Vitamin C

A water-soluble vitamin, which means your body doesn’t store it. Unlike most other mammals, humans do not have the ability to make vitamin C, which means you need to consume it via your diet. It’s numerous functions in the human body include being a powerful antioxidant, as vitamin C is known to block some of the damage caused by DNA-damaging free radicals. It also acts as an essential cofactor in enzymatic reactions. In this way, it plays a role in your body’s production of collagen, carnitine (which helps your body turn fat into energy), and catecholamines (hormones made by your adrenal glands), for starters. It is also used by your body for wound healing, repairing, and maintaining the health of your bones and teeth, and plays a role in helping your body absorb iron.¹ However, it’s vitamin C’s role as an antioxidant that it is most well known for.

There are 65,550 articles on vitamin C on PubMed. Picking out a few of these reveals a wide range of health benefits associated with the substance. The journal Nutrients discusses the well-known role of vitamin C supplementation in preventing and lessening the duration of the common cold (which Wikipedia denies). The European Journal of Cell Biology discusses vitamin C (as L-ascorbate)’s cancer-fighting properties, specifically in colorectal cancer. Wikipedia categorically denies any anti-cancer effects in the nutrient, dismissing the reams of studies in the scientific literature as “observational and uncontrolled studies.” CNS Neuroscience and Therapeutics analyzes vitamin C’s antioxidant actions in the central nervous system and how these processes inhibit the onset of neurodegenerative diseases like Alzheimer’s and Parkinson’s.

Vitamin C also:

• Plays a central role in immune system function
• Prevents scurvy
• Indicates promise as a non-toxic cancer treatment
• Facilitates iron absorption

Ascorbic Acid Is Not Vitamin C

Ascorbic acid is not vitamin C. Alpha tocopherol is not vitamin E. Retinoic acid is not vitamin A. And so on through the other vitamins. Vast sums of money have been expended to make these myths part of Conventional Wisdom. If you have several college degrees and all this is news to you, don’t feel bad. Unless you think your education ended at Commencement. Which is generally true.

Vitamins are not individual molecular compounds. Vitamins are biological complexes. They are multi-step biochemical interactions whose action is dependent upon a number of variables within the biological terrain. Vitamin activity only takes place when all conditions are met within that environment, and when all co-factors and components of the entire vitamin complex are present and working together. Vitamin activity is even more than the sum of all those parts; it also involves timing.

Vitamins cannot be isolated from their complexes and still perform their specific life functions within the cells. When isolated into artificial commercial forms, like ascorbic acid, these purified synthetics act as drugs in the body. They are no longer vitamins, and to call them such is inaccurate. A vitamin is “a working process consisting of the nutrient, enzymes, coenzymes, antioxidants, and trace minerals activators.” – Royal Lee “What Is a Vitamin?” Applied Trophology, Aug 1956

Dr. Royal Lee was the pioneer researcher in the field of whole food vitamins. For decades he documented the basic facts summarized in this chapter. His work has never been scientifically refuted. Anyone who seriously undertakes the study of vitamins today corroborates Lee’s work. His story is a fascinating study in itself, a study of indomitable perseverance in the pursuit of true principles. Jensen tells us that Royal Lee’s work will not be appreciated until the next century. Hasn’t happened yet.

Lee felt the full weight of organized drugs/medicine bearing down on him. Reading like something out of Schindler’s List, we learn that the FDA not only persecuted Lee for challenging the economics of synthetic vitamins, produced by giant drug companies, but that he was actually ordered by a court to burn all his research of the past 20 years! Burn his research! When has that ever happened in this country? They didn’t even do that to Larry Flynt.

Whole Vs. Fractionated

OK, natural vs. synthetic vitamin C. Most sources equate vitamin C with ascorbic acid, as though they were the same thing. They’re not. Ascorbic acid is an isolate, a fraction, a distillate of naturally occurring vitamin C. In addition to ascorbic acid, vitamin C must include rutin, bioflavonoids, Factor K, Factor J, Factor P, tyrosinase, ascorbinogen, and other components.

In addition, mineral co-factors must be available in proper amounts.

