home
Search the site:
search

You are Closer to Being Vitamin C Deficient Than You Think


Okay, so you think you are doing pretty well with your diet. You prepare most of your meals at home, don't eat much junk food and aren't a fast food eater only rarely. You think vitamins are pretty much nonsense-particularly since you are eating so well-and besides, you feel pretty healthy.

Well let me rain on that parade a little.

Consider this. In order for nutritional researchers to determine the required levels of nutrients, diets must be designed of known nutrient content with a specific deficiency in the nutrient being studied. Then varying doses of the nutrient can be added to the diet to determine at what level symptoms of deficiency disappear.

In the American Journal of Clinical Nutrition, a vitamin C-depleted real meal menu is described. The diet consists of the following choices:

Breakfast: Apple Juice, Applesauce, Raisin Bran, Shredded Wheat, Unprocessed bran, Hominy grits, Cream of Wheat, Eggs (scrambled or hard poached), Cheddar cheese, French toast, Syrup, Yogurt (plain or strawberry), Bran muffin, Glazed doughnut, Mini bagel, Cream cheese, White toast or bread, Wheat toast, Margarine, butter, Honey, Peanut butter, Sugar substitutes, Low-fat cream cheese, Coffee (regular or decaffeinated), Tea (regular or decaffeinated), Cream, White milk (whole, 2%, or skim), Chocolate milk, Buttermilk.

Lunch: Chicken noodle soup, Cream of chicken soup, Croutons, Escalloped chicken, Pork chops, Brown gravy, Garlic herb pizza, Grilled cheese sandwich, Tuna chunks, Yogurt (plain, vanilla or blueberry), Rice royale, Black beans, Rice, Pretzels, Applesauce, Diet Jell-O?, Cookies (chocolate chip or sugar), Ice cream (vanilla or chocolate), Bread (white or wheat), Saltines, Margarine, Butter, Sour cream, Peanut butter, Mustard, Mayonnaise, Sugar substitute, Relish, Coffee (regular or decaffeinated), Tea (regular, decaffeinated or iced), Cream

Dinner: Chicken and rice soup, Cottage cheese, Croutons, Fried shrimp, Roast beef, Brown gravy, Macaroni and cheese, Cheeseburger, Chicken salad, Yogurt (plain or peach), Pinto beans, Rice, Diet Jell-O?, Vanilla ice cream, Angel food cake, Bread (white or wheat), Margarine, Butter, Peanut butter, Coffee (regular or decaffeinated), Cream, Tea (regular, decaffeinated or iced)

Evening Snacks: Peanut butter crackers, Graham crackers, Chocolate chip cookie, Popcorn, Ginger ale, Diet cola

If you review these choices you should note something familiar. They are the very foods that the majority of people now consume! By eating these foods a person will restrict vitamin C intake to less than 5 mg per day. The bare minimum RDA (Recommended Daily Alolowance) so far established for vitamin C is 90 mg per day for men and 75 mg per day for women -- and this is highly contested as being far too low. There is a huge body of research now demonstrating that humans need several hundred milligrams (some believe more than a thousand) per day to achieve optimal health.

Vitamin C is a critically important nutrient for humans since our bodies are unable to synthesize it. In the wild, fruits and vegetables would be the main source. Vitamin C bolsters the immune system and is critical to connective tissue integrity and health. In its absence, the nutritional disease scurvy occurs resulting in a sort of meltdown of the basic structure of the body. Teeth fall out, internal bleeding occurs and it can cause a miserable death. In days gone by, ancient mariners feared the disease more than capsizing. But left out to sea long enough with only bread and salted meat they were almost sure to suffer it to one degree or another

Heart disease is a leading killer in modern society. Dental disease is epidemic. Both of these conditions can be initiated or fostered by vitamin C deficiency. There presence may in fact be the very marker that vitamin C deficiency is widespread. Coronary and cerebral vessels lose their integrity leading to heart attacks and strokes, and periodontitis (gum recession, bleeding and oral infection) leads to loss of teeth, foul breath and seeding of the body's organs with pathogens.

Vitamin C is not a silly nutrient to be ignored or played with. Don't assume that because you seem healthy at the moment that chronic degenerative disease is not incubating within. In fact, if you are eating exclusively processed modern fare, you can count on it.

