September 19, 2002 – According to nutrition researcher Carol Johnston of Arizona State East University, taking vitamin C during a cold can shorten the duration of illness by one to two days.1 It can also reduce allergy symptoms.
To achieve such a result, one should take 1000 mg of this vitamin twice a day, which is much more than the recommended daily allowance of 75-90 mg. According to Johnston, ingesting 2,000 mg of vitamin C per day lowers the level of histamine in the blood by 40%, thereby relieving colds and allergies.
Ms. Johnston also believes that the recommended daily intake should be increased substantially. According to her, all animals and plants maintain much higher levels of vitamin C in their bodies. Thus, primates, animals physiologically closest to man, ingest two to five grams of vitamin C per day because of their vegetarian diet. According to a study by Ms. Johnston, more than a third of Americans consume less than the recommended daily amount of vitamin C. Six percent of those studied even showed biochemical signs of scurvy (a disease associated with vitamin C deficiency).
Low levels of vitamin C in human blood can lead to several health problems: fatigue, more frequent colds, bleeding gums and hemorrhages.
Vitamin C is one of the main antioxidants, substances capable of neutralizing or reducing the damage caused by free radicals in the body and thus preventing the appearance of cancer. Unfortunately, at doses below 1000 mg per day, the “antioxidant” effect is very weak, says Johnston.
Finally, the increased consumption of fresh fruits and vegetables rich in vitamin C (for example, citrus fruits, cabbage and parsley) can increase the levels of vitamin C in the blood and thus avoid the daily intake of supplements.
Stéphane Gagné – PasseportSanté.net
According to Prevention, October 2002.
1. Boudreau, Diane. A case for C, ASU research E-magazine, Arizona State University East, summer 2001. http://www.researchmag.asu.edu/new_4.html
