Ascorbic Acid vs Vitamin C

Vitamin C is a very misunderstood vitamin. 

This is because the powers that be decided to rate any vitamin C product according to the amount of ascorbic acid it contains.  Ascorbic acid by itself is NOT vitamin C.  It is the preservative part of the C complex, like the egg shell to an egg.  Like looking at a wheel and calling it an automobile, an egg shell by itself it is NOT going to make scrambled eggs. The same is true of ascorbic acid.

To refine out or to synthesize ascorbic acid is a bad idea.

Often they don’t even use food to do this e.g. synthetic ascorbic acid, a derivative of petroleum contains carbon and is therefore chemically organic, although it is hardly a food.  It is, in fact, a drug. The actual vitamin C complex, like what you would find in whole foods, contains other vitamin factors like:

• Vitamin P (bioflavonoids, rutin) which maintain vascular integrity.

• Vitamin K is another piece of the C complex. It helps in coagulation. People who can’t stop bleeding do not have enough vitamin K.

• Vitamin J which increases the oxygen-carrying ability of the blood.

• Tyrosinase which is organic copper is an adrenal activator.

In addition to all these factors, the vitamin C complex also contains ascorbic acid.  ALL of these other factors are important for results using nutritional therapy.

Bottom line, nature does it best.

Don’t think so, then consider this. Many scientific breakthroughs are a result of trying to copy what already exists in nature.  We have yet to create synthetic organs that function better than the originals.  Now medical science may one day create human organs in the lab but the underlying reality remains, they copied nature.  No doctor will ever develop any part of the human body that is distantly different than and works better than the part it is meant to replace.  I know that there will be some naysayers to this point. Saying that we have artificial valves and vessels that are clearly superior to the ones they are used to replace.  Well duh, that’s because it’s broken and was not well maintained. Plus the synthetic part is first and foremost trying to COPY the original.

If I’m comparing modes of transportation, in the same way, you won’t compare a Camaro with a blown engine because it was driven hard and the oil was NEVER changed to Dr. Bob’s wheelbarrow. Even though Dr. Bob is clearly right in stating that the wheelbarrow is far superior in its ability to transport a person from point A to point B, with the right driver of course.  This is only true, however, if the Camaro is not in working order. If the car is well maintained and running well then there is NO contest.

Carry this comparison to the human body and it still holds water.

The design of the human body, if given the proper, nerve flow, nutrition, oxygen via exercise and void of toxins that can mutate or damage the cells and organs, will always be far superior to what we can create in a lab when attempting to attain better health.  I doubt, very seriously, that there will ever be a day where a new design of heart is created that is better than what our body can grow and maintain. Sorry to break it to the sci-fi fans but I’m betting that the possibility of us ever creating a bionic man superior to one made the “old fashion way” is never going to happen.

This same concept extends one step further to plants and their ability to feed and nourish us.  However, because of cost, easy accessibility and sometimes pride, we think that we can out do the infinitely wondrous benefits of clean fresh local and organic food.  The reality is that no pill will out do what the unprocessed food can do for our health.

Unfortunately, we live in a world where nutrient dense foods are not readily available, in the season, or more commonly are just not in our daily meals. We often suffer from deficiencies that we try to treat with poor synthetic substitutes. Again, whole foods are best and whole food supplements are always better than synthetic vitamins. To get an idea of why we choose to prescribe Standard Process whole food supplements read below about how they make their “Vitamin C complex” supplement Cataplex C.

“We make our vitamin C by removing the water and fiber from raw, whole foods – alfalfa, mushrooms, bone marrow, and buckwheat leaf.  This leaves a powder containing the nutrients from these foods.  This powder is then put into tablets.  In analyzing this nutrient powder, we find it is approximately point zero one (.01) ascorbic acid by weight.  In fact, it contains about as much natural ascorbic acid as you will find in any of the vitamin C-rich foods, rose hips included.  So our vitamin C tablet, which is about a 500-milligram tablet, is .01% ascorbic acid, or about 5 milligrams.  This is why our CATAPLEX C has a label that says “5 milligrams.” But in addition to the five milligrams of ascorbic acid, each tablet contains about 495 milligrams of all the other C complex factors – the P factors, vitamin K, vitamin J, enzymes, and more unknown organic factors.  It is the presence of all these synergistic factors which gives our product its functional potency.” 

It is important to remember the other components of the C complex.  We have an interest in more than just ascorbic acid.

-Dr. Bret Wickstrom

For more information call Corrective Chiropractic and set up a consultation with Dr. Bret Wickstrom to discuss if a nutritional exam and whole food supplement prescription is right for you.