VITAMIN C: Still a Superstar and Growing in Fame Even More

Since the 1970s, Vitamin C has enjoyed superstar status, partly due to Dr. Linus Pauling's Nobel Prize winning work.  But for the past several years, good ole' ascorbic acid has been making a rebound in the research, as this "old news" vitamin has been showing great promise for a number of health applications other than just immunity.  

For example, research has shown that vitamin C protects against endothelial dysfunction, high blood pressure, and the blood vessel changes that precede heart disease.1-3 Additional research is discovering that vitamin C can be helpful in preventing asthma,4 protecting against cancer,5 and supporting healthy blood sugar levels in diabetics.6

While often taken for granted, vitamin C is a critical supplement in improving cardiac health and avoid degenerative diseases.  

British researchers, for example, studied the effects of vitamin C supplementation (250 mg/day) on atherosclerosis in 40 healthy adults.7 Before the study, subjects with low pre-supplementation levels of vitamin C had 30% greater monocyte adhesion than normal, putting them at higher risk for atherosclerosis. Impressively, after six weeks of supplementation, the rate of this dangerous monocyte adhesion actually fell by 37%!  

OTHER HEALTH BENEFITS OF VITAMIN C IN THE RESEARCH

• Ascorbic acid, or vitamin C, is a potent antioxidant with increasingly diverse uses in health promotion and disease prevention. 
• Every step in the progression of atherosclerosis can benefit from the antioxidant power of vitamin C, from preventing endothelial dysfunction and altering lipid profiles and coagulation factors to preventing blood vessel changes that can lead to strokes and other vascular catastrophes. 
• Vitamin C supplements reduce cellular DNA damage that is the vital first step in cancer initiation and also reduce the inflammatory changes that allow a malignant cell to grow into a dangerous tumor.  Additionally, vitamin C has been shown to be chemoprotective, showing protection from both the toxic effects of chemotherapy drugs, but also increasing the anti-tumor activity of chemotherapy, while perhaps reducing the risk of getting cancer in the first place.  8,9,10,11,12,13,14
• Vitamin C supplements enhance the health-promoting effects of exercise and reduce exercise-induced oxidative damage. 15
• Vitamin C supplements also dramatically combat the oxidative damage caused by smoking and exposure to tobacco smoke. 16
• In respiratory conditions, vitamin C supplements help avert or shorten the duration of common colds and may mitigate the risk of serious respiratory conditions like asthma.17, 18,19
• Vitamin C supplements can speed the clearance of the stomach disease-causing bacterium Helicobacter pylori and cut the risk of gastric cancer it causes.  20,21

While all the above benefits can be obtained by taking basic ascorbic acid, the effects may be enhanced by either adding other antioxidants to the mix, or providing a buffered and better absorbed forms.  Vojdani et al at Drew Medical College showed in 1993 that an admixture of vitamin C metabolites, presursors, and asorbates, along with a more bioavailable form of vitamin C, ascorbyl palmitate, was able to not only provide better uptake into the white blood cell, but the effect on leukocyte activity and overall immunity was profoundly better than ascorbic acid alone.22  This exact formula used in the Drew Medical College study is patented and available commercially in only one place.  Ascorbic acid products are typically not patented and are bountiful on the market.  

Still another study showed that a buffered admixture vitamin C supplement increased the natural killer (NK) cell activity 10-FOLD in 78% of patients who had decreased NK, T and B cell function due to chemical exposure!  T and B cells also returned to normal.23  

Yes, while vitamin C is sort of yesterday's news in a market of trendy supplements now too long to list, it remains one of the most powerful and effective vitamins in the world for overall health. 

