Different Forms of L-Ascorbic Acid

Vitamin C Supplement Facts                                                                                              Vitamins and Minerals for Optimal Health

 

“Vitamin C will virtually never fail you if you take enough of it in enough forms”
~Dr. Thomas Levy

I have come to learn that Vitamin C comes in many different forms and we should all eat a diet high in Vitamin C foods. Supplementation is necessary in this day and age due to all the oxidative stress we deal with daily (blog coming soon). Vitamin C is one of the greatest anti-oxidants available to us, from nature and from the lab. It is important to know and trust your source for all of your supplements and even your fresh food. This blog goes through and explains all the different options of Vitamin C supplement and I have a list at the bottom with Vitamin C rich organic food sources. You may also want to read my two previous blogs to find more information on this subject. “5 Cent Lemonade” and “Vitamin C”

Naturally Sourced Supplements

When searching for a naturally sourced Vitamin C supplement make sure to read below the nutrition label and look for “other Ingredients”. This is where they hide all the synthetic fillers, preservatives and sugars additives like sucrose, dextrose, High Fructose Corn Syrup and more. Vitamin C and Sugar will compete for the same receptors in the body so you do not want a product that contains any for of sugar additive. These supplements are often very expensive and unable to deliver a very high dose per serving.

 • Sufficient-C® Lemon Peach Immune-Ade Drink Mix offers a refreshing combination of real plant based flavors with a premium blend of 4,000 mg. non-GMO vitamin C ( 2,000 mg. per scoop ), L-lysine, Bromelain and a 94% pure green tea extract in a satisfying, thirst quenching drink mix!

 • Raw Organic Vitamins & Minerals Powder is 100% vegan & organic, it has no synthetic vitamins, Rich in antioxidants & 22% Vitamin C with polyphenols, Supports immune system & natural defenses, Helps boost natural energy & reduces fatigue

 

• Myrciararia dubia (camu camu): Has one of the highest concentrations of Vitamin C in any food source, between 1,882mg to 2,280 mg per 100 grams (about ½ cup sliced fruit) of fruit. A small bushy tree from the riverbanks of the Amazon rainforest which bears a reddish/purple cherry sized fruit. Camu camu is a good source of Vitamin C, beta-carotene, protein and fatty acids having astringent, anti-inflammatory, antioxidant nutritional and emollient properties. This fruit loses its vitamin C content as the fruit reaches maturity and has the best flavor so it must be picked before harvest time to maintain the health benefits of Vitamin C. Remember Vitamin C dies when heated so when purchasing a camu camu supplement take into consideration: of how they got the fresh juicy fruit into a dried powder, did they pick the fruit before harvest so it was packed full of vitamin C, what drying process did they use, did they add any fillers or “other ingredients” to the supplement. If you can get flash frozen berries that would probably be the best source for Vitamin C from camu camu.

• Rose Hip: 1 cup of fresh rose hip has 541mg of Vitamin C, this fruit is packed full a variety of antioxidants, flavonoids, carotenoids, polyphenols, catechins and leucoanthocyanins. Rose hip is also known as rose haw or rose hep, is the round portion of the rose flower just below the petals, the fruit contains the seeds. The fruit and the seeds are used to make medicine. Usually a reddish orange color, also black and dark purple in some species. Much of the vitamin C is destroyed during the drying process and again declines during storage so most companies add synthetic Vitamin C to their Rose hip supplements (the labels may not always say so). So, if you can’t get fresh rose hip its best not to waste your money on these supplements unless you know their exact processing system.

 • Super-C plus Tablets or powder by Dr. William Schulze (www.herbdoc.com) is made with organic and wild harvested ingredients: Camu Camu, Acerola Cherry, Raspberry, Strawberry, Rose hips, Orange peel, Lemon Peel, Coriander Leaf, Parsley Leaf, Kale Leaf, Habanero Pepper. The Other Ingredients consist of: Organic Rice Maltodextrin, Organic Acacia Tree Gum. 2 tablets contain 300mg of Vitamin C.

These are great when you are on the go and don’t have time to eat foods high in Vitamin C, this is high in Bio-flavonoid and contain greens high in C as well.

