“Doctor, should I take vitamin C during the cold and flu season?” If you were to ask 10 doctors this question, you might get 12 different answers.

There is substantial medical research demonstrating that vitamin C is beneficial for viral infections and in preventing pneumonia. At the same time, there is a lot of research suggesting no benefit. These differences may be explained by how much vitamin C per day was used.

Vitamin C is a dietary nutrient that prevents a disease called scurvy. In the 1940s and 1950s, medical research showed high-dose vitamin C to be effective against influenza, leprosy, tuberculosis and even polio. But with the advent of antibiotics, vitamin C therapy was used infrequently and the clinical expertise was gradually lost with each new generation of physicians.

Vitamin C is necessary for a variety of metabolic functions. Besides its role as an antioxidant, it also used in tissue repair, brain chemical production, adrenal function, wound healing, immune function, heart disease, diabetes, lung function, detoxification and cancer prevention.

All animals - except for humans, primates and guinea pigs - make vitamin C. The daily-recommended dose of vitamin C is 500 mg, the minimal amount needed to prevent scurvy. The optimal dose is not known.

However, the average, 40-pound barnyard goat makes 10,000 mg on a daily basis and more than 100,000 mg when stressed. One could postulate that we are under-dosed and that a 170-pound person certainly needs more than 500 mg per day.

So, do we need more than 500 mg of vitamin C during the cold and flu season? The answer is yes. In studies based on 1,000 mg of vitamin C per day, the majority of research indicates fewer and less severe colds. In the research using less than 1,000 mg per day, there doesn’t seem to be any benefit.

What is really interesting is what happens when vitamin C is given intravenously. Vitamin C given intravenously can easily achieve the high blood levels of the goat. In those studies, vitamin C was curative for infectious diseases such as polio.

Intravenous vitamin C also seems to improve healing and stress-related conditions, and some professional and amateur athletes use intravenous vitamin C to minimize fatigue and improve recovery time.

For many of my patients, intravenous vitamin C has proven benefits. High doses of vitamin C orally can cause diarrhea and should not be done in children. Intravenous vitamin C is contraindicated for people with certain enzyme deficiencies and kidney stones and should only be done under the direction of a physician.

• Patrick B. Massey M.D., Ph.D., is medical director for complementary and alternative medicine for Alexian Brothers Hospital Network.

Anyone who takes vitamin supplements and looks at its bottles or boxes is familiar with the vitamins that are contained in each tablet.

But what do those vitamins really do? Do you really need to take them? Below is a list of the most common vitamins found in supplements as well as a description of what they do.

Vitamin A

- commonly found in leafy vegetables and in other products like carrots, broccoli, papaya, eggs and liver, this vitamin helps keep the eyes healthy. A deficiency of this vitamin can cause permanent loss of eyesight.

Vitamin B1

- thiamine is the other name for this vitamin. It keeps the heart and the digestive and nervous systems functioning normally. Aside from that, thiamine is also important in a person’s physical growth and development.

Good sources of this vitamin include beef, pork, nuts and legumes, among other foods.

Vitamin B2

- otherwise known as riboflavin, this vitamin is important in metabolizing energy as well as fats, carbohydrates and proteins. Common sources of this vitamin include milk, cheese and leafy vegetables. A deficiency of this vitamin is signaled by cracked lips, mouth ulcers and sore throat, among other symptoms.

Vitamin C

- also known as ascorbic acid, this vitamin has a lot of benefits attributed to it. Some of them include boosting the immune system and minimizing the symptoms of illnesses.

It is also a well-known antioxidant. Lack of this vitamin can cause scurvy that leads to loss of teeth and eventually, death.

VIVIENNE PARRY

“VITAMINS may shorten your life” was the most unexpected headline of the week. It arose after the publication of a review of 67 studies involving nearly a quarter of a million people taking antioxidant vitamin supplements (such as A, E and C). Far from showing benefit, it indicated that some, such as vitamin A, seemed to increase mortality.

This is a long way from other stories that suggest the benefits of supplements. Confusing, isn’t it? The problem is that studying the real effect of vitamins is incredibly hard. Focusing on one nutrient in isolation has proved to be a fine way to explain specific symptoms of one disease, such as those typically caused by vitamin deficiency - vitamin C and scurvy, for instance. But it’s not that useful when trying to assess the impact of vitamins on chronic conditions or even on death rates.