References

1. Rossig L, Hoffmann J, Hugel B, et al. Vitamin C inhibits endothelial cell apoptosis in congestive heart failure. Circulation. 2001 Oct 30;104(18):2182-7. 2. Fotherby MD, Williams JC, Forster LA, Craner P, Ferns GA. Effect of vitamin C on ambulatory blood pressure and plasma lipids in older persons. J Hypertens. 2000 Apr;18(4):411-5. 3. Salonen RM, Nyyssonen K, Kaikkonen J, et al. Six-year effect of combined vitamin C and E supplementation on atherosclerotic progression: the Antioxidant Supplementation in Atherosclerosis Prevention (ASAP) Study. Circulation. 2003 Feb 25;107(7):947-53. 4. Romieu I, Sienra-Monge JJ, Ramirez-Aguilar M, et al. Antioxidant supplementation and lung functions among children with asthma exposed to high levels of air pollutants. Am J Respir Crit Care Med. 2002 Sep 1;166(5):703-9. 5. Guz J, Dziaman T, Szpila A. Do antioxidant vitamins influence carcinogenesis?. Postepy Hig Med Dosw.(Online.). 2007;61:185-98. 6. Afkhami-Ardekani M, Shojaoddiny-Ardekani A. Effect of vitamin C on blood glucose, serum lipids & serum insulin in type 2 diabetes patients. Indian J Med Res. 2007 Nov;126(5):471-4.  7. Woollard KJ, Loryman CJ, Meredith E, et al. Effects of oral vitamin C on monocyte: endothelial cell adhesion in healthy subjects. Biochem Biophys Res Commun. 2002 Jun 28;294(5):1161-8. 8. Bast A, Haenen GR, Bruynzeel AM, Van d, V. Protection by flavonoids against anthracycline cardiotoxicity: from chemistry to clinical trials. Cardiovasc Toxicol. 2007;7(2):154-9. 9. bdel-Latif MM, Raouf AA, Sabra K, Kelleher D, Reynolds JV. Vitamin C enhances chemosensitization of esophageal cancer cells in vitro. J Chemother. 2005 Oct;17(5):539-49. 10. Chen J, Kang J, Da W, Ou Y. Combination with water-soluble antioxidants increases the anticancer activity of quercetin in human leukemia cells. Pharmazie. 2004 Nov;59(11):859-63. 11. Chen J, Wanming D, Zhang D, Liu Q, Kang J. Water-soluble antioxidants improve the antioxidant and anticancer activity of low concentrations of curcumin in human leukemia cells. Pharmazie. 2005 Jan;60(1):57-61. 12. Correa P, Fontham ET, Bravo JC, et al. Chemoprevention of gastric dysplasia: randomized trial of antioxidant supplements and anti-helicobacter pylori therapy. J Natl Cancer Inst. 2000 Dec 6;92(23):1881-8. 13. Maramag C, Menon M, Balaji KC, Reddy PG, Laxmanan S. Effect of vitamin C on prostate cancer cells in vitro: effect on cell number, viability, and DNA synthesis. Prostate. 1997 Aug 1;32(3):188-95. 14. Wei DZ, Yang JY, Liu JW, Tong WY. Inhibition of liver cancer cell proliferation and migration by a combination of (-)-epigallocatechin-3-gallate and ascorbic acid. J Chemother. 2003 Dec;15(6):591-5. 15. Thompson D, Williams C, McGregor SJ, et al. Prolonged vitamin C supplementation and recovery from demanding exercise. Int J Sport Nutr Exerc Metab. 2001 Dec;11(4):466-81. 16. Block G, Jensen C, Dietrich M, et al. Plasma C-reactive protein concentrations in active and passive smokers: influence of antioxidant supplementation. J Am Coll Nutr. 2004 Apr;23(2):141-7. 17. Romieu I, Trenga C. Diet and obstructive lung diseases. Epidemiol Rev. 2001;23(2):268-87. 18. Trenga CA, Koenig JQ, Williams PV. Dietary antioxidants and ozone-induced bronchial hyperresponsiveness in adults with asthma. Arch Environ Health. 2001 May;56(3):242-9. 19. Tecklenburg SL, Mickleborough TD, Fly AD, Bai Y, Stager JM. Ascorbic acid supplementation attenuates exercise-induced bronchoconstriction in patients with asthma. Respir Med. 2007 Aug;101(8):1770-8. 20. Correa P, Fontham ET, Bravo JC, et al. Chemoprevention of gastric dysplasia: randomized trial of antioxidant supplements and anti-helicobacter pylori therapy. J Natl Cancer Inst. 2000 Dec 6;92(23):1881-8. 21. Chuang CH, Sheu BS, Kao AW, et al. Adjuvant effect of vitamin C on omeprazole-amoxicillin-clarithromycin triple therapy for Helicobacter pylori eradication. Hepatogastroenterology. 2007 Jan;54(73):320-4. 22.  Vajdoni, A, et al.  In Vivo Effect of Ascrobic Acid on Enhancement of Human Natural Killer Cell Activity.  Drew University of Medicine and Science, Published in Nutritiona Research, Vol. 13, pp. 753-764, 1993. 23. Enhancement of natural killer cell activity and T and B cell function by buffered vitamin C in patients exposed to toxic chemicals: Immunopharmacol Immunotoxicol. 1997 Aug;19(3):291-312