Dr. Shultze was one of the American pioneers in the organic herbal industry, with over 40 years’ experience in the world of natural healing. He has spent decades in his clinic working with thousands of patients using organically-grown and wild harvested herbs to make his clinical formulas, long before it was trendy to do so. Today, most herbal manufacturers have sped up processing time to a couple days and even just a few hours, they use heat, and even using herbal crystals and concentrates, some don’t even use raw plants and herbs anymore.

Dr. Shultze explains that his clinic was filled with patients that were still ill, long after the doctors gave up, that were using many of the herbal products found in health food stores and were still NOT GETTING WELL. But, when they started using his much more concentrated formulas, they saw immediate and remarkable results.

Dr. Shultze explains on his website:

Herbal authorities and the new breed of herbal manufacturers now say that only 10% raw material (herbs) to 90% liquid is necessary to make most herbal tonics. This is certainly an effective treatment for the profit bottom line, but not the customer’s health.
All of our tonics are made filling each and every vat up to the VERY TOP with raw herbs. In fact, with every vat, when we add the liquid menstrum, the vats overflow and herbs spill onto the floor. Maybe we use too much herbal material in our vats, maybe it is wasteful or unnecessary, but here is what I KNOW: My clinic was filled with patients that were still ill, long after the doctors gave up, that were using many of the herbal products found in health food stores and were still NOT GETTING WELL. But, when they started using my much more concentrated formulas, they saw immediate and remarkable results. So the absolute most important thing I always keep in mind during manufacturing is you and your family’s health, and we will never forget that. I make sure that no herbal extract we make could ever be made any more concentrated, any stronger, or any more POTENT and effective than we make it, PERIOD!! What’s next? How about operating an herbal pharmacy and clinic that spanned three decades, where I worked with tens of thousands of patients?
Dr. Shultze goes on to explain that there are many herbal companies out there that have no herbalist in the company at all! They just research fad herbs on the Internet, and then marketing managers make up a trendy formula.

What Dr. Schultze has to say about natural healing:

”Natural Healing is a method of healing, or a different style or a type of healing than standard modern medicine. With modern medicine, when you get sick, you usually take powerful chemical drugs or undergo something quite invasive, like surgery, to treat disease. With Natural Healing, instead you assist or encourage your body’s own natural self-healing ability. There is a huge difference. Simply put, Natural Healing is what your body does well, naturally, every day, with or without your help. And when you get sick, it’s also what your body naturally does, which is heal you.”
Dr. Shultze takes purity very seriously, to the extent that his manufacturing facility has been registered with, and is continually inspected by, the California Dept. of Public Health: Food & Drug Branch, and they are licensed to manufacture ORGANIC Herbal Products. Plus they are also certified as an ORGANIC facility by Quality Assurance International, the top USDA accredited organic certifying agency in the United States.
Dr. Shultze still uses the same time-consuming methods used and passed down from generation to generation by the greatest herbal pharmacists of the last century, which have been long abandoned by other manufacturers. His premium brewing time is 14 days, with some brews taking as long as two to three months. Each tonic is blended and stirred every single day, before it is eventually pressed under 40 tons of pressure. This is the same way the best wine, olive oil and even herbal medicine have been made for thousands of years. This is why I love and trust his products, I enjoy his Vitamin C powder, superfood bars, Super Meal, and superfoods plus powder.

“Vitamin C is one of the safest medical wonders on the planet. Cumulative vitamin C information has been published in medical literature since the 1940’s. Despite the evidence of the molecule as life-promoting, therapeutic, and very safe even in high doses, vitamin C as therapy in high doses has been admonished by many medical entities. The dogma that only 75-90 mg of ascorbate per day is required by any human, is totally incorrect.” ~Dr. Susan Humphries

 

 

Mineral Ascorbates

Mineral Ascorbates are a group of salts of ascorbic acid, composed of a mineral bonded to ascorbate.

