Science Fact - High C's

I am one of many people who take vitamin C supplements to stay healthy. But (like many people) I didn't really know how vitamin C actually works to make me healthier. So a number of questions came to my mind. Why do we take vitamin C supplements? Do we really need it? What about other animals? Can we take too much? What was the nickname of 18th century British sailors? All of these questions will be answered shortly, so read on.

Vitamin C deficiency has plagued our species for thousands of years. It took us a while, but we managed to figure out that fresh fruits and vegetables helped to prevent scurvy. Centuries later around 1930, vitamin C was "discovered" and proven to be the chemical that prevented scurvy.

Because we cannot make or store vitamin C (aka ascorbic acid), we can run out of it easily. When we don't get enough vitamin C in our diet we can get scurvy, a disease that makes you fall apart. Vitamin C is important in making collagen and thus connective tissue, so a lack of this vitamin (scurvy) can cause several bad effects including (in order of severity):

Easy bruising

Loose teeth

Fragile blood vessels

Massive internal bleeding

Death

People who did not have access to fresh fruit would be at serious risk for getting scurvy. The majority of these people were sailors. Many sailors in the 16th, 17th, and 18th centuries died of scurvy when traveling far distances such as across oceans. Fortunately, it was discovered that citrus fruit could prevent this horrible death. In 1747 the British navy began to fill their ships with limes to stave off scurvy during long voyages, and soon the British sailors were known as "Limeys".

We now know that humans need vitamin C, but what about other animals? Surprisingly, most animals and plants can make their own vitamin C. The only exceptions are humans, apes, guinnea pigs, fruit bats, and a species of trout. All other animals can synthesize vitamin C in their bodies.

So if we need to eat vitamin C in order to live normally like other animals, how much do we need? Health Canada and the FDA suggest around 100 mg/day, but this is pretty small compared to other estimates. Linus Pauling, one of the greatest men in our history (you'll hear more about him soon), advocated taking between 3 and 18 grams of vitamin C each day. Other sources back up Pauling's ideas, but go further to say that if you're really sick you should take up to 300 g!!!

You might think this amount of vitamin C is extreme, but keep 2 things in mind. First of all, you can't overdose on vitamin C because it's so water soluble. You just pee out any excess vitamin. And FYI, vitamin C has one of the lowest toxicities of any compound known to medicine. Secondly, think about our friend the mountain goat. Normally this goat makes 13 g of vitamin C each day, but if it's stressed out, hurt, or sick it will make over 100 g. So when you compare this info with our 100 mg recommended daily intake, you may wonder why we're only asked to get a tiny amount. I've been wondering that too...

Finally, some quick information for you about our friendly neighbourhood vitamin.

• Studies have shown that vitamin C can reduce the length and severity of colds, but NOT the frequency. So you'll get sick just as often, but you will recover a lot more easily.


• You can train your body to metabolize vitamin C more quickly when you take lots of supplements. So if you're ever taking a bunch of vitamin C, don't stop suddenly. Your body will metabolize the small amount you get in your diet too quickly and make it easier for you to get sick. Slowly reduce your supplementation instead.


• Vitamin C increases iron absorption. This is great if you're anemic, but it's dangerous if you have too much iron (iron overload or haemochromatosis).

Remember that vitamin C is your friend, especially when you're sick or stressed.