Breaking Down the Evaluation Criteria (or lack thereof) of a Popular Online Guide for Multivitamins

Recently it was brought to my attention that a self-proclaimed resource for evaluating multivitamins, a source I will leave nameless in print but that the reader is free to ask me about, gave a not-so-good evaluation of some products that I passionately believe in, but glowing recommendations for products that might be considered questionable.  So I wanted to respond by evaluating the "evaluators."

Perhaps I should start by showing the faulty evaluation method in the multivitamin that they ranked at the top of their list, which I will leave nameless for this post.  Most doctors by now know that if a form of a certain nutrient isn't listed, it's probably the cheap, junky stuff.  The reader should take note of several important micronutrients listed in their #1 ranking that do not have the forms listed: iron, magnesium, vitamin E, B6, B12, calcium, etc.  Nearly 100% of the time, when a product line does not list the forms, it is most likely the cheapest and least-effective forms on the planet.  In evaluating any vitamin supplement, it is vital to consider the forms of the ingredients -- ones that are clinically-proven to be effective. (BTW: listing a source, such as algae, is not the same as listing the FORM.)  It is equally important to look at the company's commitment to full disclosure on the labels.  

Secondly, the product in question lists an enzyme blend on their label.  Those who are in-the-know understand that enzymes mixed into a multivitamin is a dead ringer that the product line doesn't know what they're doing.  You cannot add enzymes in with a laundry list of other ingredients like this and have any enzymes left by the time the product is brought to market.  Enzymes gobble things up.  That's what enzymes do.  The enzymes thus denature themselves when they start that process so that in no time there's nothing left.  In doing so they also diminish the levels of many other ingredients in the product.  If a third-party laboratory assay was performed to measure the amount of live enzymes this product, I would be willing to bet that they aren't there. Most likely the company in question does not perform third-party or even in-house assays since the FDA does not require them, and since doing so would most likely show that the product in question has no live enzymes as the label claims.  

In this same product there is also CoQ10 listed on the label.  The consumer should be aware that CoQ10 is very unstable and denatures very easily when combined with several other ingredients.  Even if it was stable, the fact that it's in a powder/capsule form diminishes its effectiveness, since research shows that oil-based CoQ10 is 3-FOLD more bioavailable than dry forms.  

And THIS is the product that this self-proclaimed evaluator of quality multivitamins ranks number one???  

Additionally, here's some very inaccurate statements made about Cyanocobalamin (B12) on the site, and my short response:

• "Most manufacturers go with the synthetic cyanocobalamin form because it is cheaper to make and has a longer shelf life."  
• WRONG - Cyanocobalamin is used because it is the most clinically validated, with reams of data involving MILLIONS of patients. 
• "Unfortunately, it cannot be readily absorbed by the body."
• WRONG AGAIN.  The research shows the exact opposite.
• "It also contains trace amounts of cyanide..."
• "INFINITELY WRONG.  Who is writing this stuff, anyway?  B12 in any form does not contain cyanide.  The "cyano" part of cyanocobalamin has nothing to do with cyanide.   
• "...making it slightly toxic [wrong] if taken over a long period of time [wrong]...."

When writing content on health-related topics, it really helps to consult the research first.  

(By the way, our multi/phytonutrient blend contains the methylcobalamin form of B12, but not because it's better than cyano.  This was only in response to doctor requests who didn't want to continue answering questions having to do with this unfortunate misunderstanding of this topic.  Having this form of B12 in the product makes these questions go away.  Both forms are very good, but the idea that cyano is an inferior form is categorically false. Feel free to ask me for references.)  