Commonly used in vitamin C supplementation include the following:
Sodium ascorbate: Sodium ascorbate is probably the best and certainly the least expensive of the mineral ascorbates for regular supplementation at relatively high doses (six grams or more daily). This is the only one I use or recommend and only from a trusted source. (I explain below)

Calcium ascorbate: This form of vitamin C is also marketed as an “ester” form of vitamin C or a “buffered” form of vitamin C. I recommend avoiding this type of Vitamin C because this is not a good source of calcium, Ester-c does not absorb into your bones and teeth (where you want calcium to go) but rather to your arteries and other places you do not want calcium build up.                                                                                                Magnesium ascorbate: Is a non-acidic buffered form of Vitamin C
Potassium ascorbate: It is the potassium salt of ascorbic acid
Manganese ascorbate: It is the manganese salt of ascorbic acid
Zinc ascorbate: It is the zinc salt of ascorbic acid
Molybdenum ascorbate: It is the molybdenum salt of ascorbic acid
Chromium ascorbate: It is the chromium salt of ascorbic acid

I try to stay as close to nature as possible with food and supplements, the least amount of processing the better but I break that rule concerning Vitamin C. In my opinion the reward outweighs the risk when in time of need. I would much rather treat myself with high doses of fast acting Vitamin C than antibiotics or a trip to the emergency room. After all the hours of listening to the people who have done the extensive research and webinars I found myself a bit confused on L-ascorbic acid, sodium ascorbate, ascorbatal pomitate , liposomal encapsulated Vitamin C, natural Vitamin C and synthetic Vitamin C.

The doctors whom books I’ve read and lectures I’ve watched have all supplied me with documented case studies on the amazing powers of Ascorbic Acid, referred to as synthetic Vitamin C by many. Then I found a paper written by Dr. Levy that explained the difference and it made sense since most Ascorbic Acid and other (synthetic) vitamin C is derived from corn, a natural source just like rose hip or camu camu, so your main concern with purchasing and consuming the following types of Vitamin C should be the reputation of the lab in which it came from and that they did not use any GMOs, Hexagon gas or sugar.

In Dr. Humphries speech to The Swedish Society for Orthomolecular Medicine, Stockholm, Sweden, 2014, she explains that one cannot get enough vitamin C from whole foods for therapeutic purposes, and that to see therapeutic results one must supplement with the synthetic form as sodium ascorbate powder or lyp-spheric. Intravenous vitamin C allows much higher doses, but it is quickly depleted from the body. Supplementing orally throughout the day can achieve similar result.

Dr. Levy explains Vitamin C in his paper,
The Marketing Myth of ‘vitamin C complex’
September 2, 2013

”However, it needs to be understood that the active agent in all forms of vitamin C is the ascorbate anion and nothing else.

Virtually all of the phenomenal clinical and laboratory outcomes of vitamin C against pathogens and toxins reported over the last 75 years has come from only ascorbic acid or sodium ascorbate, administered or applied in appropriate amounts.

The Nobel laureate who discovered vitamin C, Dr. Albert Szent-Gyorgyi, asserted that what he discovered was ascorbic acid and nothing more.

He certainly did not discover “natural vitamin C” or “vitamin C complex.” Furthermore, the pioneer of the clinical use of vitamin C, Dr. Frederick Klenner, cured his many infections and neutralized his many toxins solely with pure ascorbic acid (or sodium ascorbate).

Many new supplement makers want you to think that vitamin C is of relatively little use to the body if it is not ingested in a “natural” form. Additionally, they try to disparage many pure vitamin C supplements as being “synthetic vitamin C.” Vitamin C, or ascorbate, can be synthesized or it can be isolated from natural sources.”
Sodium Ascorbate Powder

Sodium Ascorbate powder is buffered making it a non-acidic form of Vitamin C, it’s affordable and can be taken as a daily supplement. It is attached to sodium and because buffered and has a much milder taste than straight Ascorbic Acid, making this easier on the digestive system and ideal for children. Any Vitamin C supplement should be taken several times throughout the day so it can be maintained in your system. The amount needed daily will vary depending the individual how high your physical and mental stress level is, do you do vigorous workouts causing stress on the body, do you have a physically demanding job, and is your diet high enough in Vitamin C or do you need to supplement daily.

Sodium Ascorbate gets outside your cells and helps to clean toxins out of your constipated gut. You can do a C flush a couple times a week if not having 3 bowel movements a day or when suffering from food poisoning, you can do this by taking 1 to 2 teaspoons of Sodium Ascorbate Powder in one serving. But it is imperative to take high doses of probiotics when doing this because you will be flushing good and bad bacteria out of your digestive system. I prefer oxy-powder colon cleanse from global healing center to maintain my gut health.

