Ascorbic acid (vitamin C)

I was wondering about why vitamin C causes loose stools and diarrhea when consumed above a certain threshold. I'm reading Fiber Menace and am trying to connect some dots here. In it I read the reason fiber can cause diarrhea is because the large intestine expedites the contents due to excess fermentation and acid production from disbacteriosis fermenting much of the insoluble fiber. Does excess vitamin C do a similar thing, by which I mean, does vitamin C reaching the large intestine (due to not all being absorbed) trick the colon into thinking there's a fermentation emergency going on? :huh:
 
I don't think it is a fermentation thing, as I understand it, it is more that it doesn't get absorbed, so it drags water and excess vitamin C as diarrhea.
 
Psyche said:
I don't think it is a fermentation thing, as I understand it, it is more that it doesn't get absorbed, so it drags water and excess vitamin C as diarrhea.
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That's my understanding too - I think it can be classified as osmotic diarrhea, where non-absorbed vit. C attracts water which is then expelled.
 
The comment on GMOs in this update is interesting:

_http://orthomolecular.org/resources/omns/v09n27.shtml

Vitamin C powder remains cheap and readily available on the internet. One-quarter teaspoon is just over 1,000 mg. If you encounter a powder that is substantially less potent than that, it may contain fillers. Choose accordingly...

Atomically Correct

Vitamin C is ascorbic acid, C6H8O6, and that's pretty much all there is to it. If you really want to impress your friends, ascorbic acid can also be called (5R)-5-[(1S)-1,2-Dihydroxyethyl]-3,4-dihydroxy-2(5H)-furanone. As I liked to tell my university students, now there is something for you to answer when your parents ask what you learned in school today.

Even if this molecule comes from GMOs, which I disapprove of, it is still molecularly OK. You cannot genetically modify carbon, hydrogen, or oxygen atoms.

There are two ways the atoms can arrange themselves to make C6H8O6. One is ascorbic acid. The other is erythorbic acid, also known as isoascorbic acid or D-araboascorbic acid. It is a commercial antioxidant, but cannot be utilized by the body as an essential nutrient...

Don't be bluffed or blustered about ascorbic acid. It is cheap and it works. Aside from intravenous sodium ascorbate, the vast majority of research showing that vitamin C is effective in prevention and treatment of disease has used plain ascorbic acid. Yes, the cheap stuff.
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Better to get GMO-free ascorbic acid. On the other hand, if you can't afford and/or get a hold of it, the cheap version should be acceptable. Or so it seems!
 
I know some of this is kind of old, but I read something that made me register.

2 Things

#1
Mixing hydrogen peroxide with ascorbic acid WILL give you dehydroascorbic acid BUT it will also cause the abundant generation of Superoxide and hydroxyl radicals, that you are trying to get rid of in the first place. This is caused by a well-known cycling reaction between trace metals, hydrogen peroxide, and ascorbic acid. Also note that in-home you will never get rid of all trace metals.

So, over-arching point: leave chemistry to the chemists, and especially don't ever do home-chemistry on things you are going to consume.

#2

Ascorbic acid's negative effects in the digestive tract are due to both osmosis and fermentation by bacteria of unabsorbed ascorbic acid.
 
Re: Ascorbic acid (vitamin C) timed release

The issues surrounding Vitamin C are so complex and so hard to quantify and prove. In research a sample size of one is meaningless. Unless you are that sample. :-)

I feel very strongly about a mode of Vitamin C administration that seems largely overlooked by others: timed release.

I moved to Hawaii 30+ years ago. Established a routine of returning to the mainland every year for xmas. And found myself getting sick with a cold or worse every one of those trips. For ten years. Tried all kinds of things, including 'large doses' of Vitamin C (2 or 3 grams.) Until I discovered timed release C. 1 gram per day. Remained healthy on subsequent trips for at least the next ten years.

So much of what I read here and on other forums seems like manual timed release (though with much higher doses.) Dosing every few hours. Suggests to me that my meager 1-gram timed release dose is very important.

Linus Pauling suggested that 'slow-release' might increase absorption, but his tests did not support it. But testing for 'urinary excretion' of ascorbic acid seems more and more questionable, especially for an agent with such a short 'plasma half-life'. And especially for timed-release.

