slb@drutx.UUCP (Sue Brezden) (11/22/85)
>If you measure the ascorbate levels of other mammals which do produce >endogenous C, and extrapolate to determine what is needed in the 165 lb >man to produce similar levels (not just serum, but leucocyte levels), >it comes to between 1-3 grams (depending upon the animal analysed). In >addition, making some educated guesses at the foodstuffs eaten by earlier >hunter/gatherer man and estimating his caloric requirement at somewhat >greater than modern sedentary man (about 4000 calories), then calculating >the C which might have been ingested to acquire this caloric input, the >numbers show about the same thing. >--Kne I guess the first thing that bothers me about this is that it seems doubtful that any human being ever actually got that much Vitamin C regularly before we had the chemistry to produce pure Vitamin C. That is, it's not very natural. The amount of Vitamin C in one orange is 50 mg. (from the Encyclopedia Britanica). This means that you need to eat 20 oranges to get 1 gram of Vitamin C. That's a lot of oranges. For 3 grams it's 60 oranges a day. I doubt that you can stuff that many oranges into your tummy in a day. And that's not going to give you the protein and fats you need to stay healthy. (You need to eat something besides fruits, and they are the best sources of Vitamin C.) You could do better with lemons. It only takes 4 whole lemons to make a gram of Vitamin C (242 mg. per lemon). But whole, raw lemons haven't been a staple in a lot of diets I've heard of. (Personally, I love them.) It's possible that some jungle tribes who eat only fruit have often gotten that much...but the great bulk of humanity has never been able to approach it until now. Do we really know the long-term effects of large quantities of this substance? The second thing that bothers me is that there are people who take lots of vitamins on the premise that "if a little is good, a lot is better." Kne doesn't seem to be one of those--but I've met some. That's a dangerous mind-set. There's also the feeling that "if I take too much, that's OK, 'cause it won't hurt me." But some--Vitamin A, for instance--*will* hurt you. Vitamin C is excreted if you take lots--but what's the effect on the kidneys of this happening constantly? Anyway, if you feel it helps you, fine. I'm just not really sure it's healthy or natural to get that much Vitamin C. -- Sue Brezden ihnp4!drutx!slb ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ To search for perfection is all very well, But to look for heaven is to live here in hell. --Sting ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
slb@drutx.UUCP (Sue Brezden) (11/22/85)
After posting my last article on Vitamin C, a thought occurred to me.
Has anyone really measured the Vitamin C used by a human being? What
I have seen in this newsgroup is 1) amount needed to cure scurvy, and
2) extrapolations from other animals. Has anyone given large doses to
humans, then measured the amount excreted as unused? It seems simple
enough. If course, you would want to measure people of all sizes, sexes,
and ages. And throw in people with colds and other infections to see
if that really increases the need for the stuff.
Has this been done, and if so what are the results? If this hasn't been
done, why not?
--
Sue Brezden
ihnp4!drutx!slb
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
To search for perfection is all very well,
But to look for heaven is to live here in hell.
--Sting
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~wmartin@brl-tgr.ARPA (Will Martin ) (11/26/85)
In article <690@drutx.UUCP> slb@drutx.UUCP (Sue Brezden) writes: >Has anyone really measured the Vitamin C used by a human being? > >If this hasn't been done, why not? > Sue Brezden Who's going to make any money off it? Vitamin C is generic, widely available, and cheap. What incentive does anyone have to PROVE how good it is? (Altruism motivates few drug companies or organizations that fund academic reserchers, after all... :-) Will
werner@aecom.UUCP (Craig Werner) (12/02/85)
> In article <690@drutx.UUCP> slb@drutx.UUCP (Sue Brezden) writes: > >Has anyone really measured the Vitamin C used by a human being? > > > >If this hasn't been done, why not? > > Sue Brezden It has been done, and the recommendation was to lower the US RDA on the basis of it. (currently 75mg/day - recommended 40). The whole thing got tied up in politics, and no action was taken. For two reasons: 1. they just upped it from 30 in 1980 (or was it '75) - the article was in TIME, check it out. 2. Too many people are agititating for increasing consumption of Vitamin C to megadose levels -- witness this discussion as evidence. -- Craig Werner !philabs!aecom!werner "The proper delivery of medical care is to do as much Nothing as possible"