Vitamin C and Your Health
excerpted from
The Smile Method - How to Avoid Gum Surgery and Dentures
Vasilios Gardiakos
for more information click here

VITAMIN C DOSING

Unlike most animals that produce their own vitamin C, and make a lot of it, the human body does not synthesize any. We need a lot more than our contemporary diet supplies. The amount of vitamin C you take daily determines its effectiveness. No two people are alike (different weight, health, genetics) in their vitamin C requirements.

(1) You should at minimum take a mega dose of C daily. Take 500 mg to approximately 50% of your average daily bowel tolerance level, which may be around 5 gm (5,000 mg).

(2) Daily dosage over 2 gm should be divided during the day. Do not take more than 5 gm at any one time. During illness you may dose many times during an hour but the total should not exceed 20 gm during this period.

(3) vitamin C can be taken before, during or after meals, on an empty or full stomach. C capsules may be taken with any beverage.

(4) Dissolving the powder in water (or juice) is the preferred way to take vitamin C in doses over 5 gm per day. Capsules are a close second. I do not recommend that you take tablets because some may not dissolve properly and the binders used may spoil.

(5) Most people tolerate vitamin C less in the morning and the tolerance increases during the day and when asleep. If you encounter any problems experiment with timing.

(6) Make a note of every dose by simply writing a number to designate the grams. This will help determine your current daily dosage. When using powdered vitamin C (or for that matter all your supplements) write the date of first use on the bottle, so that when emptied, you may be able to calculate with accuracy your average daily consumption.

(7) For more consistent and accurate dosing of powdered C, use a measuring spoon. Check the label for weight equivalents. Depending on how fine the crystals are:

(a) One level teaspoon of ascorbic acid is equal to 3.25 to 4.00 gm of vitamin C.

(b) One level teaspoon of sodium ascorbate and the other ascorbates other than ascorbic acid is equal to 2.75 to 3.50 gm of vitamin C.

C-NBT DOSING

For most people the C-NBT dosage is the ideal dosage. At these levels, vitamin C is virucidal and bactericidal.

(1) As a part of your daily routine, I recommend that your dosage of vitamin C be approximately 90% of bowel tolerance, or an amount of C, Near Bowel Tolerance, from which I coin the acronym C-NBT. That is, if 10 gm give you diarrhea, then take about 9 gm.

(a) Abdominal discomfort, abdominal growl, flatulence, gas, anal itch and/or soft stool often indicate that you are near bowel tolerance.

(b) Diarrhea indicates that you have reached or passed the bowel tolerance level.

(2) Here are the steps to work out your daily C-NBT dosage. Only sodium ascorbate, calcium ascorbate, ascorbic acid and Ester-C are suitable for C-NBT dosing.

(a) Start with 500 mg and gradually increase daily dosage. As your daily dosage increases to over 2 gm, divide the dosage during the day.

(b) Trial and error is the only way to determine your C-NBT dosage. Time release vitamin C complicates C-NBT dosing by delaying feedback and should be avoided (it is OK to use for mega dosing). On my wish list is that someone come up with a practical fool proof method or a "litmus test" that will determine ones vitamin C requirement at any given time.

(c) If diarrhea does not pose any health risk to you, to gain experience, reach or slightly exceed your vitamin C bowel tolerance level.

(3) Once you establish your C-NBT level, it stays fairly constant. A change in health may alter it. Over the years the level may very slowly rise as your system adjusts to your C dosage. Many people can take 10 gm of C per day.

(4) To test the effectiveness of C-NBT dosing on yourself try the following.

(a) As you increase the C dosage to C-NBT did your gums firm up and tighten up around the teeth? Did the amount of sites that bleed decrease? Was inflammation and other symptoms of disease reduced?

(b) Slowly decrease dosage until you stop completely. Do not change anything else in your routine. Give this test some time. If symptoms returned then you are fairly sure that vitamin C is effective.

(c) To double check the effectiveness of C, restart C-NBT dosing and see if your symptoms like bleeding and tenderness of gums are decreased or eliminated.

(d) The real test for vitamin C is how much it helps your periodontitis and overall health over the long term. Has your gum health improved? Are your days of illness fewer, shorter or less severe?