If any of these parts are missing, there is no vitamin C, no vitamin activity. When some of them are present, the body will draw on its own stores to make up the differences, so that the whole vitamin may be present. Only then will vitamin activity take place, provided that all other conditions and co-factors are present. Ascorbic acid is described merely as the “antioxidant wrapper” portion of vitamin C; ascorbic acid protects the functional parts of the vitamin from rapid oxidation or breakdown. (Somer, p 58 “Vitamin C: A Lesson in Keeping An Open Mind” The Nutrition Report)

Over 90% of ascorbic acid in the USA is manufactured at a facility in Nutley, New Jersey, owned by Hoffman-LaRoche, one of the world’s biggest drug manufacturers (1 800 526 0189). Here ascorbic acid is made from a process involving cornstarch and volatile acids. Most U.S. vitamin companies then buy the bulk ascorbic acid from this single facility. After that, marketing takes over. Each company makes its own labels, its own claims, and its own formulations, each one claiming to have the superior form of vitamin C, even though it all came from the same place, and it’s really not vitamin C at all.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QMULeO4sR3I

Fractionated = Synthetic = Crystalline = Fake

The word “synthetic” means two things:

1. manmade
2. occurs nowhere in nature

From the outset, it is crucial to understand the difference between vitamins and vitamin activity. The vitamin is the biochemical complex. Vitamin activity means the actual biological and cellular changes that take place when the stage is set for the vitamin complex to act.

Think of it like gas and a car. Pumping the gas into the tank doesn’t necessarily mean the car is going anywhere. Other conditions and factors must be also present, in order for Activity to occur. The gas line to the carburetor must be clear, the carburetor jets must be set, there must be an exact mixture of air flow, the ignition must be turned on, the spark plugs must be clean, the exact amount of gas must reach each spark plug right before it fires, no gas must be left over in the cylinder after the plug fires Getting the idea? If any of this stuff is missing, there’s no Activity: the car doesn’t run, or at least not very well.

Amazing as it may sound if you’re hearing this for the first time, vitamins are more than the synthetic fractions we are commonly taught they are. The ascorbic acid you buy at the grocery store every few weeks, thinking you are buying Vitamin C, is just a chemical copy of naturally occurring ascorbic acid, which itself is still only a fraction of the actual Vitamin C. Real vitamin C is part of something living, and as such, can impart life.

Your synthetic, fractionated chemical ascorbic acid never grew in the ground, never saw the light of day, never was alive or part of anything alive. It’s a chemical, a cornstarch derivative, a sulfuric acid by-product. In your body it’s just another drug. Synthetic vitamins have toxic effects from mega-doses and actually can increase the white blood cell count. Vitamins are only necessary in minute quantities on a daily basis. Whole food vitamins, by contrast, are not toxic since the vitamin is complexed in its integral working form, and requires nothing from the body, and triggers no immune response.

Linus Pauling and Ascorbic Acid

Now I can hear you asking, what about Linus Pauling, double Nobel Prize laureate, and his lifetime espousal of megadosing on ascorbic acid – up to 10 grams per day? He lived to be 93. Are we saying that he took a synthetic vitamin all that time? Yes, that’s exactly right. Bernard Jensen suggests that ascorbic acid has an acidifying effect in the body, making an unfriendly environment for viruses, Candida, and pathogenic bacteria. “Most infectious pathogenic bacteria thrive in an alkaline pH.” Pauling’s good health was not the result of synthetic vitamin activity. Good genetics and the acidifying effect are likely what brought longevity to Linus Pauling. He eventually died of cancer.

Dr. Royal Lee’s phrase “biological wheels within wheels” always comes up in any discussion of whole food vitamins. Essentially it means that individual synergists cannot function as a vitamin in a chemically isolated form, like ascorbic acid. Vitamins are living complexes which contribute to other higher living complexes – like cell repair, collagen manufacture, and maintenance of blood circulation. Ascorbic acid is not a living complex. It is a copy of a part of a living complex known as vitamin C. Ascorbic acid is a fractionated, crystalline isolate of vitamin C.

