Vitamin C – the simple but versatile nutrient

Vitamin C is a very versatile nutrient used both in prevention and treatment of disease. Its use in the body goes far, far beyond the simple prevention of the severe deficiency state scurvy. There was heavy public interest in vitamin C when two-time Nobel prize winner Linus Pauling publicy promoted vitamin C in the treatment and prevention of colds.

Vitamin C, when obtained orally from supplements and dietary sources, functions largely as an antioxidant.

When an apple becomes oxidized, it turns brown as in the above picture. If you sprinkly some vitamin C onto a cut apple (or some lemon juice) it will take much longer for the tissue to oxidize or turn brown.

Vitamin C as a supplement can be used to decrease excess oxidation. We should be aware that vitamin C for this function is really only useful in anxiety or stress states, where physical or emotional stress may be contributing to lowered immunity or especially anxiety. Chronic toxicity states also can be helped with supplemental vitamin C, though usually the dosage has to be much higher, as in an IV. Otherwise, normal oxidation within the body is healthy, just as exercise is healthy.

Much of the population is under chronic stress though, and occasional, intermittent oral vitamin C can be used to attenuate the stress. Usually a week on and a week off can work well. It will rarely be very effective when used alone, but when combined with herbal medicines, and other nutrients such as B3 / niacin, it can be very useful.

The major use of vitamin C in my practice is in the intravenous form. Dr Fred Klenner, MD, was one of the early pioneers in this therapy. He wrote a comprehensive paper that detailed his successes in treating any form of infection, including polio, with this simple therapy.

The idea of these big doses is to saturate the tissues; the white blood cells will be able to destroy pathogens. “I have seen diphtheria, hemolytic streptococcus infections clear within hours following an injection of ascorbic acid in a dose ranging from 500-700 mg per kilogram of body weight given intravenously as fast as the patient’s cardiovascular system will allow.”

He got to know the vulnerability of viruses so well, he played games with them. “When proper amounts are used it will destroy all virus organisms.” He could give one gram of ascorbic acid every four hours and modify the disease symptoms, but if he gave one gram every two hours by mouth for four days, he had stopped the disease, apparently by killing the virus. If he gave this dose for only two days, the symptoms returned. (He kept measles simmering in his own children for a month by giving this dose for two days, then off for two then on, etc.)

With 350 mg per kilogram of body weight every two hours, he could stop measles and dry up chicken pox. If he could get in the vein, 400 mg per kilogram two to three times in 24 hours was all that was required (he published this way back in 1951, in the Southern Medical Surgical Journal).

Klenner believed that the reason vitamin C has had variable results as reported by practitioners is that the dose has to be sufficiently large to treat, depending on the severity of the disease. Thus, I have seen in my practice cases where 25 grams of vitamin C has done little for a chronic infection, but going up to 75 – 100 grams has done wonders. Herpes infections (zoster and simplex) are very treatable but have required large doses given frequently.

We are also learning that in very large doses, such as those given intravenously, vitamin C is actually an oxidant, in that it increases the amount of hydrogen peroxide in tissues. This may be part of the mechanism of how it works.

Although vitamin C is one of the more popular supplements, I think it tends to be over-used as an oral supplement. We can take too much of a good thing, especially if taken years on end. If we chronically overload with vitamin C, and do not have an increased need for it, based on stress, toxicity, or anxiety, then we decrease our cell’s “natural” ability to keep excess oxidation at bay. The cell’s in essence do not get to exercise. However, people who do have chronic anxiety from stress, or recurrent infections from stress, tend to do well with both oral and IV vitamin C.