Vitamin C: It Isn’t Just for Cancer Anymore
ALTERNATIVE THERAPIES, MAY/JUNE 2015 VOL. 21,3
Most of us are familiar with vitamin C, a watersoluble vitamin and antioxidant. As a food additive, vitamin C—commonly called ascorbic acid—is widely used to prevent oxidation. Our bodies neither make nor store vitamin C, so we must obtain it from an external source.
Almost all fruits and vegetables contain some quantity of vitamin C. It is the most widely taken nutritional supplement and is available in several forms as tablets, capsules, crystals, and drink mixes, among others.
Overdose of vitamin C is very rare, as one would have to consume several kilos of it to reach lethal dose, 50% (LD50). Large doses of vitamin C can cause a temporary bout of indigestion.
Vitamin C absorbed in the intestinal tract and transported via glucose mechanisms. Large quantities of sugar in the intestines or in the blood can slow the absorption of vitamin C.2 Cooking can diminish the content of vitamin C in vegetables by 60% due to enzymatic destruction, especially with longer cooking times or the use of copper cooking materials.3 Vitamin C is an essential micronutrient in a number of physiologic processes and a cofactor in 8 known enzymatic reactions, including several for collagen synthesis.
These last ones cause the most severe symptoms of scurvy when there is a vitamin C deficiency.4 According to the National Institutes of Health, the daily recommended dietary allowance for vitamin C is 90 mg in men and 75 mg in women, a woefully low and inadequate dosage, as the following studies show.
The History of Scurvy and Discovery
Scurvy as a result of a lack of vitamin C has known for more than 260 years. It was the primary cause of death among sailors during long sea voyages. In 1499, Vasco da Gama lost 116 of his crew of 170 due to scurvy, and in 1520, Magellan lost 208 of 230.6 Dr James Lind of the Royal Navy was the first to discover the connection between the lack of fresh vegetables and fruits and scurvy.
During a sea voyage, he gave one group of sailors 2 oranges and 1 lime daily, whereas the other group received the standard rations of vinegar, cider, or seawater. The citrus fruits prevented scurvy, and Dr Lind published his work in 1753.7 Also remarkable is that this was the first controlled experiment in medicine.
At first, fruits boiled to produce a juice, as fresh fruits were expensive to keep on board. However, this destroyed the vitamin C, so the discovery abandoned for 40 years. In 1795, limes became standard rations at sea, as they could easily found in the British Colonies of the West Indies, resulting in the nickname “limey.”
A few years later, Captain James Cook sailed to the Hawaiian Islands and beyond without the loss of a single life on board to scurvy, an unheard of achievement, for which the British Admiralty awarded him a medal.