VITAMIN C DOSING DURING ILLNESS

Nutritionists and those practicing orthomolecular medicine often recommend vitamin (especially C) and mineral supplements above the RDA for therapeutic purposes. C-NBT is not the answer to all health problems, but as an aid in the prevention and elimination of gum infections it is very helpful.

(1) Start C-NBT dosing on the first sign of worsening overall or gum health. Swollen or bleeding gums, bad breath, scratchy throat, coated tongue, swollen glands, runny nose, coughing, phlegm, body aches and low grade fever are some typical first signs of illness. What are your first signs?

(a) The C-NBT level may increase slowly or sharply as your overall health or gum health worsens. The C-NBT level may rise without any symptoms Though if your body cannot benefit from a higher C dosage, you may get ill without the C-NBT level moving up.

(b) Increase intake (up to C-NBT level) regardless of how much C you normally take. In an effort to stay well or get well, you may have to take over 100 gm of C per day "chasing" your rising C-NBT level. Any dosage below your C-NBT level may be useless on acute illness.

(c) Due to a greater need, more of the vitamin C is absorbed. Less vitamin C then reaches the bowel, hence the greater tolerance for it. Titrate the vitamin C dosage between the amount which begins to make you feel better and the amount which almost but not quite gives you diarrhea. Not always easy to do!

(d) To avoid over shooting your bowel tolerance level (which may cause diarrhea), dose smaller quantities but more often. Dose even several times during an hour.

(2) Often, if vitamin C can be beneficial for an acute illness, the bowel tolerance for vitamin C will rise proportionally in relation to the severity of the illness. This will reflect the demand for vitamin C and thus what the dosage should be.

(3) As your health improves the C-NBT level will drop slowly or dramatically. Reduce C dosage proportionally.

(4) Your C-NBT level may be used as one barometer of overall health. For many people the color of their tongue reflects the state of their health. A coated white tongue may indicate illness. A really clean tongue reflects good health.

(5) Intravenous vitamin C has been used to treat various ailments and infections.

a) It would be interesting to see how an intravenous C will deal with gum infections that may have spread systemically. If it turns out to be a successful treatment, it may be used as an alternative to systemic antibiotics which have risks and undesirable side effects.

(b) On my wish list is that someone develop and produce a safe, computer operated and monitored, portable intravenous C unit, which would free one from sitting at a clinic. Better yet, develop a form of vitamin C that when ingested can be tolerated by the bowel at higher levels.

(6) See a physician that is familiar with vitamin vitamin C therapy. Be aware though that most physicians and dentists are uninformed and more likely misinformed about C dosing.

VITAMIN C SIDE EFFECTS AND CAUTIONS

Vitamin C has some nuisance and minor side effects if you mega or C-NBT dose.

(1) Vitamin C dosage over what your body can use, reaches your bowel causing diarrhea. Prolonged or severe diarrhea is not good for health.

(2) Vitamin C in mega or C-NBT dosage, acts as a very mild diuretic (much milder than coffee). To combat this, drink more water (as thirst dictates).

(3) High dosage of vitamin C due partly to its diuretic quality may decrease blood pressure. Great if you have high blood pressure though you may want to avoid C as sodium ascorbate. If very low blood pressure causes you loss of energy or you are easily fatigued, add salt to your diet and/or consider taking C as sodium ascorbate.

(4) That prolonged high dosage of vitamin C may cause kidney stones is not well founded. In all my research I found no proof of this, so it either doesn't happen or it is a very rare occurrence. To be safe if you have a tendency to form urate stones see a physician that is familiar with vitamin C dosing. He can determine if the vitamin C should be acidic or alkaline to avoid this risk.

(5) If you consume high dosages of non-acidic vitamin C, it may be wise if you are prone to urinary tract infections to switch occasionally to ascorbic acid. The added acid will help prevent this infection.

(6) People who have a rare inherited ailment such as haemochromatosis, or sideroblastic anemia, both iron disorders, or thalassemia, should not take vitamin vitamin C supplements without a physician's supervision. The rationale is that vitamin C increases iron absorption, great for most of us but bad if this overloads your system with iron. There is however some evidence that vitamin C supplementation helps those with excess iron disorders in that vitamin C normalizes iron absorption thus helps to eliminate the excess iron.

