chem Laboratory

Medicine. 1998 Mar;36:143-7; Annals Nutrition Metabolism. 1997;41:269-82]

 

A more detailed list of the misinformation about vitamin C that is

published by various health organizations can be found at

www.vitamincfoundation.org.