Rhonda Patrick,
Ph.D., discusses vitamin C in-depth, covering everything from its
effects on immune function and viral infections to the bioavailability
of different vitamin C forms and administrations, such as oral or
intravenous — plus much more
Vitamin C, even
in small quantities, protects proteins, lipids and even DNA and RNA in
your body from reactive oxygen species that are generated during normal
metabolism as well as due to toxin exposure
Vitamin C also
acts as an antioxidant within your cells, helping to protect immune
cells from incurring damage, and may promote the production of
interferon, which helps defend against viruses
Vitamin C’s
anti-cold effects are among its most-studied uses, and research suggests
that using vitamin C prophylactically as well as therapeutically at the
onset of cold symptoms may reduce symptoms and cold duration
Due to vitamin
C’s antioxidant properties, it may help decrease the risk of
neurodegenerative conditions like Alzheimer’s disease, Parkinson’s
disease, Huntington’s disease and multiple sclerosis because it reduces
oxidative damage
Bioavailability
of vitamin C varies by form; intravenous is most bioavailable, but
liposomal vitamin C, in which vitamin C is encapsulated in a lipid
particle, may increase bioavailability of oral vitamin C considerably
Vitamin C, a water-soluble vitamin
found in abundance in fruits and vegetables, is an essential nutrient
that humans must get from their diet or supplements. Also known as
ascorbic acid, vitamin C is perhaps most well-known for its antioxidant
properties — properties it maintains because of an ability to donate
electrons to oxidized molecules.
In the video above, Rhonda Patrick, Ph.D., discusses vitamin C
in-depth, covering everything from its effects on immune function and
viral infections to the bioavailability of different vitamin C forms
and administrations, such as oral or intravenous — plus much more. If
you have any interest in learning how vitamin C can benefit your
health, this video is a must-see.
Vitamin C’s Many Roles in Your Health
Vitamin C, even in small quantities, protects proteins, lipids and
even DNA and RNA in your body from reactive oxygen species that are
generated during normal metabolism as well as due to toxin exposure
(such as to cigarette smoke and air pollution).
Vitamin C is also involved in the biosynthesis of collagen,
carnitine and catecholamines, according to Patrick, and as such,
“vitamin C participates in immune function, wound healing, fatty acid
metabolism, neurotransmitter production, and blood vessel formation, as
well as other key processes and pathways.”1
Intravenous (IV) vitamin C has also shown promise in helping to treat viral infections
and cancer, while vitamin C is also involved in the way your body
processes other vitamins, such as vitamin E, which it regenerates from
its oxidized form. Vitamin C also makes iron from dietary sources more
bioavailable because it enhances gut absorption of nonheme iron.2
Vitamin C and Immune Function
Vitamin C’s role in immune function is worthy of attention. “It
stimulates the production of white blood cells, especially neutrophils,
lymphocytes and phagocytes, and promotes the cells' normal functions,
such as their ability to detect, move toward and engulf pathogens,”
according to Patrick.3
Vitamin C also acts as an antioxidant within your cells, helping to
protect immune cells from incurring damage, and may promote the
production of interferon, which helps defend against viruses.
There’s also evidence that vitamin C may help in some cases of
exercise-induced immune dysfunction. While exercise is generally
beneficial for immune function, over-exercise or repeated
high-intensity training can take a toll on the immune system. In the
case of marathon runners, skiers and soldiers, for instance, those who
used supplemental vitamin C had 50% fewer colds.4
Vitamin C’s anti-cold effects are among its most-studied uses, and
research suggests that using vitamin C prophylactically as well as
therapeutically at the onset of cold symptoms may reduce symptoms and
cold duration.5 It may also be useful against COVID-19.
In my March 17, 2020 interview with Dr. Andrew Saul,
editor-in-chief of the Orthomolecular Medicine News Service, he
mentions being in contact with a South Korean medical doctor who is
giving patients and medical staff an injection of 100,000 IUs of
vitamin D along with as much as 24,000 mg (24 grams) of IV vitamin C.
"He's reporting that these people are getting well in a matter of
days," Saul says.