I use Health Ranger’s Nutrition Rescue Non-GMO, China-free Buffered Vitamin C (Sodium Ascorbate), It’s 100% buffered (non-acidic), fully reduced form of Vitamin C. Sourced entirely from non-GMO origins and manufactured in the United Kingdom. They use a natural C “synthesis” which is also followed by plants that make their own vitamin C. “Synthesis” means to combine from different parts to create something new.

 

Notes from:
Dr. Susan Humphries speech to
The Swedish Society for Orthomolecular Medicine,
Stockholm, Sweden 2014

Dr. Humphries explains how to figure out how to determine what your daily supplement amount should be: “Each person needs to assess what their bowels can tolerate. Drink plenty of water prior to this process so you have a good urine flow. Adults need to start by taking 1 or 2 grams every two hours. When you first have rumbling in your belly and write down what the total was to that point. If you want to supplement daily, take approximately 50 to 90 percent of that amount every day.”

I used to use a Pharmaceutical Grade made by NutriBiotic (iherb.com) which is Vegan and Hypoallergenic, Gluten and GMO-free, made with No soy, milk, yeast, egg, starch, no binders or fillers, no colorings or flavorings. I switched to The Health Rangers Nutrition Rescue. I still keep an old bottle of this around for wound care if needed, I take it with us when we go hiking or camping.

“Decreasing exposure to tetanus spores or improvement in nonspecific wound care may have had more effective than immunization in lowering tetanus mortality rates over the last 70 years.”
~David W. Fraser, Tetanus in the United States, 1900-1969 American J. Epidemiology, 1972

 

Notes from:
Dr. Susan Humphries speech to
The Swedish Society for Orthomolecular Medicine,
Stockholm, Sweden 2014

Dr. Susan Humphries suggested wound care to avoid tetanus:
• Let wound bleed out for at least a minute (do not let it hemorrhage)
• Gently flush wound (lavage) with purified water or saline (do not use pressure to stop bleeding)
• Remove foreign matter and dead tissue from wound even if you must cut the dead flesh away, making sure to get it all out
• Then disinfect the wound with 200-500 ppm colloidal silver (iherb.com)
• Wash wound again with 3 parts Purified water and 1 part sodium ascorbate powder
• Avoid sutures when you can (tetanus lives on dead flesh), as not to trap infection inside, use steri-strips or one suture every ¼ inch apart to allow wound to breath, this leaves less of a scar
• Monitor the wound closely for redness and heat around area (sign of infection, make sure this gets better and not worse

 

“Some physicians would stand by and see their patient die rather than use ascorbic acid because in their finite minds it exists only as a vitamin”
~ Dr. Fredrick Klenner, MD

 

Dr. Fredrick Klenner was a physician in the 1950’s who proved that vitamin C was much more than just a vitamin and he documented his success while treating patients with Ascorbic Acid for many conditions and many infectious diseases:
• Tetanus (wound care)
• Polio (cured 100% of his polio patients
• Snake bites
• Spider bites
• Measles
• High Dose Vitamin C during Pregnancy
• High Dose Vitamin C during Delivery

“Lypo-spheric vitamin C is the most useful and it is what our bodies need most when we need treatment for acute or chronic diseases.”
~Dr. Susan Humphries

 

Liposomal Encapsulated Vitamin C

This form of Vitamin C has no adverse bowel effects when taken in large doses. I use Lypo-Spheric Vitamin C from LivOn Laboratories. This form of Vitamin C is often referred to an IV in a box, 2 packets will protect you from incoming invaders and keep free-radicals from forming for up to 6hours. This form is almost better than IV Vitamin C in the fact that it is able to get to your cells and repair them. It’s Non-Gmo, Sugar Free, Gluten Free and Hexane Free, no artificial flavorings or colorings.  I order from iherb.com (ships internationally) and now available off of amazon. It comes in convenient little packages which are perfect for traveling. I take two packets before going to the airport or Dentist and after or when going to work and everyone round me is getting sick. These situations cause a great deal of oxidative stress.

I have heard Dr. Thomas Levy say that 6 grams of liposomal vitamin C is equivalent to 50 grams of intravenous vitamin C. The brand Lypo-Spheric uses liposomes made from essential phospholipids to protect the active nutrient from destruction. This form is meant to enter the bloodstream and go directly to the cells by bypassing absorption barriers in the digestive system. The cell membrane blocks much of the vitamin C that is in the bloodstream from getting into the cell. The liposomal membrane can fuse with the same material and shape that exists on cell walls.