This is partly because the way that supplements affect our health can be influenced by many factors, significantly our diet. Drinking tea, for example, can inhibit the uptake of iron from food. Other influences are genes, physical fitness, existing disease, income levels, whether we smoke or drink . . .

And when researchers try to keep track of all these variables, and what foods and supplements we take, there’s another problem: we’re very unreliable witnesses. We either get muddled about what we have or haven’t eaten, or we simply lie when confronted with a nice dietitian with a clipboard.

There’s yet another problem. Costly trials involving enormous numbers of people over long periods of time are required to demonstrate the long-term effect of vitamins. People’s diets and habits can change considerably over these periods, making the results less reliable.

Meanwhile, the waters are muddied by the booming supplements business, which is worth £330million a year in the UK alone, the financial health of which is dependent on persuading us that our health is in jeopardy without its wares. Ironically, those most likely to be seduced by the marketing hype are those with the least need for supplements: health- conscious middle-class types.

So what does this latest review mean for us? It certainly doesn’t mean that those of us taking multivitamins are going to suffer an early death - they were not covered in the review. For those of us who take supplements of individual antioxidants, the picture is still far from clear. What we can say is that if there are benefits in taking single antioxidant supplements, they are very small indeed.

Stopping them is unlikely to affect your health adversely and will have a positive effect on your bank balance.

Vitamin C. Mmmm . . . maybe you think of a tall glass of Florida orange juice. Or maybe you grab it at the beginning of the cold season. But would you associate it with cardiovascular disease (CVD) or cancer? Maybe you should. According to an article published in October 2007, in the Journal of Nutrition, there is accumulating scientific evidence that very large (therapeutic) doses of vitamin C may be effective in treating both CVD and cancer. In addition, some scientists have hypothesized that the onset of these common degenerative diseases may actually be due to a vitamin C deficiency in the general population. Dr. Steven Hickey and Dr. Hilary Roberts with the Vitamin C Foundation and authors of the book ‘Ascorbate: the Science of Vitamin C’, have gone so far as to suggest that heart disease is actually a chronic form of the vitamin C deficiency disease called scurvy.

Vitamin C, found in a variety of fruits and vegetables, is essential not only for our good health, but our very survival. Without vitamin C, human beings will certainly die of scurvy, a disease characterized by bleeding gums, skin discolorations from small ruptured blood vessels, easy bruising, joint pain, loose and decaying teeth, and hyperkeratosis of hair follicles. But along the continuum of health, there is a difference between survival and optimal human health. The real question is how much vitamin C is required for optimal health?

Vitamin C has many essential roles in the body. It is required for the synthesis of collagen, which is a main structural protein in our bodies, giving support to our tissues, including strengthening our blood vessels, ligaments, tendons, bone, and teeth. It is also required for synthesis of hormones, neurotransmitters, and other important substances needed for metabolism. In addition to these functions, vitamin C is a powerful antioxidant. It neutralizes free radicals before they have a chance to damage our cells. Vitamin C is arguably one of the most important antioxidants in our human physiology for its versatility and wide ranging presence.

How Much?

The government’s Recommended Daily Allowance (RDA) is defined as the daily amount of a nutrient considered sufficient to meet the requirements of most healthy individuals. For Vitamin C, it is 75 mg/day for adult women and 90 mg/day for adult men (smokers are recommended to have an additional 35 mg/day). The current RDA is adequate to prevent death or serious health issues from acute deficiency of vitamin C (e.g., scurvy). The RDA is also adequate for required collagen and hormone synthesis (the RDA is mainly based on this). But to work effectively as an antioxidant, scientists are learning that vitamin C levels need to be significantly higher in our bodies. And the debate now is over how much is needed.

If we ate the recommended 5 servings of fruits and vegetables per day, we’d easily consume double the RDA for vitamin C and likely a lot more. According to Linus Pauling, a two time Nobel Prize winning chemist who is noted for his vitamin C research, our early human ancestors probably consumed 2,300 mg/day to 9,500 mg/day of vitamin C from their plant-based diet. This is 25 to 100 times more than today’s RDA for an adult man!