Convert the diet to more fresh and raw foods (See authors The Thinking Person's Master Key to Health (CD), http://wysong.net/Merchant2/merchant.mvc?Screen=PROD&Store_Code=WOTTPWS&
Product_Code=EDCD21&Category_Code=EDUAIDS&Product_Count=0. Note that there were no fresh foods in the test diet. And certainly taking daily vitamin C supplements (500-1000 mg per day) is prudent insurance given that normal dietary fare is clearly vitamin C deficient.

. (Am J Clin Nutr, 1997; 65(5):1434-40.)

Dr. Wysong is a former veterinary clinician and surgeon, college instructor in human anatomy, physiology and the origin of life, inventor of numerous medical, surgical, nutritional, athletic and fitness products and devices, research director for the present company by his name and founder of the philanthropic Wysong Institute. He is author of The Creation-Evolution Controversy now in its eleventh printing, a new two volume set on philosophy for living, several books on nutrition, prevention and health for people and animals and over 15 years of monthly health newsletters. He may be contacted at Wysong@Wysong.net and a free subscription to his e-Health Letter is available at http://www.wysong.net


MORE RESOURCES:

Los Angeles Times

Vending machine snacks can damage childrens' health
Celebrities With Diseases
According to researcher Madhur Kakarala, “Targeted nutrition education to promote the importance of healthful snacks is further stressed by the Child ...
Another study highlights the insanity of selling junk food in school vending ...Los Angeles Times
Making School Lunches and Vending Machines HealthierFresh and Healthy Nutrition (blog)
Fresh Healthy Vending Franchisee to Launch Throughout Scottsdale SchoolsGlobeNewsWire (press release)
PR Newswire (press release)
all 62 news articles »


KDRV

S. Oregon schools get creative in making nutrition a priority
KDRV
As kids get ready to go back to school, nutrition is a top concern for many parents, and cafeteria staff in Southern Oregon are also taking it very ...

and more »


The State

Kids Cafe combines nutrition with after-school care
The State
Bowers said while the nutritional and educational needs of the students are crucial, the sites serve another important role. “A lot of these kids are latch ...

and more »


Most Americans struggle with long-term weight loss: Study
Oneindia
Penn State College of Medicine researchers analyzed data from the National Health and Nutrition Examination Survey from 1999-2006, a nationwide survey ...

and more »


TopNews Singapore (press release)

Prescription Drug Use Rising in US, CDC Reports
BusinessWeek
... more drugs increased from 6 percent to 11 percent, according to the analysis of data from the National Health and Nutrition Examination Survey (NHANES). ...
Alien mind wipe failureNatural News.com
CDC Says More Americans Are Taking Prescription DrugsRTT News
Better Living Through Chemistry? Americans Reliant on PrescriptionHealthNews
CNN (blog) -Scope (blog) -eMaxHealth
all 84 news articles »


New nutrition center feeds seniors in need
NorthJersey.com
The center, which opened last month in the old Riverside Vets building at 165 Fifth Ave., is among four nutrition sites in the city that feed 300 seniors a ...

and more »


Research and Markets: This Essential 2010 Edition of Nutritional Supplements ...
Trading Markets (press release)
The present report analyses Human nutrition and health industry with detailed description of industry segments. Report covers global industry size, ...

and more »


CBC.ca

Organic Strawberries Have Better Taste & Nutrition Than Conventional & Better ...
Treehugger
In coming to that conclusion, the scientists analyzed 31 chemical and biological soil properties, soil DNA, as well as the taste, nutrition and quality of ...
Is Organically Produced Food More Nutritious?NPR
More proof: Organic mattersWashington Post (blog)
Organic strawberries given a thumbs up in WSU studySeattle Times
The Money Times -World Science -Food Consumer
all 81 news articles »


Professional Research on Dean Foods and Mead Johnson Nutrition Company - Food ...
MarketWatch (press release)
(NYSE:DF) and Mead Johnson Nutrition Company (NYSE:MJN) . Register today at www.wallstreetequityresearch.com to receive free research reports on these ...
Mead Johnson Nutrition Backs FY10 Non-GAAP EPS Guidance - Quick FactsRTT News
Mead Johnson to Present at Barclays Capital Back-to-School Consumer ConferenceMarketWatch (press release)

all 20 news articles »


Kore Nutrition and Go All In establish new Asian Licensee
Trading Markets (press release)
Kore Nutrition and the company's wholly owned subsidiary, Go All In have announced the establishment of their new Asian licensee, ALL IN Asia. ...
Kore Nutrition forms Asia Licensee for ALL IN EnergyDrinks Business Review

all 2 news articles »

Google News