As explained by Saul, vitamin C at extremely high doses acts as an
antiviral drug, actually killing viruses. While it does have
anti-inflammatory activity, which helps prevent the massive cytokine
cascade associated with severe SARS-CoV-2 infection, its antiviral
capacity likely has more to do with it being a non-rate-limited free
radical scavenger.
Patrick also noted that vitamin C may be protective against
respiratory diseases. In one study, people with the highest vitamin C
levels were 15% less likely to develop respiratory conditions and 46%
less likely to die of lung cancer compared to those with the lowest
levels.6
Further, vitamin C is well known for helping with lung defense,
which takes on renewed meaning in the midst of the COVID-19 pandemic.
According to Patrick:7
“The innate immune system of the lungs is an integral component
of the body's defense system, protecting the body against exposure to
inhaled oxidants and pathogens … Vitamin C's lung defense capacity is
evidenced by robust data suggesting that vitamin C intake protects
against chronic obstructive pulmonary disease, pulmonary fibrosis, and
other respiratory illnesses, including lung cancer.
But this characteristic takes on special relevance in light of
recent concerns about complications associated with COVID-19, such as
pneumonia and acute lung injury, which often necessitate mechanical
ventilation support.
Epidemiological and observational data indicate that higher
vitamin C intake is associated with a lower risk of developing
pneumonia, and the vitamin has also proven to be effective at decreasing
the duration for which patients are kept on mechanical ventilation,
especially among patients who require more than 24 hours of breathing
support.”
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Vitamin C and Cancer
Another exciting area of vitamin C research involves cancer.
Research suggests that IV vitamin C may extend survival compared to
chemotherapy alone, even for pancreatic and ovarian cancers, which are
among the deadliest. Patrick mentions two studies in patients with
pancreatic cancer, which found intravenous vitamin C helped reduce tumor
size and promote longer progression-free survival.8
Vitamin C also leads to improved quality of life for cancer
patients. In one study of 39 patients diagnosed with terminal cancer,
IV vitamin C led to improvements in physical, emotional and cognitive
status as well as reductions in fatigue, nausea, vomiting, pain and
appetite loss.9
Since conventional cancer therapies often lead to significant side
effects, including physical, emotional, cognitive and sexual
impairments, using vitamin C as an adjunct to improve quality of life
can be a significant improvement.
Vitamin C for Heart and Brain Health
Patrick’s video also goes into the role vitamin C plays as a
cardioprotective agent, as well as a mediator of brain health. For
starters, vitamin C is known to protect against high blood pressure, as
well as reduce blood pressure in people with high blood pressure or
prehypertension.10
Vitamin C also shows promise as a treatment for ischemia and
perfusion injury, which can occur following a heart attack or stroke,
leading to increased inflammation and oxidative damage. “Vitamin C
might be effective at reducing myocardial injury in part by mitigating
oxidative stress,” Patrick explained.11 In your brain, vitamin C is also essential. According to Patrick:12
“Vitamin C is found in high concentrations in the brain,
especially in the hippocampus and frontal cortex regions – areas
involved in memory consolidation, learning, and aspects of executive
function.
In fact, in a classic example of the body triaging resources
based on needs, the brain retains vitamin C during times of deficiency
at the expense of other tissues. This is critical to our survival:
Evidence suggests that vitamin C plays roles in the brain throughout
the lifespan from development through older age.”
Due to vitamin C’s antioxidant properties, it may help decrease the
risk of neurodegenerative conditions like Alzheimer’s disease,
Parkinson’s disease, Huntington’s disease and multiple sclerosis
because it reduces oxidative damage. “Vitamin C is also important for
the regulation of neurotransmitters, the formation of neural circuits,
and many other key brain functions,” Patrick says.13
Vitamin C as a ‘Cure-All’
Patrick describes double Nobel Prize laureate Dr. Linus Pauling’s
1970 publication on vitamin C and the common cold as the impetus that
brought vitamin C into the realm of a cure-all in the minds of the
general public. While this is an exaggeration — vitamin C can’t cure
everything — it’s truly remarkable how many different conditions appear
to be benefited by vitamin C. Aside from being an antioxidant and
anti-infective agent, Patrick describes vitamin C’s benefits for:
Pneumonia
Asthma
Exercise-induced bronchoconstriction
Fatty acid oxidation
Sepsis
Myocarditis in children
Herpes
Epstein-Barr virus infection
Fertility and reproduction
Inflammation
Lung cancer
Common cold and other respiratory diseases
Vitamin C Bioavailability Varies by Form
There are differences in the bioavailability of vitamin C depending
on its form. Both frequency and dose of vitamin C will affect your
levels, but so too will taking it in oral or IV form.
