One of the most common questions people ask when they are attempting to lose weight is whether they should take any supplements. Supplements can be vital to your health as long as they are the right ones. The wrong ones can be disastrous. Let’s look at vitamin C, as an example.
The common vitamin C supplement is an isolated and
synthetic one made in a laboratory. Five steps are involved in the process from glucose to ascorbic acid, that go something like this.
From glucose, it is reduced to sorbitol.
The sorbitol is then oxidised with acetone (the same chemical used to remove nail polish) and an acid catalyst.
The result is then chemically oxidised by sodium hydrochlorite, which is a bleaching solution, to form carboxylic acid.
It is then hydrolised with acid.
This action causes a reaction which yields ascorbic acid.
These acids and catalysts are mostly derived from the petroleum industry.
The original glucose may come from GM plants.
Ascorbic acid is not vitamin C. It is similar, but it is not an exact copy. The structures are not identical. Your body does not know what to do with it if you have an overdose.
Your body was not created in a laboratory, so why do we think that its nutrition can come from one? The fact is that nutrition is complex. No nutrient acts in isolation. Each one co-depends on many others, a process we still know little about.
Studies show that the synthetic ascorbic acid, mistakenly called vitamin C, is not recognised by the body, creates an imbalance and alters the DNA. Mischief can be caused by consuming even the recommended amount over time. In the short term, benefit can be seen which makes people believe that it is a beneficial product.
Scientists who make ascorbic acid, commonly refuse to take it themselves.
Vitamin C is essential to the body. Few people get enough from their daily diet, even if they do eat a large amount of fresh fruit and vegetables. This is because this vitamin starts to diminish the moment the produce is picked. So by the time it gets to your table, the vitamin C content is greatly depleted.
Apart from growing your own produce, which is the ideal source of vitamin C, but outside the scope of most people in today’s world, what can you do?
There are some superfoods which are so rich in vitamin C, that they can survive the time factor. These are acerola or barbados cherry and camu camu. However, there is a third one which has an even higher content of vitamin C and this is kakadu plum, also known as gubinge.
Real vitamin C can heal any form of inflammation. I recently experimented with gubinge for a tooth abscess which was painful and making my face swollen. After one dose (a level teaspoon in a little water), the pain subsided considerably. A second dose, several hours later and it was almost gone. A third dose and everything was back to normal.
The dose will vary between individuals. The one thing that you can’t do is overdose. The fact that this is a totally natural product means that your body knows what to do if you have too much, unlike the synthetic copy cat.
It may be hard to find gubinge if you live outside Australia. But acerola cherry and camu camu are more readily available.
Natural vitamin C superfood supplements are more expensive than the laboratory made versions, as you would expect. But the cost comes nowhere close to say, a trip to the dentist. And the knock on effects are improved general health.
