American Fitness Professionals & Associates

By: Dr. Bill Misner Ph.D.

Humans unlike animals cannot make vitamin C, we need to ingest it from exogenous supplement or diet. Work on mammalian biosynthesis of ascorbic acid indicates that the vitamin C story as is generally accepted represents an oversimplification of available evidence.[1, 2, 3]

This often leads to misinterpretations and false impressions. It has been proposed that the typical biochemical lesion which produces the human need for exogenous sources of ascorbic acid, is the absence of the active enzyme, l-gulonolactone oxidase from the liver[4].

A defect or loss of the gene controlling the synthesis of this enzyme in man, blocks the final phase in the series for converting glucose to ascorbic acid. Virus can mutate cells, X-Rays can do it and it can occur by chance. Such a mutation could have happened, denying all progenies of this mutated animal the ability to produce ascorbic acid. Survival now requires ascorbic acid from an exogenous source. This is not remarkable. Other recognized genetic diseases in which a missing enzyme causes a pathological syndrome, in man, are phenylketonuria, galactosemia and alkaptonuria.

Biochemist Irwin Stones’ concept has practical value, The inability of man to manufacture his own ascorbic acid, perhaps due to genetic fault, has been called “hypoascorbemia” by Irwin Stone.[5] The origin of this “defect” is purely hypothetical.

In earlier times, humans consumed large amounts of vitamin C in their fresh and wholesome native diet. Man is one of the few mammals unable to manufacture ascorbic acid in his liver. Most other animals, except the ape-family and guinea pigs, produce ascorbic acid in the liver from glucose in relative amounts much higher than we get from our diets today.

For this reason, Dr. Linus Pauling once suggested the human body needs somewhere between 2,000 and 18,000 mg. of vitamin C daily.

These amounts seem a little high, given the basic food values of vitamin C. Others feel we need 600–1,200 mg. daily based on extrapolations from the historical herbivore, early-human diet. These levels can be obtained today by eating sufficient fresh food; a diet that includes foods with high levels of vitamin C can provide several grams or more per day.

DEMAND AND APPLICATION OF VITAMIN C HAS MANY VARIABLES

Vitamin C or Ascorbic acid, is the enolic form of 3-oxo-L- gulofuranolactone. It can be prepared by synthesis from glucose, or extracted from plant sources such as rose hips, black currants or citrus fruits. It is easily oxidized in air.
Ascorbic acid is oxidized to dehydroascorbic acid, which can undergo irreversible hydrolysis to 2,3-diketo-L-gulonic acid, with decarboxylation to CO2 and components of the pentose phosphate cycle or oxalic acid plus threonic acid.

It is essential for the formation of collagen and intercellular material, bone and teeth and for the healing of wounds.
It helps maintain elasticity of the skin, aids the absorption of iron and improves resistance to infection. It is used in the treatment of scurvy and may prevent the occurrence and development of cancer.

SEASE-PREVENTION REQUIRED DOSE, ABSORPTION, AND CONCENTRATION

The RDA for adults is considered to be 60 mg. We need only about 10-20 mg. to prevent scurvy, and there is more than that in one portion of most fruits or vegetables. Infants need 35 mg.; about 50 mg. between ages one and fourteen and 60 mg. afterward are the suggested minimums.

During pregnancy, 80 mg. are required; 100 mg. are needed during lactation. Realistically, between 100-150 mg. daily is a minimum dosage for most people.

Some ascorbic acid is stored in the body, where it seems to concentrate in the organs of higher metabolic activity.
These include the adrenal glands (about 30 mg.), pituitary, brain, eyes, ovaries, and testes. A total of about 30 mg. per pound of body weight.

Vitamin C is absorbed from the gastrointestinal tract in the form of ascorbic acid, while dehydroascorbic acid is reduced to ascorbic acid for gastrointestinal absorption. Most ascorbic acid is excreted by the kidneys, but a limited amount is metabolized in the body.

By inference, tissues that maintain a higher concentration of vitamin C would be most susceptible to chronic disorders as a result of chronic deficiency. Plasma ascorbic acid concentration of a healthy person is 8-14 mg/L, while adrenal glands, pituitary, thymus, corpus luteum, and retina have concentrations more than 100 times higher.

The Brain, spleen, lung, testicle, lymph glands, liver, thyroid, small intestinal mucosa, leukocytes, pancreas, kidney, and salivary glands have concentrations 10-50 times that of plasma. The skeletal, smooth and cardiac muscle, and erythrocytes have concentrations about 10 times that of plasma. Vitamin C supplementation would probably have a very positive affect on these organs particularly.

According to Dr. Colgan, Ph.D., who researched vitamin C absorption rates in athletes observed it to vary with each individual from 100-1000%.[6] He indicates that when the bowels begin to produce soft stools, it is time to lower the dose intake to indicated bowel tolerance.