I'm considering raising my Vitamin C intake levels. Dosing every few hours seems objectionable somehow. It may be reasonable when you're sick. But every day? It seems a bit too, cultish or something. And a bit too much trouble. Like there must be a better way.

How do we get our ancient, constant-flow, C-producing livers back? Or how do we emulate them without making a religion of it?
 
On an ideal diet you won't miss the vitamin C much. It sure comes in handy though, especially as it turns out all but very few people are in optimal health. Look through the 'Ketogenic Diet' and 'Life Without Bread' threads. It would be great if we could somehow reactivate our C producing genes, but I think we should leave that up to our DNA while we attend to the clear steps that are within our immediate means. The Keto diet has a strong positive effect on DNA and it's expression, so it seems like a step in the right direction. In the meanwhile, vitamin C helps to get there, and to soften setbacks along the way.
 
I personally regard vitamin C as a medicine, rather than as a nutritional supplement.

As monotonic rightly points out, if you are on a keto diet your vitamin C requirements are much lower and it's easy to cover them with the vitamin C in meat.

I keep a stash of vitamin C that I use if sick. It would also be my primary "chemotherapy" if I had cancer (together with high-dose selenium, some zinc and NO carbs whatsoever ...).

Another point to consider if you supplement vitamin C is that it increases absorption of iron - which for the vast majority of people is detrimental, as most of us have already got high iron stores. So if you need/ want to take vitamin C on a regular basis, be sure to check your iron levels and off-load some of the red stuff, if they are too high (bearing in mind, that the usually quoted "normal" range on the path forms is already much too high).
 
Speaking of intraveneous vitamin c. I have a question. If one is using a pure form of ascorbic acid can one then inject oneself with it, and still be safe? If so, what would be the protocall?
 
davey72 said:
Speaking of intraveneous vitamin c. I have a question. If one is using a pure form of ascorbic acid can one then inject oneself with it, and still be safe? If so, what would be the protocall?
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This is not a handing down protocol kind of thing. You'll have to research this kind of stuff yourself if you are going to make any experimenting decision of any kind. There are some who didn't reacted very well to this kind of treatment. For instance, read this thread to find out more.

By using the search function you'll find several resources and testimonials. But FWIW, I synthesized and quoted extensively here, including precautions and then some more:

Vitamin C’s Historical and Miraculous Record
http://www.health-matrix.net/2013/06/22/vitamin-cs-historical-and-miraculous-record/

As it happens, one of the articles quoted was removed recently, but hopefully the material is still out there through other websites.
 
davey72 said:
Speaking of intraveneous vitamin c. I have a question. If one is using a pure form of ascorbic acid can one then inject oneself with it, and still be safe? If so, what would be the protocall?
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Just a mention about "purity" - this is a relative concept.

Absolute purity is non-existent. Every substance has impurities to some degree - and there are several standards of purity used for various applications.

For instance you have "food-grade" purity which makes it fit for consumption. The next step would be "technical" purity, which tries to make a purity that doesn't interfere with analytical processes.

If you want to inject a substance into the body, the standard to use is the pharmaceutical standard, either EP (European Pharmacopoeia) or USP (US Pharmacopoeia).

The next issue to consider is sterility - EP and USP are not by definition sterile, so this is something that you would have to take care too. Maybe the easier thing would be to find someone who is willing/ able to supply comercially produced vials of vitamin C.
 
Very important update, a must read!

Vitamin C - A cure for Ebola
http://www.sott.net/article/284126-Vitamin-C-A-cure-for-Ebola
 
Gaby said:
Very important update, a must read!

Vitamin C - A cure for Ebola
http://www.sott.net/article/284126-Vitamin-C-A-cure-for-Ebola
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Thanks for posting this Gaby.

I wonder if Vitamin C enemas burn? :huh:
 
Odyssey said:
I wonder if Vitamin C enemas burn? :huh:
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Yeah, I think there could be some discomfort, but if a person is very sick any discomfort of that kind will pale in comparison. Will keep an eye on further updates. The orthomolecular people are supposed to post a follow up with recommended enema doses for children.
 
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