Vitamin And Nutritional Supplement Manufacturers In Oregon information, tips and advice

A DISEASE FIGHTER

Vitamin C has some basic jobs in the body. It helps form hemoglobin, the protein in red blood cells, and it aids in iron absorption. It also plays a role in keeping the immune system operating in high gear and helps build collagen, the stabilizing tissue in bone, muscle and skin. As an antioxidant, vitamin C is one of our best defenses against cell-damaging free radicals, too, and this is particularly important for very active people to note: Some research suggests that the stress of exercise bumps up the need for antioxidants.

What's got most people excited about C of late (and caused manufacturers to put their fingers on the fortifying button) is the vitamin's potential to protect against disease--and not just one disease, but several. For instance, Harvard researchers conducting the Nurses' Health Study, a large-scale, ongoing investigation, found that premenopausal women with a family history of breast cancer who consumed 205 mg of C a day (the equivalent of one red pepper) had a 63 percent lower risk of the disease than women who consumed 70 mg a day. Studies have also shown that vitamin C may lower the risk of cancers of the mouth, throat, esophagus, colon and lung. "And it may protect against cancer of the digestive and urinary tract as well," says Jane Higdon, PhD, a researcher at the Linus Pauling Institute at Oregon State University. "Vitamin C has been found to inhibit the formation of carcinogenic N-nitroso compounds, especially in the stomach."

Researchers have also established that low blood levels of C are associated with a higher risk of heart disease and stroke, and, according to studies conducted at the University of California, Berkeley, there also seems to be a link between low C levels and high blood pressure. And the power of C doesn't stop there: In a 10-year Tufts University study, subjects who consumed more than 250 mg of the vitamin daily had an 83 percent lower chance of developing cataracts. Some research also suggests that vitamin C may help increase bone density.

While most of the focus on C has been on what it can do inside the body, there has also been some interest in what it can do on the outside. Some studies have found that vitamin C, when applied topically, helps aged skin feel less rough and stay hydrated, decreasing the appearance of lines and wrinkles. It's been found, too, that topical vitamin C protects against sun damage. "If you use a vitamin C product in combination with a sunscreen, it helps prevent sun damage and repairs sun damage at the same time," says Nia Terezakis, MD, a clinical professor of dermatology at Tulane University School of Medicine in New Orleans. Although there are many over-the-counter products that now contain vitamin C, Terezakis warns that they may not all be effective. "Vitamin C is very unstable and easily degrades," she says. "Unfortunately there's no way to tell if a product will work or not." One that has been shown to be effective, she adds, is Cellex-C skin firming cream, though like many other C preparations, it's expensive (about $90 for the company's core formulation).

HOW MUCH C DO YOU NEED?

In light of all the news about vitamin C, it's not surprising that its reputation has soared. Yet that doesn't mean you should load up on the nutrient. After completing a survey of vitamin C studies, Robert Jacob, PhD, a researcher at the USDA's Western Human Nutrition Research Center at the University of California, Davis, noted that many people who have higher intakes of vitamin C might also have healthier diets overall. In other words, experts don't know for sure whether it's vitamin C alone or vitamin C in combination with other nutrients that protects against disease.

For that reason, most experts recommend getting vitamin C through fruits and vegetables whenever possible. "The vitamin C from supplements is absorbed just as well as the vitamin C from fruits and vegetables, but fruits and vegetables contain numerous other nutrients and phytochemicals, which probably work synergistically to prevent diseases," says Higdon. If you just take a supplement and avoid fruits and vegetables, you will miss out on some of these other beneficial compounds. Look at supplements as insurance.

Recently, the RDA for C was raised from 60 mg daily for men and women to 75 mg for women and 90 mg for men. That number, though, is based on the amount needed to prevent a deficiency. If your goal is to lower your risk of disease, consider bumping up your intake to 200 mg a day, an amount recommended by many researchers. If your goal is to get over a cold, 1,000 mg of C a day is the amount that's been shown to offer the best results. On a day-to-day basis, though, anything in excess of 200 mg may just be wasted--the body doesn't actually hold onto much over that amount, excreting the excess. Plus: "While the limit considered safe is 2,000 mg a day, some people have gastrointestinal problems if they take even a thousand," cautions Cynthia Sass, RD, a Tampa-based spokeswoman for the American Dietetic Association.

THE BEST C SOURCES

It's not too difficult to get 200 mg of vitamin C a day--just eating five fruits and vegetables a day should do the trick, especially if you stack your diet with foods that are particularly C-rich (see chart, left).

If you do decide to take a C supplement, they're all (chewable and non-chewable) pretty much the same in terms of how well the vitamin is absorbed, says Higdon. (Some manufacturers claim that vitamin C ester--C combined with a fat-soluble antioxidant--is better absorbed than plain old water-soluble C, but that hasn't been proven.) If you get queasy easily, consider a supplement that combines C with minerals such as sodium ascorbate and calcium ascorbate, which tend to be gentler on the stomach.

Your other option, of course, is to try some of the foods fortified with C that are now on the market. But choose wisely: Most C-fortified breakfast cereals and juices have a greater nutritional value than sweets like C-fortified candy and caramel corn.

RELATED ARTICLE: THE BEST C SOURCES

The first thing that probably comes to mind is citrus and, yes, citrus is a good source. But it's not the only good (or even the best) source of C. Here's a roundup of your options.

SOURCE MG VITAMIN C

Red pepper, 3 oz. 163
Green pepper, 3 oz. 110
Broccoli, 1 cup cooked 98
Orange juice, 1 cup (frozen) 98
Papaya, 1/2 medium 95
Cranberry juice cocktail, 1 cup 90
Strawberries, 1 cup 85
Orange, 1 medium 80
Kiwi, 1 medium 75

Source: Wellness Foods A to Z (Rebus, 2002)