I’ve spent a fascinating week researching vitamin C. My research was mostly done for my Stay Healthy book but also due to general interest following a TV3 documentary on the dramatic healing of a New Zealand farmer using high doses of vitamin C.
I now have enough interesting information to write a book on vitamin C and may do so at a later date. I think you could be surprised at just what vitamin C can do to enhance your health and to heal serious health disorders, when taken in large enough amounts.
Vitamin C - not a vitamin at all
But first, vitamin C is not a vitamin at all, not even remotely. It’s more of a blood-soluble food salt, not unlike blood glucose in many ways.
Humans, apes and guinea pigs are the only mammals that do not make vitamin C in the liver, they have to get it from food. An estimate of the daily amount of vitamin C made by a 70kg mammal is about 12,000mg day. Even a mouse can make up to 19,000mg a day.
The New Zealand vitamin C human recommended daily intake is set at 45mg and the average intake is 115mg. But an adult gorilla in the wild consumes about 4,500mg of vitamin C a day in his food. This is probably a result of the misinformation that ascorbic acid (vitamin C) is a vitamin and therefore only required in small amounts.
The story of Allan Smith
In 2009, 56 year old Otorohanga dairy farmer, Allan Smith contracted swine flu from overseas. He ended up seriously ill and in the Intensive Care Unit of Auckland Hospital.
He had scurvy, pneumonia, leukemia, lost 33 kg and then fell into a coma. Doctors had given up all hope of his recovery and were going to turn off the respirator. However his family insisted that he receive large doses of vitamin C.
The hospital finally agreed to administer large doses of vitamin C intravenously (through an IV drip) for two days, after which an x-ray showed air pockets in his lungs, a dramatic improvement.
Allan continued receiving intravenous doses of vitamin C and steadily improved. Once he regained consciousness, he started taking vitamin C orally and began to heal rapidly.
The interesting TV “60 Minutes” documentary of Allan Smith’s case can currently be found on TV3’s website.
Scurvy one of worst diseases in the world
It is interesting that farmer Alan Smith developed scurvy in a New Zealand public hospital. This serious malnutrition disorder, due to lack of vitamin C from fruit and vegetables is believed to have caused more deaths and suffering in the history of the world than any other health disorder.
Yet a man almost dead from scurvy can be returned to health in a few days with just the amount of vitamin C that can fit on a pinhead.
The English Navy later solved this problem with sauerkraut (fermented cabbage) and a daily dose of lemon or lime juice, making long exploration voyages possible.
Biochemist Irwin Stone (1907–1984)
Irwin Stone, an American bio-chemist, spent a lifetime studying vitamin C. He discovered that it was one of the very few natural substances that can destroy both bacteria and viruses. (Silver, mercury, chlorine and alcohol are a few others.)
He brought vitamin C to the attention of Nobel prize winner bio-chemist Dr Linus Pauling, who brought it to the attention of the world with his experiments on preventing the common cold.
This information has gone largely unheeded and most human beings receive far less vitamin C than required to put them in the best of health.