Why are you a high school graduate or a college graduate or a doctor, and you don’t know this? Because drug manufacturers like things clean and simple and cheap to produce. To this simple fact add the politics which always comes into play when anyone mentions the word “billions,” and you are beginning to get the idea about where to begin your investigation.

Vitamin C May Be as Helpful to Your Heart as Walking

A daily dose of vitamin C may have a similar effect as walking on a protein called endothelin-1, which promotes the constriction of small blood vessels. The study, which was presented at the American Physiological Society’s 14th International Conference on Endothelin, involved 35 sedentary, overweight, or obese adults.²

Those who took a daily time-release dose of vitamin C (500 milligrams, mg) reduced endothelin-1-mediated vessel constriction as much as those who walked daily. Endothelin-1 activity is known to be higher in those who are overweight and obese.

This makes small blood vessels more prone to constricting, which increases the risk of heart disease. As noted by the Daily Mail:

“[T]he team concluded that vitamin C supplementation represents an effective lifestyle strategy to reduce ET-1 mediated vessel constriction in overweight and obese adults,” particularly since many people do not engage in recommended levels of daily physical activity.³

Vitamin C Is Well Known for Helping Your Blood Vessels to Relax

Vitamin C is a simple intervention that can have far-reaching effects for heart health, even beyond its affect on endothelin-1, in part because of its role in vasodilation. As explained by the Linus Pauling Institute:⁴

“The ability of blood vessels to relax or dilate (vasodilation) is compromised in individuals with atherosclerosis. Damage to the heart muscle caused by a heart attack and damage to the brain caused by a stroke are related, in part, to the inability of blood vessels to dilate enough to allow blood flow to the affected areas.

The pain of angina pectoris is also related to insufficient dilation of the coronary arteries. Impaired vasodilation has been identified as an independent risk factor for cardiovascular disease.

Many randomized, double-blind, and placebo-controlled studies have shown that treatment with vitamin C consistently results in improved vasodilation in individuals with coronary heart disease.

It also occurred in those with angina pectoris, congestive heart failure, diabetes, high cholesterol, and high blood pressure. Improved vasodilation has been demonstrated at an oral dose of 500 mg of vitamin C daily.”

Even beyond vasodilation, a study published in the American Heart Journal revealed that each 20 micromole/liter (µmol/L) increase in plasma vitamin C was associated with a 9 percent reduction in heart failure mortality.⁵

According to Dr. Andrew Saul, editor of the Orthomolecular Medicine News Service, if everyone were to take 500 mg of vitamin C per day — the dose required to reach a healthy level of 80 µmol/L — an estimated 216,000 lives could be spared each year.

Vitamin C Is One Reason Why Vegetables Are So Good for Your Heart

Most people are aware that eating fresh vegetables and, to some extent, fruits, may benefit your heart health. However, researchers recently teased out one such benefit from the crowd, revealing that a primary reason why people who eat lots of fruits and vegetables have a lower risk of heart disease and early death is because of their high vitamin C levels.

A Danish study that followed more than 100,000 people found those with the highest intake of fruits and vegetables had a 15 percent lower risk of developing heart disease and a 20 percent lower risk of early death compared with those with the lowest intakes.⁶

The study also revealed that those with the highest plasma vitamin C levels had significantly reduced rates of heart disease and all-cause mortality. The researchers explained:⁷

“… [W]e can see that the reduced risk is related to high vitamin C concentrations in the blood from the fruit and vegetables… our data cannot exclude that a favorable effect of high intake of fruit and vegetables could in part be driven by high vitamin C concentrations.”

Vitamin C May Lower Your Blood Pressure and Help Keep Arteries Flexible

Adding on to vitamin C’s strong role in heart health, people who eat a diet rich in antioxidants like vitamin C may have a lower risk of high blood pressure.

Research published in the journal Hypertension revealed a “strong association between vitamin C concentrations, an indicator of fruit and vegetable consumption, and a lower level of blood pressure.”⁸

Vitamin C is also known to slow down the progression of hardening of the arteries (atherosclerosis). It may help keep your arteries flexible and prevents damage to LDL cholesterol. People with low levels of vitamin C are at increased risk of heart attack, peripheral artery disease, and stroke, all of which can stem from atherosclerosis.⁹

Beyond Heart Health: Why Else Do You Need Vitamin C?

