Vitamin C

What are benefits of Vitamin C during cold or viral?

What is vitamin C?
Vitamin C is an important vitamin and antioxidant that the body uses to keep you strong and healthy. Vitamin C is used in
- the maintenance of bones,
- muscle,
- blood vessels.
- the formation of collagen
- helps the body absorb iron

Vitamin C is found naturally in:
- vegetables
- oranges
- other citrus fruits.

This key vitamin is also available as a natural dietary supplement in the form of vitamin C pills and vitamin C chew able tablets.

Vitamin C and Common Cold
- The common cold is caused by several strains of viruses which includes the rhinovirus and the coronavirus.
- However, vitamin C does not prevent the common cold or decrease the severity of symptoms.
- In the 1970s, Linus Pauling argued that vitamin C could significantly decrease the incidence of the common cold.
- Vitamin C for the common cold is such a widely accepted treatment.
- We seek it in fortified juices, cough drops, and tea.
- Vitamin C was first touted for the common cold in the 1970s.

Other facts found are
- The average adult who suffers with a cold for 12 days a year would still suffer for 11 days a year if that person took a high dose of vitamin C every day during that year.
- For the average child who suffers about 28 days of cold illness a year, taking daily high-dose vitamin C would still mean 24 days of cold illness.
- When vitamin C was tested for treatment of colds in 7 separate studies, vitamin C was no more effective than placebo at shortening the duration of cold symptoms.

A prospective, controlled study focuses on:
- 715 students in a technical training facility found that vitamin C in mega doses administered before or after the appearance of cold and flu symptoms relieved and prevented the symptoms in the test population compared with the control group.
- More than 30 clinical trials with over 10,000 participants have examined the effects of taking daily vitamin C in doses up to 2 g/day.
- A review of Cochrane, PubMed, Natural Standard, and the National Center for Complementary and Alternative Medicine databases found that regular vitamin C intake may reduce the duration of cold symptoms in both adults and children.
- It does not decrease the severity of cold symptoms.
- However, in a subgroup of marathon runners, skiers, and soldiers training in the Arctic doses ranging from 250 mg/day to 1 g/day decreased the incidence of colds by 50%.
- Researchers concluded that vitamin C does not prevent or treat the common cold.
- It is better to consume natural foods such as red peppers, oranges, strawberries and grapefruit.
- It is acceptable to consume vitamin C from a supplement and still maintain adequate intake levels.

Daily Dosage
- The recommended daily allowance for vitamin C in the United States is 75 mg per day for women and 90 mg per day for men
- Taking doses above the RDA may have healthful benefits.
- Typically 70-90% of vitamin C is absorbed in the body but when taken in doses higher than 1 g, absorption decreases to 75%
- Further, it decreases to merely 16% after a 12 g dose.
- Popular vitamin C supplementation products, such as Airborne or Emergen-C, contain much higher doses of vitamins than necessary.

Overdose of vitamin C
- Taking vitamin C supplements in the recommended amounts is safe.
- The RDA or recommended daily allowance is 90 mg for men and 75 mg for women.
- High doses of vitamin C (greater than 2000 milligrams per day for adults) may cause kidney stones, nausea and diarrhea.

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Scurvy – Vitamin C Deficiency – Causes, Symptoms, Remedies and Dietary Considerations

Scurvy is also called Vitamin C deficiency disease. It is one of the oldest known deficiency disease. The disease is common among children and teenagers. Humans are unable to synthesize vitamin C – which is necessary for collagen production and iron absorption – and so they must obtain it from external sources (such as citrus fruits).

CAUSES FOR SCURVY

- Lack of Vitamin C or ascorbic acid.
- Inadequate intake of fresh fruits and vegetables.
- Stress which increases the utilization of ascorbic acid.
- People who have spend lot of time away from the main land like sailors.
- Ignorance.
- Difficulty orally ingesting foods.

SYMPTOMS FOR SCURVY

- Loss of appetite.
- Exhaustion.
- General weakness.
- Paleness.
- Sunken eyes.
- Bleeding of gums.
- Fragile capillaries.
- Loosened teeth.
- Petechial hemorrhage of the skin and mucous membranes.
- Eye bleeding.

Diagnosis of Scurvy is done by calculating actual vitamin C levels that can be obtained by using laboratory tests that analyze serum ascorbic acid levels.

REMEDIES FOR SCURVY

- Lime and Lemon are rich sources of vitamin C, the juice of one lime or lemon mixed in a glass of water with a teaspoon of honey should be taken for treating this condition.
- Mango powder or aamchoor is an effective remedy for scurvy.
- Try to eat potato meals at least two-three times in a week. It is very beneficial in such a condition. It contains 17mg of vitamin C in approximately 100 mg of potatoes.
- Indian Gooseberry is the richest source of vitamin C. Dry amla should be powdered with an equal amount of sugar and one tsp thrice a day should be taken daily.
- Boil about 15gms dried leaves of jaundice berry in 500ml of water till it is reduced to one-third. It should be in the doses of 2 to 4ml.

DIETARY AND OTHER CONSIDERATIONS

- After birth, children should be breast fed as mother’s milk is pure and fresh and contains correct proportions of all the necessary nutrients.
- Foods that contain vitamin C are oranges, lemons, blackcurrants, guava, kiwifruit, papaya, tomatoes, strawberries, carrots, bell peppers,broccoli, potatoes, cabbage, spinach, paprika, liver, oysters.
- Sleep in a well ventilated room.
- Undertake outdoor exercises like walking, swimming, cycling.

Research: Taking Vitamin C with insulin stops blood vessel damage

For people with Type 1 diabetes with a history of poor glucose control, there is a very high chance of complications caused due to damage to blood vessels. These complications occur if the patients is suffering from a cardiovascular disease, or from diabetes. If this damage happens, some of the additional health problems include heart disease, reduced circulation, and amputation, kidney disease and diabetic retinopathy. In new research, it was found that taking Vitamin C with insulin can stop this blood vessel damage (link to article):

While neither therapy produced desired results when used alone, the combination of insulin to control blood sugar together with the use of Vitamin C, stopped blood vessel damage caused by the disease in patients with poor glucose control, said researchers.
nsulin and many other drugs have long been used to control blood sugar, but Ihnat – in an earlier project with scientists in Italy and Hungary – found that cells have a “memory” that causes damage to continue even when blood sugar is controlled. By adding antioxidants like Vitamin C, Ihnat found that cell “memory” disappeared and cell function and oxidation stress were normalized. “For patients with diabetes, this means simply getting their glucose under control is not enough. An antioxidant-based therapy combined with glucose control will give patients more of an advantage and lessen the chance of complications with diabetes,” the expert added.

Of course, since this is research, and not yet a proven and stated scientific theory, this means that you cannot take this as treatment. However, if you are not getting enough Vitamin C in your diet, there is no problem with adding more Vitamin C.