I have no doubt of the value of vitamin C in its role in health.  I do find it interesting that almost everyone makes no distinction between ascorbic acid (the shell of the molecule) and the whole complex.  We are being grossly cheated when we buy merely ascorbic acid, thinking that this is the real deal.  Vitamins that are found naturally in whole foods come with all of their necessary components.  There are many parts to the complex (that we know of):  Rutin, Bioflavonoids (vitamin P), Factor K, Factor J, Factor P, Tyrosinase, Ascorbinogen, and Ascorbic Acid.  These enzymes, co-enzymes, and co-factors work together to produce their intended biologic effects.  Vitamins do not exist as single components that act on their own.  

The majority of vitamins that are sold in pharmacies, grocery stores, and vitamin shops are synthetic concoctions, which are only isolated portions of the vitamins that occur naturally in food and other ingredients that make it sound as though one is really getting more in the product.

When we take only the ascorbic acid found in a synthetic vitamin C tablet or powder, the body must gather all of the other components of the full vitamin C complex from your body’s tissues in order to make use of it. The body often does not have adequate reserves of the other components and ascorbic acid itself does not provide any of the health benefits that the full vitamin C complex does. In effect, that vitamin, taken for its nutritional value, becomes an anti-nutrient.  After circulating through your system, the unused ascorbic acid is eliminated through your urine.  There is some truth to the idea of having "expensive urine" because the body excretes what it cannot or does not use.

Whole food vitamin C is available but it is not commonly found.  

Ascorbic Acid can damage your body. It looks to complete the task of producing REAL C and searches for its co-factors. It will try to rob it from certain body tissues and cause problems in the area it steals from.

So what is the real test for the treatment of scurvy? Only REAL Vitamin C with its co-factors and bioflavanoids will cure and treat scurvy. Ascorbic Acid will not. Ascorbic Acid is merely nothing but cheap, high heated, synthetic junk combined with toxic tagalong fillers and artificial flavors and is much more harmful than it is health promoting. But it sells so well. I get so sick of the so-called nutrition experts on early morning TV who have, IMO, very little knowledge about nutrition. So much misinformation gets thrown around. I recently watched a local TV show here in San Diego where the nutritionist cut a 1/4" slice of a yellow bell pepper and claimed that this is all one needs for daily Vit C consumption. Okay, maybe one may not contract scurvy with this small portion, but who knows. Then she went on to talk about desserts. Another dietician on the Today Show gave advice to drink diet soda's, yogurt, and other gimic foods to lose weight. Diet sodas are filled with junk, yogurt is a poor substitute for probiotics and restoring the natural gut flora and is filled with disguised "MSG" and the list goes on. Folks tend to jump on the bandwagon of these nutritionists/dieticians because they consider them knowledgeable. Most of them stick to FDA guidelines which is troubling to begin with. Our bodies require so much more Vit C than any FDA recommendation. I take about 2 gm of real Vit C/daily, but my diet is extremely high in fruit and raw veggies.

These guys got it right. RAW Vitamins without the toxic fillers and exipients. This is a free copy of the book and is down-loadable at:

Certain important points were not mentioned in this article

Was vitamin C intake measured in the subjects?

What is the relationship between dietary intake of vitamin C and plasma levels?

Are there individual differences in the ability to metabolize thie vitamin?

What is the rationale for studying these levels in children (who tend to have normal blood pressure)?

It is my impression that blood pressures of young women (ages 18-21)  tend more toward the normal range than those of older women .The total range of blood pressures in young women is probably very small. From the standpoint of statistics, it is difficult to find a meaningful correlation within a restricted range.

The conclusions you draw are not adequately supported by the facts you cite.

Vitamins should be certified as being 100% from natural sources, or they may not benefit you, and can actually have adverse effects on your life expectancy, as shown in a recent meta-study of vitamin supplements (synthetic vitamin C was the only exception: it produced a neutral result. Interestingly, I am informed that if synthetic vitamin C is taken without some of the natural form, it is not utilised, and flushed out in the urine).