To only classify vitamin C as a nutrient for your heart would be doing your health a disservice. Vitamin C is considered an anti-aging vitamin and actually reversed age-related abnormalities in mice with a premature aging disorder, restoring healthy aging.¹⁰

Vitamin C even plays a role in brain health, as it is necessary to make certain neurotransmitters, including serotonin.¹¹ It has also been found to play a role in preventing the common cold, cancer, osteoarthritis, age-related macular degeneration, asthma, and more. Vitamin C may also be useful for:¹²

In the video above, you can also hear from Dr. Ronald Hunninghake, an internationally recognized expert on vitamin C who has personally supervised more than 60,000 intravenous (IV) vitamin C administrations. Dr. Hunninghake explained:

“The way to really understand vitamin C is to go back to the writings of Irwin Stone who wrote The Healing Factor, which was a fantastic book written in the 70s about vitamin C. He points out that every creature, when they are sick, greatly increase their liver’s or their kidney’s production of vitamin C. But humans, primates, and guinea pigs have lost that ability.

We still have the gene that makes the L-gulonolactone oxidase enzyme that converts glucose to vitamin C but it’s non-functional. We have to get our vitamin C from the outside: from food. When we give vitamin C intravenously, what we’re doing is recreating your liver’s ability to synthesize tremendous amounts of vitamin C…  So I always look upon high dose vitamin C as nature’s way of dealing with crisis in terms of your health.”

IV vitamin C is used for a variety of illnesses, notably as an adjunct to cancer treatment and for chronic infections, such as cold, flu, or even chronic fatigue.

What Are the Best Food Sources of Vitamin C?

Many people associate citrus fruits with vitamin C – and they are a good source, but they’re far from the only one. Many vegetables as well as non-citrus fruits also contain vitamin C, so you can usually get plenty from your diet as long as you’re eating well. Particularly rich sources of vitamin C include:

You can also squeeze some fresh lemon or lime juice into a glass of water for a vitamin-C-rich beverage. And if you’re concerned you’re not eating enough fresh produce, consider juicing. For more information, please see my juicing page. Getting your vitamin C from food sources is ideal, as the vitamin C will work in synergy with other nutrients and compounds in the food. As reported by the George Mateljan Foundation:¹³

“Antioxidants in foods tend to work together in important and synergistic ways to provide protection against free radical damage. The most well-known of these connections is that between vitamin E and vitamin C. Specifically, vitamin C helps to protect vitamin E in people, such as smokers, who have chronic overproduction of free radicals. Similarly, we see the flavonoid class of plant-based antioxidants helping to make the free radical protection from vitamin C that much stronger.

This is great news, given that the foods that are most flavonoid-rich also tend to be among our better vitamin C sources. This synergistic protection is but one of many potential explanations for why the health benefits of plant-based diets cannot be replicated by nutrient supplements.”

When taking an oral vitamin C, you also want to be mindful of your dosing frequency. Dr. Steve Hickey, who wrote the book Ascorbate, has shown that if you take vitamin C frequently throughout the day you can achieve much higher plasma levels. So even though your kidneys will tend to rapidly excrete the vitamin C, by taking it every hour or two you can maintain a much higher plasma level than if you just dose it once a day (unless you’re taking an extended-release form of vitamin C).

Signs of Vitamin C Deficiency

In the US, serious vitamin C deficiency is rare, however many people do have low levels.¹⁴ If you’re elderly, for instance, you may have higher requirements for vitamin C, as aging may inhibit absorption. Smokers may also require more vitamin C due to the increased oxidative stress from cigarette smoke. Signs that you may need more vitamin C include:¹⁵

Generally speaking, if you’re regularly eating multiple servings of vegetables and fruits daily, your vitamin C levels are probably OK. However, keep in mind that the fresher the vegetables, the more vitamin C they’ll contain. According to George Mateljan foundation:¹⁶

