Toto's Take: why we do Vitamin C wrong!
and how to do a vitamin c detox
Dear Companions,
On this slushy day, the snow drips from the sky like drooling saliva, wiped away by the wind before catching onto anything. I think of the lives quietly lost during the 17th-century voyage of the Wager, commissioned by the British in search for Spanish treasure, wherein hundreds of dead bodies slipped from the deck under the stewardship of Captain Anson—a stoic and stubborn man who, through a series of unfortunate accidents, namely the death of all his predecessors, was promoted to Captain. If you happened to be one of those individuals, death manifested in so many shapes and sizes, that it often appeared without a name, only a laundry list of symptoms observed by the naked eye and recorded in diaries by the man beside you, who in all likelihood, would die not too long later.
Out of the 1,988 men who initially embarked on the voyage, only 188 managed to survive. And this is what death often looked like:
As the scourge invaded the sailors' faces, some of them began to resemble the monsters of their imaginations. Their bloodshot eyes bulged. Their teeth fell out, as did their hair.
The detailed entries were later sourced in books widely circulated by a civilization enraptured by exploration. To this day, they capture our admiration, most recently in the best-selling novel I recommended in the last post’s Dorthy’s Basket. One can imagine curling up by candlestick and reading these passages far before Edison and his lightbulbs:
Their breath reeked…an unwholesome stench, as if death had already come upon them. The cartilage that glued together their bodies seemed to be loosening. In certain cases, even old injuries reemerged…
Many of them died without their wits about them, losing their minds at sea, rounding Cape Horn, endless stretches of water surrounding them, thinking of their sons and daughters.
One moment, the men might be overcome with visions of bucolic streams and pastures, then, realizing where they were, they would sink into complete despair.
Reverend Walter noted that this "strange dejection of the spirits" was marked by "shiverings, tremblings, and... the most dreadful terrors."
One medical expert compared it to "the falling down of the whole soul.”
Byron saw some of the men descend into lunacy or, as one of his companions wrote, the disease "got into their brains, and they ran raving mad."
The ailments described above belonged to the disease of SCURVY, which killed large swaths of crew, and was dubbed "the plague of the sea.”
Striking a company after at least a month at sea, along with many other nutritional deficiencies, it was the great enigma of the Age of Sail, killing more mariners than all other threats— including gun battles, tempests, wrecks, and other diseases combined.
The cause was simple: a deficit in Vitamin C.
The discovery of vitamin C occurred 200 years later, by Hungarian biochemist Albert Szent-Györgyi who won the Nobel Prize in Medicine in 1937.
Without C, the body ceases to generate collagen, a structural protein crucial for maintaining the integrity of bones and tissues, hence the ungluing of the bodies noted in the diaries. Additionally, C is needed for synthesizing hormones like dopamine. So, without it the senses get it all screwed up.
A technical explanation an intro college course in biology might detail:
The basic biological function of ascorbic acid is, in addition to the cofactor function of several enzymes (e.g., dopamine B-monooxygenas) is to protect cell components against free radicals which are commonly formed during the metabolism. When free radicals accumulate, they cause oxidative stress, leading to damage to proteins, lipids, and DNA within cells.
Ultimately the remedy for scurvy proposed by surgeon James Lind in 1747, far before the real discovery of Vitamin C, was lemon juice.
During his time as a naval surgeon, he conducted experiments on sailors suffering from scurvy aboard the HMS Salisbury, proving that citrus fruits, including lemon juice, could effectively treat and prevent the disease.
But ten years prior even to that, the starving shipwrecked sailors of the Wager, who made it to the island were able to cure themselves, unknowingly, but most fortunately, by simply munching on a bit of celery grass.
Today’s RDA
An intriguing aspect of the HEALINGVRSE is that current recommended daily allowances (RDAs) for Vitamin C stand at a mere 90mg, a holdover from the era of seafaring when it was the minimum required to prevent scurvy. It's astonishing to consider that we've been brought up believing this to be an adequate amount of Vitamin C, rather than what is truly necessary for optimal performance.
So today, I just want to share with you my understanding of what is required by functional doctors. A word of caution: over supplementing can also have a reverse effect. Instead of acting as an oxidative agent, C can cause oxidative damage. I guess you can say, Vitamin C has two faces.
The simple/daily suggestion
Everywhere I’ve looked, the recommendation has ranged between 500-1000 mg daily (although the teaspoon recommended by my functional doctor hits 1500mg), which may or may not be required via supplementation, depending on diet. I use Cronometer app to track my various macros on the Carnivore diet which is obviously lacking in fruits and veggies. So, it really all depends on how sick you are, how much your stomach can handle, the type, and your diet.
C comes in several forms: ascorbic acid (AA), liposomal (fat-soluble), and time release. AA is the best source, but its pH is 1-1.5. If your stomach is weak and you have GI issues, you may be advised to take liposomal C, which is coated. Or you may take the l-ascorbate buffered version via Perque Buffered Vitamin C, which provides, 1584 mg l-ascorbates, reduced and buffered, per teaspoon. This form is less acidic and may be better tolerated by some individuals.
Dr Morison of the Morisson Center in New York recommended something particularly easy on the stomach via Camu Camu, which you can order in various powder forms, and can make your water taste quite yummy, although it is less potent than something like the Perque option.
Whichever brand you choose, make sure it is not a chewable full of sugar! According to Dr. Angela Staton, Vitamin C and glucose use the same receptors and taken together the C will be eliminated immediately. Also unused vitamin C converts to oxalates—the stones in the kidney stones are from oxalates. Mixed supplements with C are also not recommended.
If you are ill and need to take C, you may need it in larger doses several times a day. When sick, you may need about 1000 mg 3+ times a day. I took it prophylactically in those measures when exposed to Covid back in January. I thankfully tested negative.
Vitamin C as a detox
To detoxify, my functional doctor Stacey Atkins recommended doing something called a C cleanse, using the Perque brand.
Mix 1/2 teaspoon of C Guard in 2 ounces of water for good health, 1 teaspoon for moderate health, and 2 teaspoons if unwell.
Dissolve and drink on an empty stomach in the morning.
Repeat every 15 minutes until experiencing a watery stool or enema-like evacuation.
Continue until toxins are flushed out, typically within 1-2 hours. Do not stop at just loose stools. You want to energize the body to “flush out” toxins and reduce the risk that they may recirculate and induce problems.
Your daily dose is 75% of the flush amount.
Repeat the C-Cleanse weekly, adjusting dosage as needed.
Over time, the required amount for flushing will decrease as detoxification progresses.
For a more detailed explanation of a Vitamin C cleanse, check out this fact sheet.
One can only imagine the kind of explosive bowels a sea-faring man from the Wager might experience from doing a Vitamin C detox like this, considering the severity of his deficiency.
I guess that’s just another thing to be grateful for in the era of the HEALINGVRSE.
With much love from the HEALINGVRSE,
Rebecca
My dad was buddy’s with Linus Pauling jr the son of the famous vitamin C doctor.