People use vitamin C because it's a supplement and more familiar than any other nutrient.
Studies show that more than 40% of older Americans take Vitamin supplements.
In some areas, almost 25% of adults take vitamin C.
Some dieticians say vitamin C is their favorite supplement. They take it regularly, and 80% take more than 250 milligrams.
Vitamin C is called ascorbic acid. It means "no scurvy."
A British physician found that sailors given citrus fruits were cured of scurvy.
This is the result of a vitamin C deficiency.
Hydro Ascorbic Acid is a vitamin C in food. Most supplements only contain ascorbic acid.
Levels of ascorbic acid in the blood rise following the consumption of either vitamin C-containing foods or ascorbic acid.
Vitamin C is important for collagen and other important things. It also fights free radicals, which help the body fight infection.
This nutrient prevents many illnesses, like the common cold and heart disease.
Do vitamins C and A fight cancer? Physicians are often asked if vitamin C is an effective way of fighting cancer.
While there is a growing body of scientific evidence to suggest that vitamin C is useful in the prevention of cancer, the jury is still out on its effectiveness as a cancer treatment.
However, its low cost and astonishing lack of toxicity make it an extremely attractive candidate for further testing.
Dr. Cedar Prasad, professor of radiology at the University of Colorado Health Sciences Center, Denver, is leading one investigation into the vitamin C treatment of cancer.
Prasad has demonstrated that vitamin C can inhibit the growth of cancer cells in vitro.
He advocates giving vitamin C and other antioxidants to patients while they are undergoing conventional chemotherapy and radiation.
Another team, led by Dr. Mark Levine from the National Academy of Sciences, studied vitamin C and cancer cells in a series of lab tests.
Vitamin C appeared to boost production of hydrogen peroxide, which killed cancer cells and left healthy cells unharmed.
The levels of vitamin C were so high that they could only be achieved through IV infusions.
These findings give plausibility to IV ascorbic acid in cancer treatment, and have unexpected implications for treatment of infections where hydrogen peroxide may be beneficial.
Cancer experts said the “overwhelming” evidence still suggested vitamin C was not an effective treatment.
Studies during the ’70s first suggested the administration of high doses of vitamin C could help treat cancer, but later research did not back this up.
There are many substances that have been shown to kill cancer cells in the lab, but didn't fulfill that promise when tested in people.
Says Henry Scow croft of UK-based Cancer Research, Inc.
In the latest study, published in the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences, researchers conducted laboratory experiments which simulated clinical infusions of vitamin C on a range of nine cancer and four normal cells.
In five of the cancer lines, there was a 50% decrease in cell survival, while normal cells were unaffected.
Vitamin C’s benefits are continually in question, but one thing is for sure, though, that eating a healthy, balanced diet, including plenty of fresh fruit and vegetables, is an effective way to reduce the risk of getting cancer in the first place.
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