Vitamin С

Vitamin С is such an important supplement that it deserves its own special section. Vitamin С is usually supplemented in one of three forms: ascorbic acid, calcium ascorbate, or sodium ascorbate. The ascorbate anion can be supplemented as part of many different min­eral chelates, but these three forms are the major sources of supple­mented vitamin С

In the amounts that I recommend, the best form of vitamin С to take is sodium ascorbate. Calcium ascorbate supplies too much cal­cium, which is undesirable for reasons that I explained earlier. Ascorbic acid can impair digestion by decreasing enzyme and acid production in the stomach when it is taken close to a meal. It can also erode tooth enamel if it is frequently in contact with the tooth surfaces.

Except when taking only a couple of grams (1 gram = 1,000 mil­ligrams) or less of vitamin C, the preparations that add rutin and other bioflavonoids should be avoided. Megadoses of vitamin С are

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being promoted here, but the effects of megadose rutin and other bioflavonoids, compounds felt by some to enhance the effects of vi­tamin C, are unknown.

You may be concerned about taking in too much sodium if you take megadoses of sodium ascorbate. After all, doesn't sodium raise the blood pressure and make high blood pressure (hypertension) even more difficult to control? Actually, I have never observed this problem in any patient to whom I have given sodium ascorbate by mouth or vein. In fact, some very good clinical research indicates that it is the chloride in common table salt, not simply the sodium, that elevates blood pressure. But sodium and table salt have come to be considered the same substance, even though this is not true. Sodium is only a part of table salt, not the entire compound. Kurtz et al. showed that sodium chloride raised the blood pressure of men with high blood pressure, while sodium citrate did not.¹⁰ Kurtz and Morris also showed in animal studies that sodium expanded plasma volume and elevated blood pressure only when it was given as sodium chloride.¹¹ Neither the blood volume nor the blood pres­sure was increased when sodium was given with bicarbonate, phos­phate, glutamate, glycinate, aspartate, or ascorbate (vitamin C). The time-honored concept of "sodium-dependent" hypertension needs to be replaced by a new concept of "sodium chloride-dependent" hypertension.

Vitamin С is one of the few supplements that are extremely diffi­cult to overdose. Whether administered orally or intravenously, megadose vitamin С has been shown to be a superlative therapy for heavy-metal poisoning; carbon monoxide exposure and poisoning; pesticide exposure; allergic and toxic shock from snakebite or insect bite; and almost all viral diseases studied, including polio, hepatitis, and herpes. Frederick Klenner, M.D., published much of the signif­icant work documenting these marvelous effects of megadose vita­min C.¹²"¹⁵ In many of the conditions listed above, Dr. Klenner would often report clinical cures, with return of blood tests to

146 Optimal Nutrition for Optimal Health

normal, after only a few days of therapy. However, the doses that he used, typically as sodium ascorbate administered intravenously, ranged from a few grams to a few hundred grams daily. No other modern study on vitamin С even approaches these doses, so Dr. Klenner's work still constitutes the only substantial published doc­umentation of the effects of such very large doses.

Although Dr. Klenner's findings serve notice of the enormous utility of intravenous vitamin C, most people are not going to take an IV on a daily, or even a weekly, basis. However, for patients seek­ing a therapy to help neutralize toxicity and give their struggling immune systems a chance to recover, frequent 40- to 60-gram infu­sions of vitamin С can help achieve just that.

The more common way to take vitamin С is orally. Doses of 10 to 15 grams daily are advisable for most people, in my opinion. This would amount to a heaping teaspoon of sodium ascorbate taken twice daily in water or dilute juice. However, oral vitamin С will very quickly let you know when you have taken too much of it. Too much vitamin С will cause a loose diarrhea, usually lasting for a few hours. Some people will get diarrhea before they reach the recom­mended 10 grams, while many others won't get it until they reach 40 grams or more. For those who want further information on this topic, Cathcart published a method for determining the optimal dosage of vitamin С in different diseases based on bowel tolerance (that is, the point at which diarrhea begins).¹⁶

Once you have experimented a bit with oral sodium ascorbate to find out how much it takes to cause diarrhea, you can take just short of that dose on a daily basis, even if it is more than 15 grams. This will have a beneficial effect on your general health. When you de­crease your bowel transit time with oral vitamin C, you can keep your colon fairly clear of feces most of the time. This accelerated emptying of the gut and colon can substantially decrease the toxic­ity that most of us face on a daily basis from poorly digested food, for reasons that I explained at length in chapter 2. Not only will shorter bowel transit time facilitate the elimination of toxins, but di-

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rect contact with vitamin С will directly neutralize much of the bac­terial toxicity in your gut before it gets absorbed. The direct contact with the vitamin С will inactivate or neutralize most bacterial tox­ins while facilitating their direct elimination with the shorter bowel transit time induced by the vitamin C. Of course, the high doses of oral vitamin С also allow the optimal absorption of vitamin С into the blood, where daily toxicity from all sources can also be neutral­ized as it appears in the blood. Periodically, for all of these reasons, if s also a good idea to take a "C-flush," taking enough vitamin С to deliberately induce this cleansing diarrhea. This is best done when you are not working and have easy access to a toilet. To minimize the buildup of uncomfortable gas, take a little powdered activated charcoal with the vitamin C. It is also extremely important to drink large amounts of water to prevent your body from becoming dehy­drated once the diarrhea starts. For those who have schedules that can deal with the inconvenience of the self-limited diarrhea, doing a "C-flush" on a daily basis can be a very healthy habit.

Some medical authorities continue to advise against megadose vitamin С therapy, claiming that it increases the incidence of kidney stones and the potential for kidney failure. With the use of sodium ascorbate as the primary source of vitamin C, these concerns just do not seem to be justified. In fact, the ability of vitamin С to neutral­ize so many different toxins appears to benefit those with kidney disease as well. However, large doses of vitamin С should probably be avoided if you drink very little water. Optimal hydration is im­portant in general, but you should avoid high doses of vitamin С (or anything else, for that matter) if you are chronically dehydrated.