 

“My clinical opinion is that one gram of properly-produced and orally-ingested liposome-encapsulated vitamin C is as or more effective than 5 to 10 grams of vitamin C given intravenously, for an acute viral syndrome. When someone is ill, my advice is still to use as many forms of vitamin C as available, and dosed as highly as is feasible. I discussed this “Multi-C Protocol” in another article.”                       ~Dr. Thomas Levy

 

Chronic inflammation causes disease, mutant cells can develop into fast growing cancerous tumors where chronic inflammation is present. Daily liposomal supplementation is said to prevent this from occurring. I do not take this daily for the simple fact that is synthetic and the essential phospholipids are sourced from soy lecithin. I try and eat a diet high in natural Vitamin C. However, I do keep this product in my house and work bag and carry it when I travel so as soon as I feel my immune system may be compromised I take very large doses of this and Sodium Ascoerbate and I rarely get sick (every 5 to 7 years).

When taking high doses of Vitamin C it is important to maintain good urine flow and stay adequality hydrated (see water section in book). I have heard Dr. Thomas Levy say that he takes 4 grams (4,000mg) of liposomal vitamin C and 10/15 grams (10,000/15,000mg) of Sodium Ascorbate (causes C flush) daily. You may see YouTube videos of people claiming to make Liposomal Vitamin C at home so I wanted to share my notes from a paper Dr. Levy wrote on the subject.

Notes from:
Exposing the truth about liposomal nutrients
April, 11, 2014 by Dr. Thomas Levy

He states:
Homemade liposome-encapsulated is not possible at home.
However, the ultrasonic treatment does result in a legitimate emulsion, which is absorbed much better than just regular vitamin C. However, that is just absorption into the blood, not enhanced uptake inside the cells, as with liposomes.
So, such a preparation can certainly help the sick patient, and probably more effectively than just regular vitamin C can help.
Of note, a liposome preparation also does not come in a dry capsule, however, convenient this may be to take versus a thick, oily preparation.

The name liposome is derived from two Greek words: ‘Lipos’ meaning fat and ‘Soma’ meaning body. The liposomal technology was discovered by Dr. Alec Banham, a hematologist at the Babraham Institute in Cambridge, UK. Liposomes are tiny “nano-size” fat soluble transporters for carrying nutrients to the body’s cells, bypassing the digestive system and delivered directly to the bloodstream. This allows for an absorption rate of over 90% with no adverse bowel effect when taken in high doses. This form of Vitamin C is superior to any other oral Ascorbic Acid supplement and even compared to IV therapy.
• Per Merriam Webster Dictionary
: an artificial vesicle composed of one or more concentric phospholipid bilayers and used specially to deliver microscopic substances (as drugs or DNA) to body cells.

Per LivOn Labs:   Liposomes are bilayer (double-layer), liquid-filled bubbles made from phospholipids. Over 50 years ago, researchers discovered that these spheres could be filled with nutrients and used to protect and deliver these agents into the body and even into specific cells of the body.

The bilayer structure of liposomes is nearly identical to the bilayer construction of the cell membranes that surround each of the cells in the human body. This occurs because of the unique composition of phospholipids. The phosphate (source of “phospho” in phospholipid) head of phospholipids is hydrophilic — it loves water — whereas the fatty-acid tails (lipids) are hydrophobic — they hate water.

When phospholipids find themselves in a water-based solution, the hydrophobic tails quickly move to distance themselves from the liquid just like oil separates from vinegar. So, as all the tails turn inward and all the heads turn toward the liquid, they form a double-layered membrane.

 

Ascorbyl Pomitate (Ascorbatal Pomitate)

Ascorbatal Pomitate is an ester formed from ascorbic acid and palmitic acid creating a fat-soluble form of Vitamin C. It is unique that in that is has both fat-soluble and water-soluble qualities. It can be expensive to take as a daily supplement but if you want to keep a bottle around the house to use when feeling ill or in time of crisis it’s a great way to get Vitamin C into the body in another form to make sure you are getting your levels as high as possible. This form is good to include in derma logical creams and preparations since it is fat soluble.