“The same thing that makes vitamin C so important — its ability to protect against free radical damage — also makes it very prone to damage by heat, oxygen, and storage over time… The vitamin C content of food will start to decline as soon as it is picked, even though this decline can be slowed down and minimized by cooling and retention of the food in its whole form. But a fresh, vitamin C-rich vegetable like broccoli — if allowed to sit at room temperature for 6 days — can lose almost 80 percent of its vitamin C…

Long-term storage of vegetables can cost a significant amount of vitamin C. Kept frozen for a year, kale can lose half its vitamin C or more. Canning is even more detrimental, with 85 percent of the original vitamin C lost over the same year. While cooking will lower the amount of vitamin C in most foods… the amount of vitamin C lost will vary widely by cooking method. For example, basket-steaming broccoli for 15 minutes will reduce the vitamin C content by nearly one quarter.”

So eat vegetables as often as you can, but try to make sure they’re fresh and either raw or lightly cooked. As an alternative, you can also try making fermented vegetables at home. The vitamin C in sauerkraut(fermented cabbage) is about six times higher than in the same helping of unfermented cabbage approximately one week after fermentation begins, so it’s an excellent way to boost your vitamin C intake.

How Vitamin C Kills Cancer Cells

Research has also shown that vitamin C is selectively cytotoxic to cancer cells when administered intravenously (IV) in high doses, and has a number of heart- and cardiovascular benefits.

From my (Dr. Mercola’s) perspective, vitamin C is a very useful supplement that should be part of most cancer treatment protocols. Vitamin D is another crucial anti-cancer component I’ve written about on numerous occasions.

In order for vitamin C to effectively kill cancer cells, you need to have a very high concentration of vitamin C in your blood, and the only way to obtain these extreme levels is through IV administration, although using oral liposomal vitamin C can approach effectiveness at a fraction of the price, improved convenience and cost.

By bypassing the digestive tract, IV administration results in blood levels up to 500 times higher than what you can achieve through the oral route.

The mechanism behind vitamin C’s ability to selectively target cancer cells has to do with the generation of hydrogen peroxide, which is ultimately what kills the cancer cells. As reported by the University of Iowa:¹⁷

“In a new study^18,19 … Buettner and his colleagues have homed in on the biological details of how high-dose vitamin C kills cancer cells. The study shows that vitamin C breaks down easily, generating hydrogen peroxide, a so-called reactive oxygen species that can damage tissue and DNA.

The study also shows that tumor cells are much less capable of removing the damaging hydrogen peroxide than normal cells …

‘Thus, cancer cells are much more prone to damage and death from a high amount of hydrogen peroxide,’ says Buettner, a professor of radiation oncology and a member of Holden Comprehensive Cancer Center at the University of Iowa.

‘This explains how the very, very high levels of vitamin C used in our clinical trials do not affect normal tissue, but can be damaging to tumor tissue.’”

The reason normal tissues are not harmed by the high levels of hydrogen peroxide generated is that healthy cells have several ways of effectively removing it, thereby preventing buildup to toxic levels.

One of the primary pathways of removal is the enzyme catalase, and the study found that cells with reduced catalase activity were indeed more prone to die when exposed to high amounts of vitamin C.

This provides a hint at which cancers are likely the best candidates for high-dose vitamin C therapy — tumors with low catalase levels are likely to be the most responsive, whereas tumors with high catalase levels would be the least responsive. Next, the research team wants to develop methods to measure catalase in tumors.

Vitamin C Lowers Inflammation in Cancer Patients, and More

Another way vitamin C benefits cancer is by lowering inflammation in your body, as shown in a 2012 study.^20,21,22

As a general rule, chronic inflammation is a hallmark of cancer, and here they found that IV vitamin C treatment helps lower pro-inflammatory cytokines and C-reactive protein — two inflammatory markers — and that these improvements correlate with a reduction in tumor size.

It also helps lower the risk of metastasis. A positive response was noted in 75 percent of patients. This study was done by scientist at the Riordan Clinic, which is the successor to Linus Pauling and his work on vitamin C. There is likely no clinic in the world with as much experience with vitamin C as the Riordan Clinic.

Riordan carried out a 15-year-long research project called RECNAC (cancer spelled backwards), which showed vitamin C was selectively cytotoxic against cancer cells.