“For example, oral vitamin C is absorbed in the small intestine via
specialized transporters that are subject to saturation, but
intravenous vitamin C bypasses the gut, achieving blood and tissue
concentrations that are markedly higher than those achieved with the
oral form,” Patrick explains.14
IV vitamin C may lead to blood concentrations up to 70 times higher than an equivalent oral dose.15
That being said, liposomal vitamin C, in which vitamin C is
encapsulated in a lipid particle, may increase bioavailability of oral
vitamin C considerably.
“A few studies suggest that oral bioavailability of vitamin C can be
increased when consumed in liposomal form, which exerts a unique
profile of oral bioavailability,” Patrick says, citing a study of 20
people who were given a 10-gram dose of free oral vitamin C or
liposomal vitamin C.16
“The average peak plasma concentration of vitamin C in the
participants who took the free form was approximately 180 micromoles per
liter of blood. However, among those who took the liposomal form, the
average peak plasma concentration was 300 micromoles per liter of
blood, a 70 percent difference,” she said.17
I strongly believe that liposomal vitamin C is a must for your
medicine kit to be pulled out for acute viral illnesses. If I were to
become acutely ill, I would take 4 grams of liposomal vitamin C every
hour until feeling better, then start decreasing the dosage slowly over
a few days once symptoms improve.
Best Food Sources of Vitamin C
I personally only take 100 milligrams (mg) of vitamin C supplement
and only when I don’t have regular access to fresh acerola cherries. I
have several trees on my property that usually have a harvest every few
weeks for nine months of the year. Each cherry has 80 mg of vitamin C,
so I can easily get up to 10 grams on days that I eat the cherries.
A wide variety of foods are high in vitamin C, including red pepper,
parsley, broccoli, kiwi, strawberries, guava, tomato and all citrus
fruits. You can get significant amounts of vitamin C from your diet if
you eat these foods on a daily basis.
Keep in mind, however, that cooking destroys about 25% of the vitamin C present in foods.18
Fortunately, many vitamin C-rich foods are commonly eaten raw. If
you're healthy, or have only mild illness, you can certainly use these
types of whole foods, and they may even be preferable, but if you want
to treat illness, your best bet is to use vitamin C in supplement form,
either liposomal or IV. Further, according to Patrick:19
“It is noteworthy that some scientists believe that compelling
evidence supports increasing the RDA for vitamin C to 200 milligrams
per day for adults. Whereas the goal of the current recommendations is
to reduce the risk of scurvy, higher intake could saturate tissue
levels, potentially reducing the risk of chronic conditions such as
heart disease, stroke, cancer, and metabolic dysfunction.”
Certain populations, including people who smoke, consume alcohol or
have inflammatory bowel disease, may need increased intake of vitamin
C, but some research suggests vitamin C deficiency may be more common
than realized.
“Interestingly, a population-based cross-sectional study of nearly
150 patients admitted to a large teaching hospital in Canada found that
60 percent of the patients had suboptimal plasma vitamin C levels and
19 percent were deficient, with levels approaching those associated
with scurvy,” Patrick noted.20
It’s clear that vitamin C is one nutrient everyone should be sure to
get enough of, but if you’re acutely ill, vitamin C becomes even more
important.
“Vitamin C might be especially beneficial for critically ill people,
particularly those with viral infections, who commonly have lower blood
levels of vitamin C compared to healthy people,” Patrick says. So in
addition to eating plenty of vitamin C-rich foods daily, keep vitamin C
in mind during times of illness. Fortunately, Patrick adds, “With some
exceptions, oral and intravenous vitamin C supplementation have been
shown to be safe, well-tolerated, and have low toxicity.”21
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