 | Dr. Dan Ostrander and Jan Watts are the co-hosts of the TV/radio program ‘Straight Talk’. Dr. Dan is a Doctor of Medicine, specializing in Epidemiology, Doctor of Philosophy (Biochemistry), Doctor of Naturopathic Medicine, licensed ordained minister, a certified police chaplain and a certified hospice chaplain. Dr. Dan is available for counseling on an individual basis or can set up group seminars for your organizations. Jan Watts is his co-host and she has an extensive background in radio and newspaper. She has completed a Christian counseling course and has worked in numerous positions with children and teens. Jan is owner of Premiere Promotions which books entertainers. You can contact Dan or Jan by phone at (316) 807-0228 , or by email at straighttalk@praize.com, or you can find out more about them and their show at http://www.premiere-promotions.com |
Diet & Nutrition
2003-02-01 15:07:00
Why do I need Vitamin C?
: Why do I need Vitamin C?
ANSWER: Vitamin C has been an essential ingredient to life from before recorded history. It is utilized throughout the body for so many functions that it is probably safe to say that there are virtually no functions that it is not involved in from building and maintaining our tissues to fortifying our immune system.With very few exceptions, all animal species synthesize Vitamin C in their bodies. Humans, however do not! The generally excepted theory is that a genetic mutation occurred in man some tens of thousands of years ago that disabled this synthesis process in the human body. If man was receiving an adequate amount of Vitamin C from his primitive diet to allow a reasonable level of health, then it is possible for a mutation of this nature to take hold. Indeed, the process of natural selection favors those organisms with only the absolutely necessary machinery.Needless to say our diets have changed dramatically since then. We live in much less hospitable climates. We don't pick fresh fruit from trees like our primitive ancestors. Our diets are almost universally lacking in nutritional value and we have become a generation of "junk-food junkies" frequenting a myriad of fast-food establishments desperately seeking our next "fix". A sorry state of affairs indeed!While it is somewhat of a disservice to discuss one nutrient exclusively since our body's chemistry requires a long list of nutrients working in unison, Vitamin C stands out due to its importance and almost universal shortage. There are more than ten thousand published scientific papers stating that there is not one human disease or syndrome, from the common cold to cancer, that is not influenced either directly or indirectly by Vitamin C. Due to the strong relationship between Vitamin C and our immune systems, it is not surprising that viral and bacterial infections can be dealt with by our own systems when adequate Vitamin C is present in our bodies.Vitamin C, however, is not stored well in our bodies. We use it constantly and yet our intake is somewhat meager. Only with regular supplementation in quantities that fill our body's needs will we approach optimum health and the elimination of disease. In a quotation made by Nobel Laureate Albert Szent-Gyorgyi, M.D., Ph.D. (the discoverer of Vitamin C), he stated that: "All the same, I always had the feeling that not enough use was made of it [vitamin C] for supporting human health. The reasons are rather complex. The medical profession itself took a very narrow and wrong view. Lack of ascorbic acid [vitamin C] caused scurvy, so if there was no scurvy there was no lack of ascorbic acid. Nothing could be clearer than this. The only trouble was that scurvy is not a first symptom of lack but a final collapse, a pre-mortal syndrome, and there is a very wide gap between scurvy and full health. But nobody knows what full health is!"So the question remains, how much should a person take regularly?The amount of Vitamin C an individual requires is not determined by the absence of scurvy but by the level that promotes optimum health. Simply put, we need to take as much Vitamin C as our systems need to promote optimum health. This would include a daily maintenance dose taken over the course of the day (usually three times. Remember our bodies do not store Vitamin C very well) as well as increased daily dosages during times of illness. Everyone is different. The amount of Vitamin C that a person needs will vary according to his or her body's needs at any particular time. So how much should a person take? As a rule, a good daily maintenance dose for a normal healthy adult is between 3,000mg. (3 grams) to 4,000mg. (4 grams) per day split into three doses and taken over the course of the day. (i.e.: 1,000mg in the morning, 1,000mg at lunch and 1,000 at dinnertime) During times of illness, this dosage may be increased to 6,000mg to 8,000mg. per day.The question is often asked: "Can I overdose on Vitamin C?" The answer to this question is NO. Even at the higher levels, the worst side effect that could be experienced by an individual would be a case of diarrhea. This could easily be corrected by slightly backing off the dosage. Indeed, the real danger with Vitamin C is associated with inadequate dosages!The most important thing to remember regarding doses of Vitamin C is that the RDA levels of less than 100mg. barely gets you by. While this will prevent scurvy and keep you alive in the short term, it won't even get you close to optimum health.So what about natural sources of Vitamin C, such as fruit? Natural sources do provide some Vitamin C as well as other necessary nutritional elements. However, because of the way our body metabolisms have evolved and acclimated to fast food diets etc., the only way to supply our body with the Vitamin C it needs for optimum health is to supplement. That is not to say that we also need to modify our dietary habits toward a healthier eating lifestyle.No matter what condition your body is in, Vitamin C supplementation should be part of your daily regimen!