Those of you who are taking the cheaper, synthetic form, would be sensible to consume it with, say, an orange, or grapefruit, their FRESHLY SQUEEZED juice, or a reasonable amount another source of NATURAL vitamin C. The R.D.I. for vitamin C can be met with just half an orange, so that much, 3 times daily, with any supplements, doesn't seem excessive. Comments? Verification? Refutations?

The article (not Dr. M's comments necessarily) was far too brief and lacking in information to be helpful. As someone who takes HBP med and has tried all the natural cures, I can say that the stated reduction is essentially meaningless; to small to be of significance. Also, it was not clear if there were any controls in the 'trial' (to use that word loosely), and usually higher general levels of some vitamin just means that those people take more vitamins and eat better than average, so any number of measurments would have yeilded the same results. Let's address HBP in this forum with something natural that will really bring it down and is demonstrable!

I really don't understand: If Vit C is acidic, and it's a good vitamin that cures many diseases, how come alcaline waters are good for health? When you eat an orange, you feel it's something healthy, and it is acidic. "  Dr. Klenner successfully treated with AGGRESSIVE Vitamin C therapy"

These aggressive doses for sure create acid in the body, and what about alcaline in the body? Isnt it condradictory?          

From the Weston Price web site:

Compared with muscle meats, organ meats are richer in just about every nutrient, including minerals like phosphorus, iron, copper, magnesium and iodine, and in B vitamins including B1, B2, B6, folic acid and especially vitamin B12. Organ meats provide high levels of the all-important fat-soluble vitamins A, D, E and K, especially if the animals live outside in the sunlight and eat green grass. Organ meats are also rich in beneficial fatty acids such as arachidonic acid, EPA and DHA. Organ meats even contain vitamin C—liver is richer in vitamin C than apples or carrots! Even if you add only small amounts of organ meats to your ground meat dishes, you are providing your family with super nutrition. . . in ways that everyone likes and are easy to consume.

Citrus will deliver natural vitamin C balanced with the bioflavinoids, and whilst you may not achieve mega-doses, citrus is good for many things, and not just dietary.

For a natural starter for the barbeque or fire place, use dried citrus peel instead of commercial fire starters. The oil from the peels is also a great natural cleaner around the home...and smells lovely.

Healthier for the planet, too.

Many of the berries (eg goji or wolfberry) deliver much higher levels of vitamin C per unit of weight.

For persons who eat predominantly meat based foods, the organs of small herbivors DO contain huge levels of vitamin C.

On age, I am happy to see researchers focusing on when disease actually begins and following those trend lines. Most adult diseases begin at this time and earlier and only manifest clinically at much later stages and are more entrenched then. There is no mention of methodology, so i don't know if they were supplemented or just monitored for plasma C levels. If it was just plasma levels without supplementation, then there are too many other factors that probably contribute to place it on C alone. Kids that have higher levels unsupplemented are probably doing a host of other positive dietary things that could contribute.

I would disagree that there is no difference with natural vs. synthetic. Camu camu is probaly the best, but research other natural sources and use a variety, especially in the form of food. Most synthetic ascorbic acid is from a corn source and more than likely GMO.

On exercise, get Phil Maffetone's, Everyone is an Athlete. It is out of print but available used for between 10 and 20 dollars. It explains maintaining aerobic/anaerobic balance better than any source I've seen.Too much aerobic training manifests the same symptomatically as too little. Nutritional components specific to each is covered as well. You may be doing the right exercises but sabotaging the results with certain foods/drinks or the timing therein. He has been treating and training athletes for the past 30 years. He fully elucidates the difference between being fit and being healthy.

Thank you Moo & Ghina!

I take     HealthForce Nutritionals Vitamin C Powder. Just copy and paste this into your search engine. It is a natural form of Vitamin C.

First, regarding Georgium concern that “plenty of fruit is a lot of sugar … and mainly vegetarian could be too much grain … that is to say sugar too”:  Dr. Mercola and very many others stress that harm is from sugar in High Fructose Corn Syrup and other junk in processed food. Also, Dr. Mercola and others insist on the necessity of alkaline pH, which is the best to achieve by eating mostly raw food, as Dr. Mercola does himself.