History

Scientists have determined that about 40,000 years ago humans lost their own ability, through a genetic mutation, to manufacture vitamin C. Our DNA no longer allowed our cells to make an enzyme which is required to produce vitamin C internally. Evolutionary biologists would argue that the mutation conferred a survival advantage. After all, humans could conserve energy by not manufacturing something that was already abundantly available in their diet.

Along the way, our dependence on fruits and vegetables became obvious. In the 1700’s, sailing ships started stocking limes or vegetables to prevent their crew members from dying of scurvy during long voyages. In 1928, Hungarian biochemist, Albert Szent-Györgyi, finally isolated the mysterious substance known as vitamin C. Since then, scientists have been working to understand exactly how vitamin C functions in our bodies.

Beyond Mere Survival

Today, scientific evidence is highlighting a discrepancy between the amount of vitamin C needed to avoid acute deficiency disease and the amount needed for effective antioxidant protection to ward off major degenerative diseases. This hypothesis is based on vitamin C’s function as a powerful, versatile and pervasive antioxidant in our bodies.

Free radicals are molecules with an unpaired electron that make them highly reactive. They “steal” an electron to make up a more stable pair, hence damaging the molecules around them that have had to relinquish an electron. Free radicals have shown to be a significant contributing factor in the development of cardiovascular disease (CVD) and cancer. They can trigger premature cell death and inflammation in our vascular system. They can reduce the availability of nitric oxide which helps maintain healthy artery dilation and blood flow. Free radicals can also oxidize LDL cholesterol. As we’re learning, it’s not so much the LDL cholesterol that’s implicated in the development of heart disease, it’s that the LDL cholesterol has been damaged, or “oxidized”, by free radicals. Free radicals can also cause DNA mutation and damage the supportive structure of our cells which can contribute to the development of cancer.

Many studies have shown that increased vitamin C intakes and increased plasma vitamin C concentrations are correlated with a decrease in degenerative diseases. Scientists have also determined and explained the specific mechanisms by which vitamin C scavenges and neutralizes these free radicals, thus providing powerful protection against free radical damage.

Conclusion

The current RDA may be sufficient to avoid acute deficiency disease but may not be enough to help protect us from free radical damage. A reduction of disease risk has been associated with 5 servings of fruits and vegetables per day, and this is likely due at least in part to their vitamin C content. But the vitamin C content in these servings is easily double the RDA. Scientists researching vitamin C have yet to agree upon how much is required for optimal human health. Their estimates vary and typically start at 400 mg/day and go higher.

Dr. Steve Hickey with the Vitamin C Foundation has published open letters to the Food and Nutrition Board and the National Institutes of Health, laying out the reasons why the current RDA is insufficient and why it should be reexamined and readjusted upward.

In the meantime, we can support our health and reduce our risk of degenerative diseases by making sure not to skimp on our 5 servings of fruits and vegetables per day. We may fortify ourselves with a good quality multi-vitamin supplement for the extra vitamin C it provides.

Vitamin C is a water-soluble vitamin, which means that it is not stored in the body and must be replaced by our diet every day. The Tolerable Upper Intake Level (UL) is the maximum continual intake of a nutrient that is unlikely to cause adverse health effects in almost all people, and for vitamin C the UL is 2 g/day (2,000 mg/day). The most common side effect of taking an amount larger than this is diarrhea. Therefore, healthy individuals have little concern of toxicity if consuming more vitamin C than specified by the RDA.

One word of caution - people who have a high risk of kidney disease, kidney stones, or disorders of iron metabolism should avoid large doses of vitamin C (>500mg). Consult your doctor or nutritionist prior to taking supplementation.

Virtually all fruits and vegetables contain some amount of vitamin C. According to the USDA nutrient database, fruits and vegetables that are among the highest in vitamin C content include: orange juice, grapefruit juice, peaches, peppers (sweet and hot), papayas, strawberries, broccoli, Brussels sprouts, kohlrabi, pineapple, and kiwi fruit. Other fruits noted for their high vitamin C content include: jujube, acerola, camu camu, guava, red and black currants, mango and persimmon.