Intravenous Administration Vitamin C

Intravenous Vitamin C elevates blood levels of vitamin C significantly higher, however, without the liposomal membrane this water-soluble vitamin C is unable to efficiently penetrate the cell membrane. Intravenous Vitamin C treatments cost between $125 – $160 a session. Typical sessions last around two hours and the effects last about 6 hours before needing another treatment for IV Vitamin C is quickly excreted from the body.
But it is a great way to get Vitamin C in the body quickly during time of extreme trauma or when a specific target is in mind such as cancer cells. Intravenous vitamin C is a pro-oxidant drug that helps produce hydrogen peroxide which targets cancer cells while leaving normal cells unharmed. So, it does have great benefits in treating cancer patients. It is common for people to take oral Sodium ascorbate, Ascorbic Acid, Ascorbatal Pomitate and Liposomal Vitamin C every few hours while receiving IV therapy to keep blood levels high during these times of crisis.

 

Conditions that require supplementation of IV Sodium Ascorbate

Whooping Cough (30 to 35 years of solid immunity)
Sepsis
Vaginal Child Birth
Vaccine Reactions
Trauma (inflammatory response of any kind)
Endotoxin processing (bacterial toxins consisting of lipids that are located within a cell)
Vascular Integrity (integrity of blood vessels can be effected by deep wounds and diabetes)
Severe Burns
Surgery
Severe Allergic reaction (Antihistamine)

 

Signs of Vitamin C deficiency

Anemia
Bleeding Gums
Decreased Ability to fight infection
Decreased wound healing rate
Dry and Splitting Hair
Easy Bruising
Gingivitis
Nosebleeds
Possible weight gain, slowed metabolism
Rough, dry, scaly skin
Swollen and painful joints
Weakened tooth enamel
Scurvy

Foods that containing Vitamin C

Guava: ½ cup 188mg
Kiwifruit: 2 kiwis 140mg
Broccoli: 1 cup chopped 82mg
Kale: 1 cup chopped 80mg
Orange: 1 medium 70mg, ¾ fresh juice has about 93mg
Grapefruit: half a fruit 39mg, ¾ cup fresh juice has about 79mg
Papayas: 1 cup chunks 88.3 mg
Green Bell Pepper: ½ cup raw 60mg, cooked 51mg,
Red Bell Pepper: 1 whole pepper 300 mg, ½ cup raw 142mg, cooked 166mg
Strawberries: ½ cup 49mg
Broccoli: ½ cup cooked 48mg
Cantaloupe: ¼ fruit 47mg
Turnip Greens: 1 cup boiled 39.5mg
Winter Squash: 1 cup baked 31mg
Butternut squash: 1 cup baked 31mg
Raspberries: 1 cup 32.2mg
Blueberries: 1 cup 14.4mg
Cranberries: 1 cup 13.3mg
Pineapple: 1 cup chunks 78.9mg whole pineapple 432mg
Grapefruit: ½ medium 39mg
Lemons: 1 fruit 18.6mg
Limes: 1 fruit 19.5mg
Tomatoes Juice: ¾ cup fresh 33mg
Parsley: 1 cup 33.25 mg
Brussel Sprouts: ½ cup cooked 48mg, 28 calories
Parsley: 1 cup 33.25 mg
Tomatoes: ¾ cup fresh 33mg
Cabbage: ½ cup cooked 28mg
Cauliflower: ½ cup raw 28mg
Sweet Potatoes: 1 medium baked 22.3mg
Watermelon: 1 cup diced 12.3mg
Spinach: ½ cup cooked 9mg
Peas: ½ cup cooked, frozen 8mg
Romain Lettuce: 1 cup chopped 1.9mg
Butter lettuce: 1 cup shredded 3.3mg
Paprika: 1 tablespoon 0.1mg

 

 

 

 

 

Disclaimer: The strategies, suggestions and techniques expressed here are intended to be used for educational purposes only. The Author, Kira Miller, is not rendering medical advice nor is she trying to diagnose, prescribe or treat any disease, condition, illness or injury.

If you are under the care of a physician, it is imperative that you consult their advice before beginning any new exercise or nutrition program.
Kira Miller claims no responsibility to any person or entity for any liability, loss or damage alleged to be caused directly or indirectly as a result of the use, application or interpretation of the material presented here.