(7) People that have kidney disease, sickle cell disease, or have a G-6PD deficiency (up to 10% of black African-American males) and pregnant or lactating women should take C with caution. There exists some controversy in this area regarding how much if any vitamin C supplementation is safe and beneficial.

(8) Vitamin C, sometimes even at very low dosages (one orange) can cause false readings on a few clinical tests. For some tests, you may be required to refrain from taking vitamin C for up to seven days. Inform your doctor and lab technician of your C dosage. To get accurate results, alternate testing methods may be used.

(9) If you are taking a C-NBT dosage and are planning to stop or reduce it for any reason, do it gradually over two weeks. If you do not, the "rebound effect" may cause your body to react as if you have a C deficiency. This may lead to vitamin C deficiency symptoms. This has not been adequately demonstrated and may not always happen to everyone.

VITAMIN C - PURCHASING

Vitamin C which is also known as ascorbate comes in seven configurations: powder (or crystals), capsules, tablets, lozenges, chewable, syrup and liquid for injection or intravenous infusion. vitamin C also is available in natural and synthetic, both being equally safe and effective.

(1) Ascorbic acid is the most common form of vitamin C. Ascorbic acid as the name implies, is an acid (pH 2.4), though a very mild acid and much milder than stomach digestive acids.

(a) Avoid consuming ascorbic acid as a chewable (it often contains sugar), as a lozenge, in mouthwash, or dentifrices, because in these forms it can slowly etch the protective tooth enamel away.

(b) If you ingest ascorbic acid in solution, rinse mouth afterwards to protect the tooth enamel.

(c) If ascorbic acid gives you "heartburn", switch to non-acidic C.

(2) Sodium ascorbate because of its near neutral flavor and being non-acidic, has been my choice for some years now. Sodium may raise blood pressure and reduce tissue calcium in some people. This however needs to be better researched as the sodium in sodium ascorbate may differ in its effects. If you are on a salt-restricted diet, to be on the safe side, monitor your blood pressure to check if sodium ascorbate dosing raises it.

(3) Calcium ascorbate. The proponents of calcium ascorbate say that calcium in this form of vitamin C is well utilized.

(4) Magnesium ascorbate. Magnesium is essential for calcium utilization.

(5) Potassium ascorbate. The addition of potassium may lower blood pressure.

(6) Zinc ascorbate. The zinc may give an added boost to the immune system.

(7) Manganese ascorbate, Molybdenum ascorbate, Chromium ascorbate. These are not recommended for mega dosing.

(8) Often Sodium ascorbate and calcium ascorbate are mixed in various ratios. You may also find all the buffered ascorbates (2) to (7) mixed together in various combinations. On my wish list is that someone market a blend of ascorbates that is palatable (if taken in solution), nutritious, economical, low or sodium free, that will not cause stomach distress.

(9) ESTER-C calcium ascorbate, and sodium ascorbate are sold with and without bioflavonoids in capsule form and bulk powder. The manufacturer claims that this patented form of vitamin C is more potent. It has a pH of 7.0. As a powder try ESTER-C sodium ascorbate which is very palatable and well tolerated when mixed in water. ESTER-C is more expensive than the regular C.

(10) There are some "hypoallergenic" forms of C to try if you have allergy problems with it.

(11) Vitamin C is more economical if purchased in bulk, by the pound or kilogram. Vitamin C has an excellent shelf life if kept dark and cool. Refrigeration is not required. Vitamin C loses its potency if stored moist or wet. To avoid adding moisture to the powder, dispense it with a dry spoon.

VITAMIN C - LINKS

(1) Thomas E. Levy, MD, JD www.tomlevymd.com/

(2) Bronson Laboratories offer Vitamin C powder at a good price:
* www.bronsonvitamins.com

(3) Vitamin C intravenous
* http://www.rednova.com/news/health/237959/vitamin_c_
possible_cancerkilling_promise/
* http://www.physorg.com/news6427.html
 

MORE HEALTH SUGGESTIONS