About the author

Leigh Kirk is an investigative nutritionist currently pursuing her Master of Science in Human Nutrition at the University of Bridgeport. Special interests include disorders of metabolism, research on fats, antioxidants, trace minerals, and the ecology of nutrition. Email: investigativenutritionist@gmail.com

StarGate Nutrition today announced that Vitamin C is not ascorbic acid. Ascorbic acid has been successfully sold as vitamin C for many decades now. However, even the man who discovered Vitamin C, Szent-Györgyi, knew ascorbic acid on its own as an isolated synthetic chemical, was not Vitamin C. He saw no improvement when he fed ascorbic acid to scurvy patients. Scurvy is a vitamin C deficiency disease. When he gave them lime and lemon juice they did recover. This proved to him that there was more to Vitamin C than ascorbic acid.

Over 90% of the ascorbic acid now produced and sold in the world is made in China and exported out to be packaged as different brands. This industry in China producing these isolated synthetic chemicals has been accused of producing impotent drugs and food products that poison.

StarGate Nutrition CEO Ralph Quinlan Forde said that,” With all our nutrients consumers can be guaranteed they are taking real nutrients not isolated synthetic chemicals. Our nutrients are in a form found in nature. Your biology understands what we produce. You can take as much ascorbic acid as you like but you body will never recognizes it as vitamin C.”

He went on to say,” Nutrients need to be delivered in a form that they are found as in nature. We have developed a nutrient rich food material that delivers all your vitamin and mineral requirements safely and guaranteed. In fact in scientific studies we have conducted we have seen our nutrient material such as Vitamin C is 16 times more effective than what is currently available on the market and its safer.”

Today over one in three people take some of nutrients on a daily basis. Ascorbic acid sold as vitamin C has long been popular in the treatment of colds, flus and heart disease.

Wendy Murphy BA MBA
Red Box Media & PR
The Royal Mile
Edinburgh
0131 208 3522
‘A PR Bridge for Entrepreneurs’
www.stargatenutritionvitamin.com

Do you take a multivitamin? Or a single vitamin, mineral, or combination supplement? If so, you are in the company of tens of millions of U.S. adults.

Why do you take them? Most people say it makes them feel healthier or they believe it will prevent chronic diseases, or colds and flu. But you may be surprised to know that what is in your bottle and on the label is not strictly regulated. And there is no system in place to collect reports of adverse affects.

Over the past few years there has been increasing evidence that multivitamins and single or combination type vitamin/mineral supplements may not provide the health benefit sought by you, the consumer. In some cases the opposite or no beneficial effects have been reported.

Alarming to think that vitamin or mineral supplements could actually cause more harm than good. An example of this is the use of beta carotene by smokers actually increased the incidence of lung cancer. This is echoed by a recent study out of the University of Washington that reports the use of multivitamins, vitamin C, vitamin E and folate did not reduce the risk of lung cancer.

It is not all bad news though; there are studies to support the use of folate (folic acid) prior to and during pregnancy in the prevention of neural tube defects in the developing fetus. And history has proven that vitamins and minerals play a critical role in our health — the reason we know about the benefits of vitamins and minerals in food is because of the major discoveries in disease prevention such as vitamin C and scurvy and thiamine, a B vitamin, and beri beri (a wasting type disease).

This may leave you wondering if those vitamin mineral supplements in your medicine cabinet are doing what they should or even worth your money.

Let’s look at this way — do you eat a well balanced diet? If so, you may not need a multivitamin and if you take one as a “safety net” know that you may exceed what your body needs or can use.

Are you concerned about a chronic disease? If so, making changes in your diet and exercise habits, not smoking and following through with recommended screenings by your physician are more likely to benefit your overall health picture.

Consider your current state of health, talk to your doctor and/or dietitian, and weigh the possible benefits and risks of a multivitamin and mineral supplement for you.

To your health,

Katherine

Jeannie Mullins
Extension Agent

Vitamin C, also known as ascorbic acid, is a water-soluble vitamin that has a wide variety of uses in the body. It helps to slow down or prevent cell damage and helps the body absorb iron from plant foods. Vitamin C is also needed to maintain healthy body tissues and the immune system.

Scurvy, a disease caused by vitamin C deficiency, was common a few generations ago especially among seamen who lived on dried and salted foods for months at a time. Today, scurvy is rare in the United States. Still, not getting enough of this important vitamin can lead to anemia, bleeding gums, infections and poor wound healing.

So How Much Do We Need?

