All Posts Tagged With: "ascorbic acid"

Vitamin C improves Gout!  I have attended a high level conference on MYCOTOXINS in our environment and the research was very powerful. These substances like AFLOTOXINS that we all consume from our diet, including corn and wheat were shown to be a major contributor to Gout. 

We all forget the high dose Vitamin C is a major detoxifier, as when it leaves the body it is always carrying toxins with it. So the more that leaves the lower the toxin load will be!  Somehow when we get excited about what high dose IV Ascorbic Acid can do, we forget we all live on a toxic planet and our patients need the oral forms of Ascorbic Acid TOO on a daily basis, ideally for life, to get the full benefits Ascorbic Acid supplementation can provide.

Garry F. Gordon MD,DO,MD(H)
President, Gordon Research Institute
www.gordonresearch.com

Article Excerpt:

Medscape Medical News 2009. © 2009 Medscape
March 10, 2009 — Vitamin C supplementation may help prevent gout, according to the results of a prospective study reported in the March 9 issue of the Archives of Internal Medicine.
“Several metabolic studies and a recent double-blind, placebo-controlled, randomized trial have shown that higher vitamin C intake significantly reduces serum uric acid levels,” write Hyon K. Choi, MD, DrPH, from Vancouver General Hospital and University of British Columbia in Vancouver, Canada, and colleagues. “Yet the relation with risk of gout is unknown.”
From 1986 through 2006, the investigators evaluated the association between vitamin C intake and the risk for incident gout in 46,994 male participants who had no history of gout at baseline. American College of Rheumatology criteria for gout were determined by a supplementary questionnaire, and validated questionnaires administered every 4 years examined vitamin C intake.
There were 1317 confirmed incident cases of gout during 20 years of follow-up. Compared with vitamin C intake less than 250 mg/day, the multivariate relative risk (RR) for gout associated with total vitamin C intake of 500 to 999 mg/day was 0.83 (95% confidence interval [CI], 0.71 – 0.97). For intake of 1000 to 1499 mg/day, RR was 0.66 (95% CI, 0.52 – 0.86), and for 1500 mg/day or greater, it was 0.55 (95% CI, 0.38 – 0.80; P < .001 for trend). Per 500-mg increase in total daily vitamin C intake, the multivariate RR was 0.83 (95% CI, 0.77 – 0.90).

Excerpt:

(OMNS, December 8, 2009) Vitamin C is commonly taken in large quantities to improve health and prevent asthma, allergies, viral infection, and heart disease [1,2]. It is non-toxic and non-immunogenic, and does not irritate the stomach as drugs like aspirin can. Yet vitamin C (L-ascorbic acid) is acidic. So, a common question is, what are the effects from taking large quantities?

Ascorbic acid is a weak acid (pKa= 4.2) [3], only slightly stronger than vinegar. When dissolved in water, vitamin C is sour but less so than citric acid found in lemons and limes. Can large quantities of a weak acid such as ascorbate cause problems in the body? The answer is, sometimes, in some situations. However, with some simple precautions they can be avoided.

Acid in the Mouth
First of all, any acid can etch the surfaces of your teeth. This is the reason the dentist cleans your teeth and warns about plaque, for acid generated by bacteria in the mouth can etch your teeth to cause cavities. Cola soft drinks contain phosphoric acid, actually used by dentists to etch teeth before tooth sealants are applied. Like soft drinks, ascorbic acid will not cause etching of teeth if only briefly present. Often, vitamin C tablets are coated with a tableting ingredient such as magnesium stearate which prevents the ascorbate from dissolving immediately. Swallowing a vitamin C tablet without chewing it prevents its acid from harming tooth enamel.

Full article: http://www.orthomolecular.org