In addition to what is said in the article being discussed here, that vitamin C “is also best taken with bioflavanoids, which further enhance its benefits” I am reminding that vitamin C works synergically with selenium and vitamin E. I am 69 years old, eat already for more than 3 years mostly raw food  (including a daily cup of raw oats mixed with a cup of grated apples, a grated carrot and a tbsp of olive oil), and eat about 30 grams of dark chocolate, that is widely known to reduce cholesterol.

I take for more than 15 years daily: 1000 mg of vitamin C (mostly the cheapest one), two 200 mg capsules of high gamma tocopherol vitamin E and 400 mcg of selenium. I practically got rid of basal cell carcinoma, my blood pressure is around 115/65, and luckily, till now, no medications. Whoever is concerned with the health, avoid AGE products that are formed in grilled and smoked food.

I've been on blood pressure medication for many years, and though my readings aren't what could be called 'life threatening', they have remained high and I have told by the medical profession that I have 'resistant hypertension'. I want very much to get off the medication (I also suspect side effects), but I need to know how to do this without risk. All the suggestions in this article I'm either utilizing or am willing to utilize, but the problem of becoming drug-free is still my main hurdle. Does anyone have some clues?

From my files: (over 3000 articles and personal accounts.)

Let Food be your Medicine...

VITAMIN C HAS BEEN KNOWN TO CURE OVER 30 MAJOR DISEASES FOR OVER 50 YEARS

Dr. Andrew Saul, Ph.D.

If so, why haven't you heard more about it?  Why haven't more doctors

used Vitamin C as medicine?

Progress takes time, unfortunately.  Fresh fruit was known to cure

scurvy by 1753, yet governments ignored the fact for nearly 100 years.

Countless thousands died in the meantime.  The 19th century doctor who

first advocated washing one's hands between patients died ignored and in

disgrace with the medical profession.  Toxic mercury was used as

medicine into the twentieth century.  And so it has been.

The first physician to aggressively use Vitamin C to cure diseases was

Frederick R. Klenner, M.D. beginning back in the early 1940's.  Dr.

Klenner consistently cured chicken pox, measles, mumps, tetanus and

polio with huge doses of the vitamin.  While vaccines are now available

for these illnesses, please remember this was not the case in the 1940's.

The following is a partial list of the conditions that Dr. Klenner successfully

treated with aggressive Vitamin C therapy:

(Full list on www.leangreencafe.blogspot.com)

   Pneumonia

   Encephalitis

   Herpes Zoster (shingles)

   Herpes Simplex

   Mononucleosis

   Pancreatitis

   Hepatitis

   Rocky Mountain Spotted Fever

   Bladder Infection

   Alcoholism

   Arthritis

   Some Cancers

   Leukemia

   Atherosclerosis

   Ruptured Intervertebral Disc

   High Cholesterol

   Corneal Ulcer

   Diabetes

This seems like an impossible list of Vitamin C cures.  At this point,

you can either dismiss the subject or investigate further.  Dr. Klenner

chose to investigate.  He used massive doses of Vitamin C

for over forty years of family practice.  He wrote dozens of medical articles.

Garlic capsules have reduced BP by 10% and more.

Distilled Fish Oil reduces inflammation of blood vessels.

Blood Pressure can be reduced very naturally, and quickly. I have found friends of mine lowering their blood pressure in a very short time with the 'elixer of life' WATER at the proper PH balance, but much more. If you want to simply drink more water and let it flush out of the body the acid waste build up, you may well find many other benefits as people I know have. Myself? My face went from scratchy, dry, and crepy looking, to satin smooth and plump. As far as I am concerned it is a 'beauty water' for my glow.

Check it out at WholeLifeWater for the skin gets smooth and hydrated, the body/belly fat goes away because the toxins are leaving, the energy returns and the BP often goes back to normal in a very short time. One friend dropped 100 points, and another is already down 20 points in the very first 3 days of drinking the water for better health, hydration, detoxification and more--longevity. He has two daughters and lost his wife to cancer, so he wants to stick around!  It is only water but it is called, 'magic water' in Japan. They are some of the healthiest people on the planet and focused more on prevention.  Happy Health to you too, with whole life water.