More on Vitamin C -- one of the Super Immunity 7

I've recently dug up some more exciting facts
and research about the benefits of Vitamin C.

It helps you fight viral infections such as
bird flu by inhibiting the replication of viruses and by
destroying cells already infected by viruses.

Vitamin C enhances PGE1, a prostaglandin which
helps regulate the function of your T cells.

Vitamin C enhances one of the enzymes of
your complement immune system -- C1 esterase.

Taking 1,200 mg a day enhances T cell activity. And
500 mg a day increases glutathione levels by 50%.

Research done by Warren Matthews of Xtend-Life found
that taking large amount of Vitamin C in the form
of ascorbic acid created more free radicals in
your stomach, making that counter-productive.

This makes sense - you can feel the acidity if you
take plain old acorbic acid tablets.

So he puts just 90 mg of Vitamin C in every 6
tablets of Total Balance -- if you take only one
nutritional supplement, it should be Total Balance.

And that's because he packs Total Balance with a
zillion other antioxidants and minerals, which
work to enhance the Vitamin C -- such as zinc,
selenium, Vitamin E and Alpha Lipoic Acid.

Therefore, for normal daily health you don't need
massive amounts of Vitamin C.

If you do want to take more Vitamin C, however,
he recommends Ester C. Since it's buffered, it is
much easier on your stomach. That has also been
my experience.

You can get it here:

Ester C

However, if you are sick with bird flu or any
other infection, you don't want a "time-delayed"
Vitamin C -- you need its power working for you
as quickly as possible. You don't have to be
concerned with taking too much, because it is
used up in the process of fighting the infection
and healing you.

So for illness I continue to recommend --

regular Vitamin C

This is unrelated to immune function, but you should
also know that --

Smoking 1 cigarette eliminates 25 mg of Vitamin
C from your body.
(one more good reason to quit smoking.)

1,000 mg of Vitamin C increases sperm motility and fertility

And 10 grams a day makes birth control pills ineffective.

What can I say to that one? Women -- 10 grams a day is far more than
most people need -- unless you're sick.

So if you do use massive doses of Vitamin C for a cold
or bird flu, don't have sex during that period!

But remember that Vitamin C does shorten the duraction
of a cold!

And besides, if you take Total Balance there's no
reason to take so much Vitamin C short of a severe
infection.

You can get it here:

Men

Women

Unisex and children under 12


References:

Hemila, H. 1994. "Does vitamin C alleviate the symptoms of
the common cold. A review of the current evidence."
Scandinavian Journal of Infectious Diseases 26:4-5.

Heuser, G., and A. Vojdani. 1997. "Enhancement of natural
killer cell activity and T and B cell function by
buffered vitamin C in patients exposed to toxic chemicals:
The role of protein Kinase C." Immunopharmacology and
Immunotoxicology.