SPECIFIC FACTORS IMPACT THE RATE OF ABSORPTION FOR SUPPLY AND DEMAND

Ascorbic acid is readily absorbed from the intestines, the ideal rate is 80–90 percent of an ingested dose. It is metabolized by the body in roughly a two hour period and then usually out of the blood stream within three to four hours. For this reason, it is suggested that vitamin C supplements be taken at four-hour intervals rather than once a day; or it may be taken as time-released ascorbic acid with its fat-soluble palmitate derivative.

Vitamin C is used up even more rapidly under stressful conditions, with alcohol use, and with smoking. Vitamin C blood levels of smokers are much lower than those of nonsmokers given the same intakes.

Other situations and substances that reduce absorption or increase utilization include fever, viral illness, antibiotics, cortisone, aspirin and other pain medicines, environmental toxins such as DDT, petroleum products, or carbon monoxide, and exposure to heavy metals such as lead, mercury, or cadmium. Sulfa antibiotics increase elimination of vitamin C from the body by two to three times.

There are many factors which increase the demand by the body for ascorbic acid, and unless these are appreciated, calculated, and dosed, there may result depleted levels. It is vitally important that cognizance be taken of the demand by the body for ascorbic acid far beyond so-called scorbutic levels.

Briefly the demands depleting Ascorbic Acid stores are:

The age of the individual;
Habits — such as smoking, the use of alcohol, playing habits;
Sleep, especially when induced artificially;
Trauma.– trauma caused by a pathogen, the trauma of work, the trauma of surgery, the -trauma to the body produced accidentally or intentionally;
Kidney threshold;
Environment; Physiological stress;
Season of the year;
Loss in the stool;
Variations in individual absorption;
Variations in “binders” in commercial tablets;
Body chemistry;
Drugs;
Pesticides;
Body weight;
Inadequate storage

In spite of all these factors here noted, agreement between Conservative Allopathic M.D.’s and Alternative less-conservative M.D.’s is remarkably near.

ALLOPATHIC VS. ALTERNATIVE MEDICAL VIEW

Dr. Mark Levine, from conservative medical practice, Chief of Molecular and Clinical Nutrition at the National Institutes of Health(NIH), and recent author of a research project proposing increased RDA dose amounts in the Journal of the American Medical Association publication, suggested, “At 100 milligrams all the tissues are saturated, at 200 milligrams, the blood plasma is saturated, but at 500 milligrams dose, then absorption levels appear complete, and rate of absorption begins to decrease.

“Efficient absorption of vitamin C is optimal in ranges of up to 500 mg. per single dose. Dr. Andrew Weil, an alternative medicine M.D., reviewed of vitamin C dose in August of 1999, “Many of you have heard that I’ve reduced my recommended dosage of vitamin C from 2,000 to 6,000 mg divided into three doses a day to only 200 to 500 mg divided into two doses.

I made the change after I examined two recent studies that show lower levels of ascorbic acid more than saturate the body’s tissues, and thus are enough to protect against cancer, heart disease and other chronic illnesses.

A review of clinical trials published in the April 21st issue of the Journal of the American Medical Association concluded that 200 mg a day is the maximum human cells can absorb, making anything above that level a waste. I wouldn’t worry if you’ve been taking the higher dosages I’ve recommended in the past as vitamin C is water soluble and anything not used by the body quickly passes out. In fact, I still recommend higher dosages to those not getting at least five servings of fruits and vegetables as part of their daily diet.”[7]

A CONCLUSIVE RATIONALE

The rationale suggestion is for those who are moderately active[1-2 hours per day], who live in a congested city environment, who work indoors enclosed within the closed confines of other workers, who are exposed to environmental toxins or commercial generated toxic substances, who come from a family predisposed to degenerative autoimmune disorders, who smoke, who drink alcohol, who eat less than 5 servings per day fresh vegetables and fruits, the need for 2 to 4 divided doses ranging from 200-500 milligrams each dose as tolerated by a healthy solid-stool excretion is reasonable.

Once a loose or soft bowel movement is experienced, a specific signal of body overdose advises lowering exogenous dose intake volume rate.

REFERENCES

[1]-Grollman, A. P. & Lehninger, A. L.: Arch. Biochem., 69:458, 1957.
[2]-Chattejee, I. B., Kar, N. C., Guha, B. C.: N.Y. Acad. Science 92:36, 1961.
[3]-Isherwood, F. A. & Mapson, L. W.: N.Y. Acad. Science 92:6, 1961.
[4]-Burns, J. J. Am. J. Med. 26: 740, 1959.
[5]-Stone, I.: Brief Proposal Per. Biology & Medicine, Autumn 1966.
[6]-Colgan M, OPTIMUM SPORTS NUTRITION, Advanced Research Press, New York, 1993:11-12.
[7]-Dr. Andrew Weil’s Statements http://www.pathfinder.com/drweil/qa_answer/0,3189,1579,00.html

Dr. Bill Misner, Ph.D. is the Director of Research and Product Development for E-CAPS INC. & HAMMER NUTRITION LTD., supplement anufacturers specializing in fuels, substrates, and supplements for endurance athletes. Dr. Misner published NUTRITION FOR ENDURANCE:FINDING ANOTHER GEAR, Dolezal & Associates Publishing, Livermore, Calif. 1998.
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