For adults over age 19, women need 75 milligrams (mg) per day, and men need even moreÑ90 mg per day. If you smoke, you need an additional 35 milligrams of vitamin C every day. If you are pregnant or breastfeeding, you should talk to your healthcare provider to see what is recommended for you.

The best way to get enough Vitamin C is through foods rather than supplements. Fruits and vegetables are the best sources. One medium-size red or yellow sweet pepper has 225 mg of vitamin C, and one medium papaya has 190 mg. In addition to citrus fruits like oranges, tangerines and grapefruit other foods that contain vitamin C include broccoli (cooked), cantaloupe and baked potato (with skin). Some cereals and juices have vitamin C added. Since the amount of vitamin C in each product varies, always check the nutrition label to see how much vitamin C that particular product contributes to your daily requirement.

Retaining Vitamin C in Foods

Vitamin C is easily destroyed during preparation, cooking or storage so follow these easy tips to retain as much of the vitamin as possible.

• Eat raw fruits and vegetables as soon as possible after buying them.
• Cut vegetables just before eating or cooking.
• Cook vitamin C-rich foods quickly in as little water as possible.
• Microwave, steam or stir-fry to retain the most Vitamin C.

How Much is Too Much?

Healthy individuals who eat plenty of fruits and vegetables rarely need vitamin C supplements. Taking vitamin C supplements does not prevent colds. Some studies show that vitamin C supplements may decrease the duration of a cold.

If you do take a supplement, do not get more than 2,000 mg/day of vitamin C from foods and supplements.  Although excess vitamin C is mostly eliminated in the urine, high doses can cause headaches, frequent urination, diarrhea and nausea. People with a history of kidney stones should avoid high levels of vitamin C.

For more information about nutrition and wellness, contact Jeannie Mullins, Family and Consumer Sciences Extension Agent in the Scott County Extension Office at 452-2772.

Remember when vitamin C was hailed as the best, and maybe only, cold remedy? Then it became the Rodney Dangerfield of vitamins: It didn’t get any respect.

Citrus and other sources of Vitamin C can help fend off cancer, strokes and Alzheimer’s disease.

The nutrient’s glory days of curing scurvy-riddled sailors via juicy citrus fruit seemed to be the only thing keeping its reputation afloat, particularly after a massive research review found C to be virtually useless for fighting colds. But don’t believe it.

The truth is that scientists have taken a fresh look at C — and have found lots of new ways it can help you stay healthy and look and feel younger. Here’s the latest on what C can really do for you.

Prevent wrinkles

You can’t pick up a beauty product these days without the label touting its antioxidants. There’s a good reason: Antioxidants — like vitamin C — help turn back the clock.

An October 2007 study published in the American Journal of Clinical Nutrition found that people who ate foods rich in vitamin C had fewer wrinkles and less age-related dry skin than those whose diets contained only small amounts of the vitamin. C helps form collagen, which smooths fine lines and wrinkles, according to Patricia Farris, MD, clinical assistant professor of dermatology at Tulane University in New Orleans.

The key seems to be C’s ability to fight free radicals, a by-product of cell metabolism in your body. Free radicals are thought to attack proteins, fats, and DNA and break down collagen. C also seems to guard against ultraviolet rays from the sun, which can lead to freckles and a mottled complexion. “Vitamin C does some repair and firming on the skin,” Farris says.
Health.com: Can you guess her age?

What to do now: Use a topical vitamin C treatment daily after you wash your face and before you slather on moisturizer or sunscreen so it penetrates the skin. Farris recommends La Roche-Posay Active C facial moisturizer or SkinCeuticals C E Ferulic topical antioxidant treatment.

Protect your heart

Experts continue to argue about whether antioxidants like vitamin C can prevent heart disease. But some of the evidence is highly persuasive. When Finnish researchers looked at studies involving nearly 300,000 people over 10 years, they found that taking more than 700 milligrams of C supplements daily reduced the risk of cardiovascular disease by 25 percent. And a recent study from Harvard University researchers hints that women who take a combo of 500 milligrams of vitamin C daily and 600 IU of vitamin E (another antioxidant) can cut their risk of stroke by 30 percent.

It’s possible that people who take vitamin supplements simply have healthier lifestyles than those who don’t, which could explain this finding. It’s also possible, experts say, that C enhances the functioning of endothelial cells (which line the inside of all blood vessels), slowing artery clogging and lowering blood pressure.