In looking closely at the quality assessment criteria of the site in question

, it becomes obvious 

that it is based on the number 

of nutrients 

​

and the amounts, 

which is 

a subjective label review

, not objective.

 

Can one define and determine quality based on a label review of ingredients?

​ ​

Absolutely not!  

It is a qualitative opinion of the individuals and not one of particular value to a practitioner or consumer in trying to determine which supplement to purchase. 

Does the author include an understanding of herb manufacture as a measure of quality? 

No.  

Do

 they provide a quality assessment of the listed actives in the standardized herb proving they survive manufacture so that they can provide clinical value to the consumer

?

  No.  

Do they reference any bioactive profiles to prove the herbs are alive, effective, and that the active constituents are maintained at high levels?  Nope.  

And what about 

clinical proof

?

 Did the 

website's 

author include published clinical validation as part of their quality analysis? No.  And why not?  Here's an article showing the importance of this kind of evaluation:

https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC4010963/pdf/gahmj.2013.098.pdf

I'm not certain, but the site in question might be related in some way to the book, Comparative Guide to Nutritional Supplements.  The criteria looks very similar.  That book has been around for many years. The author is a former board member for a multilevel supplement company. While everyone has to read for themselves and draw their own opinions, close scrutiny of the book -- as well as the website in question -- suggests the authors (along with a small committee) decided for themselves what nutrients and at what levels should be found in what a 'quality' supplement is, in THEIR OPINION. Then, in essence, they said, "Let’s compare and see who gets closest." One has to decide if this is really a marker of quality. Or, for our phytonutrient/multivitamin blend as an example, is quality ORACfn a much better measurement of phytonutrient 'freshness' and activity? Is COMET assaying a measure of quality? Is peer-journal publication a mark of multivitamin quality? 

I have not even gotten to GMP, third-party gluten-free certification, GMO status, and on-and-on. Everyone just has to answer for themselves what true quality is, I guess. Is it, "We think quality is specific ingredients at these specific levels," or the kind of standards found in the published research?  

HERE'S AN IMPORTANT QUESTION TO YOUR PATIENTS WHO MIGHT BE USING THE SITE IN QUESTION AS A WAY TO GUIDE THEIR SUPPLEMENT PURCHASES:  

"On what, if any, standards are these scoring systems based?"  

The patient won't be able to tell you, of course, because the site itself can't tell you.  As far as I can tell, again, it's someone's opinion, because they certainly didn't consult the research.  Everybody has an opinion...and a belly-button. "I devised a scoring system..." is not based on fact or objectivity.  Remember that old Wendy's commercial where the old lady demanded, "Where's the beef!?"  That's the same question people should be asking when it comes to research.  Anyone can SAY anything!  I can SAY that our multi grows hair on the heads of 8 out of 10 bald men, and you know what -- if I put that on a website, a lot of people would believe it and buy the product on the basis of that statement.  But where's the beef?  Where's the research to validate my claims?  Without that, the claims on the product are not worth the paper they're printed on.  

Now, if you want research and an objective way to evaluate a multi, it may interest you to know that a study published in GLOBAL ADVANCES IN HEALTH AND MEDICINE showed that our phytonutrient/multivitamin blend effected improvements in several health parameters, including cardio markers MPO, LDL, CRP, and PAI-1, as well as the Comet Assay, and an antioxidant level evaluation in the PERSON after taking the product, not just the product itself.  

https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC4010963/pdf/gahmj.2013.098.pdf 

How come the "evaluators" of this site (and I use that term very loosely) didn't use this kind of criteria?  Good question, Sherlock.

Okay, if I go any further I'm gonna start getting really snarky or start preaching like a Pentecostal evangelist at a tent revival.  So I better quit. 

But here's another very short tidbit I will leave you with:  The site in question denigrates folic acid, yet their #2 recommendation for multis uses straight folic acid. How is it possible that they gave that product the number two ranking, then?  They aren't even consistent with their own standards.  Someone is greasing someone's hand here.  OR, they aren't even really paying attention to what they are saying versus the products they are recommending.  One or the other.  In either case, even a cursory analysis of this site shows they are totally unreliable as a scientific source. 

