The miracle of Vitamin C  💚

Vitamin C Deficiency

Vitamin C plays a role in collagen, carnitine, hormone, and amino acid formation. It is essential for bone and blood vessel health and wound healing and facilitates recovery from burns. Vitamin C is also an antioxidant, supports immune function, and facilitates the absorption of iron

Dietary sources of vitamin C include citrus fruits, tomatoes, potatoes, broccoli, strawberries, and sweet peppers. (See also Overview of Vitamins.)

Severe vitamin C deficiency results in scurvy, a disorder characterized by hemorrhagic manifestations and abnormal osteoid and dentin formation.

Etiology

In adults, primary vitamin C deficiency is usually due to

• Inadequate diet

The need for dietary vitamin C is increased by febrile illnesses, inflammatory disorders (particularly diarrheal disorders), achlorhydria, smoking, hyperthyroidism, iron deficiency, cold or heat stress and protein deficiency. 

Heat, cooking can destroy some of the vitamin C in food.

When vitamin C is deficient, formation of intercellular cement substances in connective tissues, bones, and dentin is defective, resulting in weakened capillaries with subsequent hemorrhage and defects in bone and related structures.

Symptoms and Signs

In adults, symptoms of vitamin C deficiency develop after weeks to months of vitamin C depletion. 

Symptoms of scurvy (related to defects in connective tissues) develop after a few months of deficiency.  Gums may become swollen, purple, spongy, and friable; they bleed easily in severe deficiency. Eventually, teeth become loose. Secondary infections may develop. 

Treatment

• Nutritious diet with supplemental ascorbic acid

For scurvy in adults, ascorbic acid 100 to 500 mg orally 3 times a day is given for 1 to 2 weeks, until signs disappear, and followed by a nutritious diet supplying 1 to 2 times the daily recommended intake.

In scurvy, therapeutic doses of ascorbic acid restore the functions of vitamin C in a few days. The symptoms and signs usually disappear over 1 to 2 weeks. Chronic gingivitis persists longer.

Prevention

Vitamin C 75 mg orally once a day for women and 90 mg orally once a day for men prevents deficiency. Smokers should consume an additional 35 mg/day. Five servings of most fruits and vegetables (recommended daily) provide > 200 mg of vitamin C.

Worse than Corona i guess 😌

Scurvy killed more than two million sailors because everybody on the ship would be living on preserved foods. In preserved food there are no vitamins.

SO a variety of nutritional diseases would be likely: lack of vitamin B1 would cause beriberi ....   B3 would cause pellagra; and vitamin C of course .... scurvy.

Vitamin C has no toxicity but --- People who take high doses of Vitamin C experience  a C-flush, the bowel tolerance.

Since the liposomal C has superior absorption, it will not cause a C-flush so liposomal Vitamin C is not appropriate for this test.

 a Vitamin C dosage that’s right for you 

• 1,000 mg liposomal = 8,500 mg powder

• 2,000 mg liposomal = 17,000 mg powder

• 3,000 mg liposomal = 24,000 mg powder