What to do now: Eat a lot of fruits and vegetables, which are full of vitamin C as well as other healthy nutrients, and consider taking C and E supplements. Experts say there are essentially no risks, but first check with your doctor. Health.com: Get your C’s here

Keep cancer at bay

A diet full of vitamin C–rich fruits and vegetables isn’t just good for your heart, it may also lower your risks of bladder, esophagus, stomach, and lung cancers. Even though more research is needed to find out which compounds in fruits and veggies do the trick, researchers say the association is strong.

Someday, C may also be used to treat cancer. High levels of C given intravenously seem to be toxic to cancer cells (studies on vitamin C taken orally showed no effect on cancerous cells). Intravenous C appears to trigger the formation of hydrogen peroxide, which kills some cancer cells while leaving healthy cells unharmed, says lead study author Mark Levine, MD, chief of the molecular and clinical nutrition section and senior staff physician at the National Institutes of Health.

Levine says doctors at the University of Kansas Medical School and Jefferson Medical College in Philadelphia are trying this therapy on cancer patients.

What to do now: “Strive for five or more fruits and vegetables daily, in a rainbow of colors,” Levine says. “It’s where the most benefit is.
Health.com: CAn C fight off a cold?

Boost brain power

Pairing vitamins C and E is smart for another reason: It may lessen your Alzheimer’s risks by as much as 64 percent, according to research in the Archives of Neurology. Just 500 milligrams of C and 400 IU of E appear to be enough.

The brain’s high fat content makes it especially vulnerable to free radicals, but these antioxidants may act as shields, says study author Peter Zandi, PhD, an assistant professor at Johns Hopkins University Bloomberg School of Public Health. “Some studies suggest that vitamin E does its job reducing free radicals in the body, but then its capacity is depleted,” Zandi says. “Vitamin C may recharge E.”
Health.com: The best multivitamin for you

What to do now: Try taking C and E supplements, and talk to your doc about your risks for Alzheimer’s and dementia.

Save your eyesight

Vitamin C can’t prevent the need for reading glasses around age 45. But anti-oxidants, including C, help prevent one of the leading causes of blindness: age-related macular degeneration (AMD).

More than 3.5 million Americans are thought to be in the early stages, and the disease strikes more women than men. A major clinical trial sponsored by the National Eye Institute showed that a daily supplement of 500 milligrams of vitamin C, 400 IU of vitamin E, 15 milligrams of beta-carotene, 80 milligrams of zinc, and 2 milligrams of copper reduced the risk of moderate or severe AMD-related vision loss by up to 25 percent. The antioxidants neutralize damage to the retina caused by, you guessed it, free radicals.

What to do now: If you’re at high risk for AMD (you’re overweight or have a family history), check to see if your multi-vitamin contains the study’s amounts of C, E, beta-carotene/vitamin A, zinc, and copper. Chances are, its C and E levels fall short, but additional supplements will do the job. (Caveat: Don’t follow this advice if you smoke; this level of beta-carotene may up your lung-cancer risks.)

Help you live longer

You’ve probably heard that green tea boosts the body’s defenses against toxins. That’s important because toxins are thought to contribute to cancer, heart attack, stroke, and lots of other maladies. In fact, one to two cups a day may reduce a woman’s risk of dying by about 20 per-cent, Japanese researchers say.

What’s the vitamin C connection? Citrus juices (lemon, lime, orange) may supercharge the immunity-boosting power of green tea. A new Purdue University study found that mixing citrus juice with green tea allowed 80 percent of the tea’s anti-oxidants to stick around after simulated digestion, making the pairing healthier than thought, says study author Mario G. Ferruzzi, PhD, assistant professor in Purdue’s department of food and nutrition.

What to do now: Add at least an ounce of citrus juice to your green tea — or try Tazo Lemon Green iced tea or SoBe Green Tea 3G. Both drinks are stocked with vitamin C

As someone very much involved with the astonishing power of foods to alleviate and even cure some medical conditions, I’m often asked: “Why is junk food bad for you?”. This situation has crept up on us over the last thirty to forty years, by the arrival of so called “junk food” — a phrase first coined by Michael Jacobson thirty-five years ago. This is food so far removed from the unadulterated, nutrient rich foods of earlier years, we are now faced with a situation where the younger generation, brought up solely on junk food are unlikely to live as long as their parents, who have eaten real food for most of their lives.