Turmeric: Surprising Benefits for Brain Health

The common spice, turmeric, has been used in various types of treatments for dementia and traumatic brain injury.  Research is also showing surprisingly powerful effects of turmeric on Alzheimer's disease (AD)1.

A growing body of evidence indicates that oxidative stress, free radicals, beta-amyloid plaque, metal toxicity, and abnormal inflammatory reactions contribute to AD pathology.  Due to the various effects of turmeric, including antioxidant, anti-inflammatory, and lipophilic (an affinity for fats) properties, decreased amyloid plaque, metal-chelation, and decreased microglia formation, the overall memory in AD patients using turmeric in studies has improved.

In one 2013 study in particular2, older rats experienced a "remarkable restoration" of brain function when given turmeric, especially the ability of vessels in the brain to relax and allow blood to flow freely.  The treated rats also experienced a reduction in reactive oxygen species (ROS), which is associated with decreased oxidative stress and cell damage.

The effects of turmeric on AD were also demonstrated in a 2012 case study3 on three patients with "very severe" manifestations of the disease: irritability, agitation, anxiety, apathy, incontinence, and wonderings.  The patients were given 764 of turmeric every day for 12 weeks.  The results were that "behavioral symptoms improved remarkably as a result of the turmeric treatment."  In two of the tree patients, "they came to recognize their family within 1 year treatment."  

Turmeric is a common spice that can be added to food.  However, therapeutic levels such as the ones used in the studies are easier to obtain via turmeric-containing food supplements.  Additional good news is that even higher levels in supplement form are not usually expensive.

1. Ann Indian Acad Neurol. 2008 Jan-Mar; 11(1): 13–19.
2.  Cell Physiol Biochem. 2013;32(5):1167-77. doi: 10.1159/000354516. Epub 2013 Nov 11.
3.  Ayu. 2012 Oct-Dec; 33(4): 499–504
  

Vitamin D: A Deficiency Pandemic

Dr. Michael Holick, MD, of Boston University and author of The Vitamin D Solution, says that vitamin D deficiency is epidemic throughout the USA through all age groups. In fact, 75% of US teens and adults are deficient. Unless you live south of the 30th parallel, which runs along the panhandles of Florida and Texas, it is very difficult to get enough vitamin D from the sun, especially in the winter months, because the sun never gets high enough in the sky for the ultraviolet rays to penetrate the atmosphere. 

Furthermore, less and less people get out in the sun because of inside activities and entertainment. Kids and teenagers, for example, once active outdoors, find more reasons to stay indoors than to go outside because of digital entertainment. Similarly, the elderly rarely get enough sun exposure because of inactivity. Thus, it has become important to supplement this important nutrient even during summer months, since serum levels of most patients tested will be woefully inadequate all throughout the year, and because nearly every disease has a vitamin D deficiency connection.


While supplementation seems to be the answer, a Boston study found the 36% of young adults 18-29 years old had vitamin D levels below 20 ng/mL at the end of winter in spite of consuming fortified milk or a multivitamin daily. Furthermore, an article appearing in JAMA (Feb. 11, 2013) indicated that researchers found that OTC vitamin D supplements from a dozen manufacturers tested at a range that was as low as 52% of their advertised vitamin D content. Duffy MacKay, vice president of the scientific and regulatory affairs at the Council for Responsible Nutrition (CRN) in Washington, DC - a trade group representing supplement manufacturers and ingredient suppliers, said that "there is no excuse for supplements to deviate from their labels." Yet, this goes on in the industry routinely because there are no FDA regulatory standards on supplement label claims. That is where GMP certified products that are tested both internally and externally ensures products that do not deviate from label claim.


The Vitamin D Council has recently raised their supplement recommendations from a minimum of 4,000 IUs per day to 5,000. Hence, active people might consider supplementing at least 1,000 IUs per day during the summer months if they get outside regularly, and more if they are less active. During the winter months, it is not unreasonable to supplement as much as 10,000 IUs per day, and more if serum levels are extremely low.

Study Shows Antioxidants Protective Against Radiation

This past April a certain “study” was being circulated attempting to show that antioxidants were bad for your health! (Click here to read about the fraudulent design of this study.) The report, of course, ignored the hundreds of studies showing therapeutic benefit with antioxidants. 

