“I can think of no other nutritional supplements that are more commonly recommended by health practitioners than Vitamins C and D. Nor do I know of any other nutrients, apart from iron, that can and do cause such harm as these when consumed in their synthetic forms of ascorbic acid and Vitamin D3.” – Morley Robbins (Cure your fatigue).
The phrase ‘Vitamin C’ can refer to either of two things
- Whole food vitamin C complex: found in fresh fruit and vegetables and referred to henceforth as ‘Vitamin C’
- Ascorbic acid: A chemical present in Vitamin C complex and sold as Vitamin C supplement – henceforth referred to as ‘ascorbic acid’
Vitamin C is a whole synergetic complex of molecules that is essential for good health and contains at least: - Tyrosinase – an enzyme containing bio-available copper, lack of which can cause oxidative stress
- Vitamin P – Rutin and Hesperidin
- Vitamin K
- Factor J (choline)
- L-ascorbic acid – the natural form of ascorbic acid
The ascorbic acid needs the other elements to function properly and without them it cannot be absorbed which is why 90% of synthetic Vitamin C supplements are rapidly excreted from the body.
Vitamin C Complex
- An efficient anti-oxidant
- Enzymatically ‘alive’
- Required for the formation of collagen, cartilage and muscle
- Absolutely necessary for adrenal function
- Instrumental in lymphocyte construction
- Organic copper functioning as the tyrosinase enzyme is the most active factor of the vitamin C complex
Ascorbic acid
- Fractionated = Synthetic = Crystalline = Unnatural
- Manufactured from GMO corn, beets or tapioca
- Destroys probiotic bacteria in the gut
- Is a weak anti-oxidant at best
- Is a pro-oxidant in the presence of excess iron
- Increases iron levels in the liver
- Destroys ceruloplasmin
- Inhibits copper absorption
“Ascorbic acid is not a vitamin and I suspect that many other supplements out there, full of synthetic analogues cannot duplicate actual vitamins, since they are severely lacking as is the case in replacing the vitamin C complex with ascorbic acid. Ascorbic acid is also 10 times more acidic than the naturally occurring vitamin C-complex.” – Dominique Richard
Ceruloplasmin is a protein that performs several functions that are essential for good health:
- Transport of Copper around the body
- Regulation of iron metabolism
- Regulation of reactive oxygen species (ROS)
- Regulation of Nitric Oxide
Ascorbic acid has been shown to severely disrupt the function of ceruloplasmin, resulting in impaired copper transport and increased levels of iron in the liver.
Modern farming methods have removed a lot of bio-available copper from our diet and the practice of adding iron as a supplement to processed foods has resulted in a situation where most people now are low in copper and high in iron to a marked degree. Bear this in mind then when reading the references below; it is appropriate to measure the effects of ascorbic acid on an already unbalanced metabolism for results to be relevant.
Copper deficiency in chicks: [paper]
Copper deficiency was induced in newly hatched chicks by feeding on a milk-based diet for 12 days. The effects of supplementation with ascorbic acid were studied. Iron levels in the liver increased by 36% and mortality increased by 40%. Copper deficiency alone resulted in 30% mortality from aortic rupture.
Confusion reigns when only one part of the whole complex is considered.
Lymphocytes need copper for correct functioning and Vitamin C is a good source of this. However, scientists are unaware of this connection because they are only looking for ascorbic acid which is not taken up by the lymphocytes and not found within them.
So as far as those scientists are concerned:
No ascorbic acid → No vitamin C → Therefore not necessary for lymphocytes
Summary
Ascorbic acid is lacking important enzymes present in organic vitamin C and severely disrupts the fundamental balance of copper and iron by the destruction of ceruloplasmin.
“Try as we might we humans are simply not capable of improving upon what nature has already provided us to sustain health and wellbeing” – Morley Robbins
Related pages:
References:
Cure your fatigue: how balancing 3 minerals and 1 protein is the solution that you’re looking for
Author: Morley M Robbins
Quantitative analysis of vitamin C complex found in embryonic plant extracts
Author: Dominique Richard
https://nature-provides.com/wp-content/uploads/2015/09/QUANTITATIVE-ANALYSIS-OF-VITAMIN-C-2016.pdf
Wikipedia on ceruloplasmin: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ceruloplasmin
Antioxidant and pro-oxidant effect of ascorbic acid
Authors: Pavlovic, Snezana, Ranković, Nenad
https://www.researchgate.net/publication/26606208_Antioxidant_and_pro-oxidant_effect_of_ascorbic_acid
Possible relations of ascorbic acid, ceruloplasmin and toxic aromatic metabolites (adrenochrome) in schizophrenia
Author: M H Briggs
https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/13873068/
Influence of ascorbic acid on the absorption of copper by rats
Authors: Van Campen, Gross
https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/5665663/
Copper deficiency in chicks: effects of ascorbic acid on iron, copper, cytochrome oxidase activity, and aortic mucopolysaccharides -Hunt, Landesman, Newberne
Key finding: Supplementing a copper deficient diet with ascorbic acid increased liver iron levels by 36% and increased mortality by 40%
https://www.cambridge.org/core/journals/british-journal-of-nutrition/article/copper-deficiency-in-chicks-effects-of-ascorbic-acid-on-iron-copper-cytochrome-oxidase-activity-and-aortic-mucopolysaccharides/463409D683BEA08A5AA296FB20E286C8
Interrelationships between copper deficiency and dietary ascorbic acid in the rabbit -Hunt, Newberne, Carlton
Key findings: Ascorbic acid supplements increase signs of copper deficiency and increase iron levels in the liver
https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/4316466/
Biological Interaction of Ascorbic Acid and Mineral Nutrients
Authors: Solomons, Viteri
Abstract: “In the diet and at the tissue level, ascorbic acid can interact with mineral nutrients. In the intestine, ascorbic acid enhances the absorption of dietary iron and selenium; reduces the absorption of copper, nickel, and manganese.. At the tissue level, iron overload enhances the oxidative catabolism of ascorbic acid. Thus, the level of dietary vitamin C can have important nutritional consequences through a wide range of inhibitory and enhancing interactions with mineral nutrients.“
https://pubs.acs.org/doi/10.1021/ba-1982-0200.ch023#:~:text=In%20the%20diet%20and%20at,effect%20on%20zinc%20or%20cobalt.
Influence of ascorbic acid supplementation on copper status in young adult men – Finley, Cerklewski
Key Finding: “Although observed effects occurred within physiological ranges of normal values, this study confirms that a high ascorbic acid intake is antagonistic to copper status of men as has been demonstrated in laboratory animals.“
https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/6837490/