By: Silvija Čolić |
Linus Pauling and vitamin C |
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A part of mainstream medicine systematically neglects vitamin C because it cannot be patented so it does not represent a source of profit.
The value of vitamin C as highly useful substance in the prevention and treatment of many illnesses is known for ages.
But we mostly consider vitamin C as a substance that helps us alleviate flue and common cold symptoms.
Why is vitamin C so marginalized and degraded?
The answer is simple, it is much more efficient than it should be and that does not make it profitable (for those that produce and sell expensive patented drugs).
On a basis of such logic, there are not many medical practitioners that would recommend you to include vitamin C in your regular therapy.
But high doses of that vitamin are really the treatment that medical practitioners should recommend and include in the treatment of various illnesses.
Healing properties of vitamin C
Vitamin C, or ascorbic acid, is one of the most researched vitamins in the world.
It is the strongest antioxidant among vitamins soluble in water, and apart from strengthening the resistance of our body towards viruses and bacterial infections; it also helps treating allergies, respiratory illnesses and numerous other health problems.
Furthermore, it plays a significant role in collagen creation – collagen is a protein necessary for tissue, blood vessel, and bone and tooth regeneration and for healthy and youthful skin.
The discovery of vitamin C is attributed to Hungarian physiologist Albert Szent-Gyorgy who received a Nobel Prize in 1937 for his discovery.
Among various famous scientists that researched the effectiveness of vitamin C, we have to emphasize Linus Pauling, a two-time Nobel Prize winner. Linus Pauling (1901 - 1994) was an American chemist and biochemist who received 50 honorary doctorates.
Pauling was in general a man that supported healthy and quality living and during the seventies he became famous as proponent of vitamin C megadoses in prevention and treatment of many illnesses with a goal of prolonging life expectancy.
It should be noted that Pauling never proved that vitamin C was a universal remedy for everything, he just advocated increased intake of vitamin C during treatments in combinations with other natural remedies.
He presented his theories in books “Vitamin C and the common cold”, “How to live longer and feel better” and “Cancer and vitamin C”.
According to Pauling, and according to some later conducted researches, increased vitamin C intake therapy helps with stress treatment.
Furthermore, a dose of 6 grams per each day has shown to be useful for patients suffering from schizophrenia and high vitamin C doses in combination with B-complex can substantially enhance the success in treating drug addictions.
Pauling considered vitamin C to be helpful for treating the following:
- flu, influenza and common cold
- bronchitis
- asthma and allergies
- heart diseases
- increased cholesterol
- diabetes
- glaucoma and cataract
- urinary infections
- carcinoma
- stress
His claims that vitamin C, apart from preventing and curing the common cold, can enhance treatment of more serious illnesses such as heart diseases and blood vessel diseases, even AIDS, have always stayed a matter of lively debate, causing significant bitterness in medical practice.
The reasons for such reactions are hard to grasp, since megadose vitamin C therapy practically has no significant side effects. The only side effects are nausea or diarrhea (which can be cured by lowering the dosage).
During his life, Pauling achieved a reputation of a scientist that was decades in front of his time. Due to that he was put on a list of the greatest scientists of the 20th century.
Based on that, we could conclude that his revolutionary ideas might have more grounds than modern pharmaceutical industry claims to be the case.
Lower recommended dosage
According to his findings, if we want to preserve our health and vitality in long terms, we would have to significantly increase daily vitamin C intake.
Pauling took up to 18 grams of vitamin C daily, and when he asked the aforementioned Nobel Prize winner Albert Szent-Gyorgy for his opinion on optimal dosage, he received the following answer: "I claim that ascorbic acid can be taken in unlimited quantities without any risk.”
Nevertheless, official recommended dosages are only 75 mg for women and 90 mg for men, which means we are using only a fraction of all healing properties if we follow that recommendation.
Luckily, not all doctors and patients have taken those recommendations for granted and many people today believe that we should be taking between 500 and 1.000 mg of vitamin C a day as a preventive measure.
Because of that we can find on the market vitamin C pills containing 500 and 1.000 mg.
Naturally, those are officially allowed dosages, because unofficially, in accordance with numerous researches and everyday practice, it is possible to take significantly higher dosages each day.
Interesting facts about vitamin C
The highest levels of vitamin C are found in pepper, rose hip, acerola cherry, green leafy vegetables, kiwi, broccolis, strawberries and papayas.
The assumption that cooking destroys vitamin C is only partially correct. Namely, by cooking we achieve the temperature of 100 degrees Celsius and vitamin C starts disintegrating only at the temperature of 190 degrees Celsius, which can only be achieved by frying food.
If you are a fan of tea with lemon, you will be pleased by the fact that you do not have to wait before your favorite beverage becomes lukewarm before you can squeeze the lemon in. Cheers!
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