For example, the April 2008 edition of Radiation Research featured an article showing antioxidants to be important against irradiation.   The purpose of this study was to determine whether a supplemental antioxidant blend of vitamin C, vitamin E succinate, alpha-lipoic acid, L-selenomethionine, and N-acetylcysteine could improve the survival of mice after total body irradiation. 

Results of the study indicate that the antioxidants given prior to or after a potentially lethal dose of X rays increased the 30-day survival rate of the mice. Pre-treatment of animals with antioxidants resulted in significantly higher total white blood cell and neutrophil counts in peripheral blood. Antioxidants were also effective in preventing peripheral lymphopenia (reduction in the number of lymphocytes circulating in the blood) after low-dose radiation. The antioxidant supplementation was also associated with increased bone marrow cell counts after irradiation, and with increased Bcl2 and decreased Bax, caspase9 and TGF-beta1 mRNA expression in the bone marrow after irradiation. Maintenance of the antioxidant diet was associated with improved recovery of the bone marrow after sub-lethal or potentially lethal irradiation. 

The researchers concluded that when taken together, oral supplementation with antioxidants appears to be an effective approach for radioprotection of hematopoietic (blood forming) cells and improvement of animal survival. Modulation of apoptosis is implicated as a mechanism for the radioprotection of the hematopoietic system by antioxidants.

In order to provide a powerful visual demonstration of the power of antioxidants, Dr. Kim Gerbers shared with me a demonstration she uses that I duplicated and would like to share here.

Dr. Kim will take her favorite Metagenics antioxidant product and place the tablets in water and let them dissolve alongside a slice of apple. Then she also takes another slice from the same apple and leaves it out to be exposed to the oxygen free radicals. By the end of 24 hours, the apple left to itself has browned considerably due to oxidation, but the one soaked in the antioxidant water is just as fresh-looking as when it was first cut.

I did the same thing at home the other day with apple and banana slices, and when I told my wife what I was doing, she said that lemon juice and pineapple juice do the same thing, and that’s why you use them in fruits salads in order to keep the bananas and apples from turning brown. Lo and behold, lemon juice and pineapple juice are packed with antioxidants.

Below are the pictures of my own version of Dr. Gerbers’ experiment. An easy product to use here would be Ceralin Forte, since the product is in capsule form and the contents can be dumped easily.  But any antioxidant formula such as PhytoMulti, Inflavanoid, etc, would work, since the Metagenics tablets will disintegrate thoroughly throughout the water. 

Note that I also immersed a third set of the apple and banana slices in plain RO water just to see if somehow the water itself is protective against the oxygen free radicals. It did make some difference, but the same browning effect still occurred to a slightly lesser degree, while the antioxidant set experienced no browning at all. Look at the difference!

Sample 1: Fruit soaked in plain RO water after 26 hours

Sample 2: Fruit exposed to open air after 26 hours

Sample 3: Fruit soaked in water and Ceralin Forte after 26 hours

So what does this mean for us?

We are exposed to oxygen free radicals every day, every minute of the day. Just breathing is exposing you to significant amounts of free radicals. And our exposure has gotten much worse compared to our ancestors because of the immense amount of foreign chemicals in our environment and in our food and water supply. Free radicals are slowly laying waste to our skin, our organs, our muscles and bone, and our overall health, and there’s nothing we can do to stop it. Free radicals are why people get old and feeble and eventually die. All of us are part of the ultimate statistic: 10 out of 10 die!

While stopping this process is impossible, we can at least slow the process down by fighting free radicals with antioxidants. And we may even be able to subvert chronic and degenerative illness altogether until that day it is our time to leave this earth, as with the Nobel Prize winning scientist and vitamin C guru, Dr. Linus Pauling, who lived well into his nineties and was remarkably active and mentally sharp until his surprising and seemingly untimely death...untimely only because he seemed so healthy when he died. Dr. Pauling, by the way, routinely took up to 10 grams per day of vitamin C. So it appears that the more antioxidants the better.

So eat your fruits and vegetables, and take lots of supplemental antioxidants to combat the unprecedented amount of free radicals with which mankind is now being exposed.