Other research^23,24 done by scientists at the Lewis Cantley of Weill Cornel Medicine in New York found high doses of vitamin C helps kill and eliminate colorectal cancer cells with certain genetic mutations. Other studies²⁵ have shown high-dose vitamin C can help slow the growth of prostate-, pancreatic-, liver- and colon cancer cells.

Human studies also show IV vitamin C can help improve symptoms associated with cancer and cancer treatment, such as fatigue, nausea, vomiting, pain and loss of appetite, and improve overall quality of life.

Vitamin C for Infectious Diseases

Vitamin C may be best known for its ability to combat infectious disease. Dr. Thomas Levy’s book, “Curing the Incurable,” details these benefits.

A perfect real-world example is the dramatic case of Allan Smith, who contracted a serious case of swine flu and was brought back from the brink of death using a combination of IV and oral vitamin C.

The case report was sent to me by Levy, who noted that, to his knowledge, vitamin C “has never failed to cure an acute viral syndrome.” According to Albert Szent-Gyorgyi (who won the Nobel Prize in 1937 for his discovery of vitamin C), “health” occurs when there is an ample flow and interchange of electrons in your cells.

Impaired or poor electron flow and interchange equals “disease,” and when the flow and interchange ceases entirely, your cells die. Oxidation, caused by free radicals in your body, involves the loss of electrons.

Antioxidants, both from your diet and endogenously produced, counter the disease process caused by oxidation (loss of electrons) by supplying electrons. Vitamin C is a major antioxidant, and according to Levy, perhaps the most important electron donor to maintain optimal electron flow in your cells.

In 2005, the Orthomolecular Medicine News Service (a non-profit and non-commercial informational resource), published findings that vitamin C is an effective treatment against the dreaded bird flu and other viruses.²⁶

As with cancer, extremely high doses are needed though — upwards of 200,000 to 300,000 milligrams (mg) of vitamin C, given intravenously. The reason for this is because the avian flu appears to “consume vitamin C very rapidly, similar to an acute viral hemorrhagic fever, somewhat like an Ebola infection.”

A number of other studies and clinical experiences also attest to vitamin C as a potent treatment strategy against all sorts of infectious diseases, including influenza,²⁷ encephalitis and measles.²⁸

Vitamin C for Sepsis

Vitamin C in combination with thiamine (B1) and hydrocortisone has also been shown to be dramatically helpful in the treatment of severe sepsis and septic shock. Sepsis is a life-threatening condition triggered by a systemic infection, caused by bacteria, viruses or parasites that ultimately affects the function of vital organs. Hospital-acquired infections that progress to sepsis is a significant cause of death.

As many as half of all in-hospital deaths are related to sepsis,²⁹ and recent research published in the Canadian Medical Association Journal proposes sepsis should be recognized as a distinct cause of death in hospitals around the world.³⁰ The cost of treating sepsis is high, topping $24 billion in 2014, with nearly 25 percent of all hospital charges attributed to the treatment of sepsis. As reported by Dr. Malcolm Kendrick, the study in question:³¹

“… demonstrates that if you give vitamin C (along with hydrocortisone and thiamine) for just over two days in patients admitted with sepsis (blood poisoning) the mortality rate falls from 40 percent to 8.5 percent. The mortality rate in low income countries is normally around 60 percent. Now, this was a small study, but it seems robust. It represents an almost five-fold reduction in mortality … ”

Vitamin C Is Also Good for Your Heart, Blood Vessels, Lungs and Eyes

Other studies focused on vitamin C shows it helps:

• Decrease risk of post-operative atrial fibrillation after heart surgery, thereby reducing the risk of stroke and heart failure. It also reduced the length of hospitalization after heart surgery. Oral administration reduced the length of hospital stay by 7 percent (less than half a day), whereas IV shortened it by 16 percent (1.5 days)^32,33
• Reduce high blood pressure — likely by protecting your body’s supply of nitric oxide (NO), a molecule that relaxes blood vessels. In one study,³⁴ both the systolic and diastolic (top and bottom) readings were inversely associated with ascorbic acid levels. Specifically, women with the highest levels of ascorbic acid had about 4.6 mm Hg lower systolic and just over 6 mm Hg lower diastolic blood pressure compared to those with the lowest ascorbic acid levels
• Reduce your risk of chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD), especially among smokers. In one study, heavy smokers with the highest vitamin C intake had a 77 percent lower risk of COPD than those with the lowest intake.³⁵ The mechanism for this effect is thought to be related to vitamin C’s ability to improve levels of vascular endothelial growth factor, and boost proliferation of alveolar cells in your lungs
• Prevent heart attacks, primarily by reducing inflammation³⁶
• Protect your vision by improving the function of your retinal cells, and reduce your risk for cataracts by fighting oxidative stress

Important Contraindication for IV Vitamin C Treatment

While the evidence strongly supports the use of IV vitamin C in high doses for infections, inflammation and even cancer, it’s important to get your glucose-6-phosphate dehydrogenase (G6PD) checked beforehand. G6PD is an enzyme your red blood cells need to maintain membrane integrity. High-dose IV vitamin C is actually a strong PRO-oxidant, and giving a pro-oxidant to a G6PD-deficient individual can cause hemolysis (rupturing) of their red blood cells.

So, administering IV vitamin C is not for the novice! I strongly recommend getting it done by an experienced practitioner who uses the Riordan protocol or some other protocol that ensures its done in a safe manner. Fortunately, G6PC deficiency is relatively uncommon.

People of Mediterranean- and African decent are at greater risk, but it’s rare even in those groups. Still, while it’s not a great concern that will prevent its use in most people, should you happen to be that rare person with a G6PC deficiency, the ramifications of barreling ahead with high dose IV vitamin C could be disastrous.

General Vitamin C Dosage Suggestions

Dr. Ronald Hunninghake — chief medical officer at the Riordan Clinic who has supervised 60,000 IV administrations of vitamin C — discusses the use of vitamin C for health and cancer protocols in the featured video. For cancer, research by the Riordan Clinic suggests you need a vitamin C blood level of around 300 to 400 mg/dl to achieve selective cytotoxicity against cancer cells.

To reach that post-IV saturation level, you’d need to administer somewhere between 25 to 50 grams of vitamin C intravenously. That’s up to 300 times the normal amount of vitamin C you’d get from eating a healthy diet. It’s important to understand that these extremely high levels are really only indicated for the treatment of cancers and infectious diseases, not for everyday, general health.

This is because vitamin C starts to have a pro-oxidant effect at these extreme levels — this is in fact what causes the hydrogen peroxide to be created in the first place. In other words, the hydrogen peroxide is a pro-oxidant effect of the vitamin C, so it needs to be used judiciously. You can learn more about using vitamin C as an adjunct to your cancer protocol on the Riordan Clinic’s website.³⁷

For everyday health, I believe your best bet is to eat a varied whole food diet, rich in vitamin C and other antioxidants, to avoid causing a nutritional imbalance.

For example, taking large doses of vitamin C (ascorbic acid) on a regular basis lowers your copper level, so if you are already deficient in copper and take high doses of vitamin C, you can compromise your immune system. So, while temporarily taking mega-doses of vitamin C supplements to combat a case of the cold or flu is unlikely to cause a problem, for long-term, daily use, you’re probably going to be better off simply squeezing some lemon juice into a glass of water and/or eating a vitamin C-rich diet.

Also remember that vitamin C is a water-soluble vitamin, so when you do take a supplement, it’s best to divide your daily dose and take it three times a day. Also, if you’re sensitive to vitamin C, you may experience diarrhea. This is an indication that you need to lower your dosage.

Lastly, evidence suggests liposomal vitamin C provides better absorption, so it’s my personal favorite. I always bring some liposomal vitamin C with me when I travel in case I or someone I travel with gets sick, and then I use two to four capsules every hour until better.

Sources:

• https://articles.mercola.com/sites/articles/archive/2015/09/21/vitamin-c-heart-health.aspx
• https://articles.mercola.com/sites/articles/archive/2017/03/06/vitamin-c-cancer-treatment.aspx