When it comes to good health, vitamin C may be the key ingredient of a diet rich in fruits and vegetables.
While a plant-rich diet is associated with better health overall, and a lower risk of heart disease and certain cancers specifically, exactly how such a diet affects blood levels of specific nutrients is not clear.
The new findings suggest that "raising (vitamin C) levels may be an important mechanism by which fruit and vegetable consumption confers protective benefits."
Researchers measured blood levels of vitamin C, beta-carotene, vitamin E and beta-cryptoxanthin -- a nutrient found in oranges and orange juice -- in 116 nonsmoking men aged 35 to 72, who did not take vitamin supplements. Smoking, the researchers explain, lowers blood levels of certain nutrients, while taking supplements increases nutrient levels.
The average fruit and vegetable intake was about three times daily. Blood levels of ascorbic acid (vitamin C) and carotenoids, which are converted to vitamin A in the body, were significantly associated with the frequency of eating foods containing these nutrients. The association was particularly strong for vitamin C.
In the study, ascorbic acid was considerably more highly associated with fruit and vegetable intake than were the carotenoids. Thus, it is possible that ascorbic acid is as important as or more important than carotenoids in conferring the protective benefit of fruits and vegetables.
American Journal of Epidemiology 2001;154:1113-1118
I think a key here is to recognize that the ascorbate that was measured and found to be so highly protective was that found in whole foods.
Last month I had a new patient that had spent over $5,000 on prescriptions (not covered by insurance) since September of 2001. She recently had surgeons remove her ovaries and gallbladder and she still wasn't any better.
The real kicker is that when she asked her internist if she could take vitamin C he told her 1,000 mg of vitamin C was to much as it would damage her kidneys.
Little did he know she had received 100,000 mg of vitamin C intravenously without any problems. Yet this physician was more than ready to prescribe expensive toxic drugs which did absolutely nothing about addressing the true cause of her problem and actually were causing her complications.
While there is little question that vitamin C supplements are likely to be beneficial, it is equally clear that it is far preferable to receive the ascorbate from food sources.
Ideally the food should be organic as it would have a higher nutrient density. Even if the food is not organic, it will generally be better than trying to receive your nutrients from supplements as there are many other micronutrients, many of them as of yet identified, that are essential to the observed benefit of eating foods high in ascorbate.
So following the eating plan and juicing program would be a wise investment to maintain your health.
Bioflavanoids would be one example, but there are, of course, many others.
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