In almost all things, I trust the wisdom of Mother Nature. But she pulled a fast one on us when it comes to vitamin C. It seems that just about every other animal can produce its own vitamin C — except humans. Really. Cats, dogs, elephants, birds — you name it. Only humans, monkeys and other primates, guinea pigs, and an obscure bat found only in India have been left out in the genetic cold somewhere along the way. Whether by genetic error or cosmic joke, we are left to fend for ourselves when it comes to getting the vitamin C we need.
You might be thinking, like I did, that we’re well past worrying about getting enough vitamin C in our diets. Scurvy (a disease caused by severe vitamin C deficiency) is long gone, right?
Well, a new study published in the American Journal of Public Health says otherwise. Although fruits and vegetables are readily available, many people don’t partake of the abundance as they should, leaving them dangerously depleted of this essential nutrient.
The study included 15,769 participants ranging in age from 12 to 74 years and found a distressing 10 percent of women and 14 percent of men to be deficient. While it’s not even close to being a majority, it’s still an alarming number since vitamin C plays such a critical role in so many of the body’s functions. So, to ensure that you’re getting enough, this is one of those instances where you’ll most likely need to supplement in addition to adding more fruits and vegetables to your diet.
Determining how much supplemental vitamin C will meet your individual requirements is fairly easy using a tolerance-test technique that Dr. Wright shared with his readers a few years ago.
The tolerance test starts with a dose of 2 grams of vitamin C per day. Then, slowly increase your dose each day until you start experiencing excess gas or loose bowels. At that point, your body isn’t absorbing or able to use that much, so you should scale back to the largest amount that doesn’t produce these symptoms.
Dr. Wright finds that most adults need 3 to 6 grams (3,000 to 6,000 milligrams) daily. When illness occurs, however, the amount frequently increases quite significantly. Also, keep in mind that vitamin C is water-soluble and rapidly used by our bodies, so it’s a good idea to spread the total daily quantity you take out over two or three doses.
One note of caution: Individuals who have formed calcium-oxalate kidney stones or who come from families who’ve had them should limit supplemental vitamin C to 1 gram daily unless they’re working with a health-care professional knowledgeable in nutritional therapy. For the rest of us, however, don’t settle for less than you need of this critical nutrient.
Timing is everything
Q: I have always been puzzled about when to take supplements — on an empty stomach, or a full stomach? Should I do what my system tolerates best, or is there some rule of thumb depending on what I’m taking?
JVW: The most important part of taking supplements is absorption. Anything that is not properly absorbed into your system is ultimately of no use to you.
It is generally considered best to take vitamins with a meal since the digestive juices you produce at mealtime enable you to absorb the maximum amount of the nutrient. Fat-soluble vitamins such as vitamins A, D, E, and K require either animal or vegetable fat to be present in the stomach to be optimally absorbed. It is also a good practice to space your vitamins and supplements throughout the day, especially those that are water-soluble, such as the B-complex and vitamin C. If you are taking 3,000 milligrams a day of vitamin C, for example, you should take 1,000 at each of your three meals that day.
A few things to take note of: if you are taking both mineral supplements and a fiber supplement, consider taking them at different times of the day. The fiber makes it difficult for the minerals to be absorbed. Taking too much zinc at once can cause stomach cramps, so you might want to split your dose up, depending on how much you take. And if you are taking any essential fatty acid supplements, you should take your vitamin E at the same time.
Herbal remedies and probiotics, on the other hand, usually require an empty stomach for maximum effectiveness. This means 20-30 minutes before meals, or two hours after.
Of course, no one wants to spend all of their time worrying about when to take their supplements. Perhaps the best strategy is to consult your nutritionally oriented physician, or a compounding pharmacist about the particular mixture of supplements you take and get his or her help planning out your day according to your specific combination. Then stick with the same routine every day. After all, the best plan is one that you can easily follow consistently.
What is biochemical individuality?
An important principle in orthomolecular medicine, biochemical individuality holds that each of us respond to different substances differently — even if our age, body size, gender and other factors are the same. Our body chemistry is unique and will respond to chemicals, environmental conditions, stress and other influences differently than anyone else, even if we resemble them or are related to them.
Yours in good health,
Amanda Ross
Managing Editor
Nutrition & Healing
Sources:
Hampl JS, Taylor CA, Johnston CS. “Vitamin C deficiency and depletion in the United States: the Third National Health and Nutrition Examination Survey, 1988 to 1994.” Am J Public Health 2004; 94(5): 870-875
Cathcart RF. “Vitamin C, Titrating To Bowel Tolerance, Anascorbemia, and Acute Induced Scurvy.” Medical Hypotheses 1981; 7: 1,359-1,376
“The When and How of Vitamins and Supplements,” True Start Health (www.truestarhealth.com), accessed 9/30/04