Junk food is cheap, convenient and very tasty! So what’s the problem? The problem is, it’s just too good to be true.

You see — just as there’s no such thing as a free lunch — the price you see on the supermarket shelf is simply your initial payment.

After consuming this cheap, convenient and tasty food for a while, you will discover the money you saved buying junk food will be more than mopped up by your doctor bills. Nor will it be very convenient when you have to stay in hospital because of some debilitating illness, brought about by the very things that give junk food its tempting taste: fat, sugar and salt — and not much else.

So, if I’m asked “Is junk food bad”, my answer is a resounding “Yes!”

And don’t think this is a problem only affecting seniors, because people as young as twenty-something are presenting with diseases that used to be associated with old age. There has even been a recent case of a teenager who presented at hospital with a case of scurvy — a disease caused purely by poor diet and actually eliminated way back in the 16th Century.

Scurvy was not the only disease caused by poor nutrition and such nightmares as rickets have also been eliminated, thanks to our increasing knowledge of vitamins and nutrition generally. It’s therefore sad that so many turn their back on this knowledge and set themselves up for a shorter, less healthy life than current knowledge allows.

So, now you know the answer to the question, “Why is junk food bad for you?”, you are probably wondering — if that’s the case — why is it so prevalent?

You see, there isn’t much profit in real food. By “real food” I mean food that is alive and rich with nutrients. The biggest problem is that lively food perishes very quickly. Yes, you can freeze some foods, but not all. So to give food a longer shelf life, food scientists created a wholly artificial fat — hydrogenated vegetable oil. This is definitely not something you want in your body, yet is found is pretty much every processed food from cookies to pizzas. Fortunately, the tide is turning and some manufacturers are making a merit out of not using it, now.

Another way to squeeze a bit more profit from food is to “add value”. This is done by marketing “ready meals” or “convenience foods”, which simply need to be zapped in a microwave for 30 seconds and is ideal to fill up increasingly “time poor” people. Presumably the eaters of convenience food are time poor because of all the time spent waiting in line at the doctor’s surgery. However, anyone who is so “busy” they have no time to cook and eat proper food, should perhaps examine their priorities in life.

It’s a measure of how miraculous our bodies are they can withstand this onslaught of empty junk food and go on for years before the payback time arrives in the form of kidney stones, heart disease, impotence, high blood pressure, arthritis, gall stones, gout and high cholesterol. But even then, the twin miracles of our bodies and wholesome food can pull you back from the brink at the eleventh hour and so avoid medications with unpleasant side effects or even costly and painful surgery.

It’s often said “Familiarity breeds contempt” and never more true than when speaking about our bodies and, in particular, the food we put into it. Because food is so readily available, we treat both with similar disregard, never questioning whether it will simply taste good or whether it will both taste good and actually do us good.

And, if you are still wondering: is junk food bad, consider this. If we own an automobile, we lavish attention on it and only allow the finest lubricants and the highest quality fuel to be used in it. Yet you can always get another vehicle — whilst you only get one body — and it has to last you a lifetime!

So doesn’t it make sense to ensure your body — like your shiny car — also gets the finest lubricants and the highest quality fuel?

Fortunately scientists are now making increasing numbers of remarkable discoveries about food — much of which reinforces the age old wisdom of folklore, such as “An apple a day keeps the doctor away”. So, stop abusing your body with junk food and instead eat the tastiest, most wholesome foods on the planet that have been shown over hundreds of years to produce the slimmest, healthiest and longest living people. People, like the Italians, Greeks and Okinawians. Not only will you be delighted how much more energy you have and how much more alive you feel, you’ll also be delighted that the foods are not only far tastier but also more varied in their taste than your usual food.

At that point you will really understand the answer to the question: why is junk food bad for you? And you’ll also be amazed to learn it can be cooked in minutes, making it almost as convenient — but far, far tastier and better for you — than that junk you used to zap in a microwave.

(HealthDay News) - Vitamin C is an antioxidant that’s found primarily in citrus fruits, leafy green vegetables, broccoli, potatoes and other fruits and veggies.

Significant enough vitamin C deficiency can lead to a condition called scurvy. Continue Reading…