vitamin C deficiency

Vitamin C deficiency wreaks havoc on thyroid function

Posted by

2


With an estimated 30 million Americans having some form of thyroid disease, solutions are necessary as impaired thyroid function can lead to other chronic diseases if not treated. Because the thyroid is a hormone-producing gland that regulates the body’s metabolism, it also affects critical body functions.

Keep in mind, the rate at which your body produces energy from oxygen and nutrients can alter the way your heart, brain, muscles, liver, and other body parts work. If they work too fast or slow, you won’t feel well. Therefore, therapy is essential if you want to feel your best.

An important but neglected vitamin for healthy thyroid function

Numerous studies have confirmed the presence of excess oxidative stress and a deteriorated antioxidant defense system in thyroid conditions. In fact, a large experimental study published in the BMC Endocrine Disorders journal reported that all subjects with benign or malignant thyroid disease had low levels of antioxidants, particularly with selenium, zinc, and vitamin C.

While low levels of selenium and zinc were not found in all subjects, low levels of vitamin C were. This confirms an association with vitamin C deficiency and thyroid function. One reason why vitamin C may be deficient in all people with thyroid conditions could be a result of adrenal fatigue.

Physical, mental, and emotional stress takes its toll on the adrenal gland

The adrenal gland contains the highest concentration of vitamin C in the body. In fact, the vitamin plays a crucial role in both the adrenal cortex and adrenal medulla which are responsible for responding to stress.

According to the American Journal of Clinical Nutrition, vitamin C secretion is part of the body’s stress response. Excessive stress, along with the body’s insufficient intake of the vitamin, can create a deficiency that leads to adrenal stress.

Countless studies show chronic adrenal stress disrupts the hypothalamic-pituitary-adrenal (HPA) axis. Because thyroid hormone is directed by the hypothalamus and the pituitary glands, anything that disrupts the HPA axis will affect thyroid function.

With studies proving that vitamin C deficiency is a problem for all people who have a thyroid condition, it’s possible that adrenal fatigue could be the cause. Therefore, it’s imperative to include foods and/or supplements containing vitamin C, especially with extreme or ongoing stress.

How does vitamin C boost thyroid medication delivery

Many people who have been diagnosed with a form of thyroid disease often adopt pharmaceutical medication to regulate their thyroid. However, many patients still exhibit symptoms which indicate the medication may not fully work towards thyroid homeostasis. However, studies are showing that natural antioxidant therapy – such as with vitamin C – can reverse thyroid damage and even help those who don’t see improvement with their prescription medication.

The Journal of Clinical Endocrinology & Metabolism recently studied the effects of vitamin C on the absorption of a synthetic T4 hormone with 31 patients who either had autoimmune thyroiditis or idiopathic hypothyroidism. Prior to the study, all patients were not in good control when taking the synthetic T4. Serum concentrations of T3, T4, and TSH were measured at particular intervals after vitamin C therapy.

All three concentrations were improved while taking vitamin C. TSH decreased in all patients and normalized in nearly 55 percent of them. T4 was higher with 30 of the 31 patients, and T3 was increased with all patients tested. These findings are significant in the role of vitamin C and thyroid function.

Improving thyroid function with vitamin C

Every day is a challenge when it comes to protecting our bodies from damaging chemicals in the food we eat, the water we drink, and the air we breathe. As presented, vitamin C has proven to help prevent adverse effects to health by optimizing thyroid function.

If you suspect or have a thyroid condition, you may want to consider taking a vitamin C supplement. One of the leading experts on treating thyroid disease, the late Dr. John C. Lowe, recommended the highest doses of vitamin C to bowel tolerance for four weeks as therapy.

The supplement should be taken in divided doses throughout the day. Larger amounts taken are less absorbed into the blood. Therefore, you may want to consider 250 to 2,000 milligrams at one time. Absorption rate is 80 to 50 percent respectively.

Vitamin C deficiency accelerates bone loss

Posted by

0


Vitamin C is well known as a powerful antioxidant and valuable weapon against cancer and other disease. But this versatile vitamin can also prevent bone loss by preventing oxidative stress that destroys bone structure.

Bone loss, known as osteoporosis, strikes older adults and can have devastating effects on mobility and quality of life. By supplementing with vitamin C, and following a healthy lifestyle to avoid toxins and other stress, you can minimize the risk of bone loss.

The stakes are high: Don’t become a victim of poor bone health

The National Osteoporosis Foundation estimates that about 54 million Americans are suffering with, or at-risk of, osteoporosis and low bone mass. Osteoporosis occurs when the body loses too much bone or makes too little bone. In some cases, both scenarios are occurring simultaneously.

The result is a weakening of the bones, causing an increase in incidence of bone breakage, even from a relatively minor fall. In the most severe cases, victims of osteoporosis can break a bone simply by bumping into something around the house – or even from just sneezing. Osteoporosis is more widespread than many realize. About one in two women and as many as one in four men aged 50 and older will break a bone in because of osteoporosis.

Patients are being misguided and mistreated

There is a mountain of information about bone health and how to avoid osteoporosis. Unfortunately, nearly all of it is wrong. The most common mistake is the idea that calcium can reverse bone loss. This misconception no doubt came about because osteoporotic bone is definitely deficient in calcium. But consuming large amounts of calcium have no effect on improving the conditions of the disease.

While additional calcium in the diet may show some improvement on a bone density test, those results are deceiving. Calcium is merely improving the test results from a superficial standpoint. It is doing nothing to strengthen the bone from within and safeguard against fracture.

Is your doctor telling you the truth about poor bone health?

Osteoporosis is actually scurvy of the bones, a symptom of vitamin C deficiency. Its reversal is dependent on restoring an optimal balance of antioxidants, particularly vitamin C – which helps promote the growth of new, healthy bone. Appropriate mineral intake is also necessary for optimal function of these antioxidants within the bone.

Deficiencies in antioxidants cause oxidative stress, which affects the bone, decomposing it over time. Resolving this oxidative stress is not as simple as taking a supplement, however, since the cause of the stress should also be addressed. But vitamin C plays a key role in an overall approach to minimizing bone loss because of its incredible efficiency in relieving oxidative stress.

Good news about the power of vitamin C for bone strength

Supplementing with vitamin C has been shown to improve bone density test results with strong, structurally sound bones, as well as reduce the risk of fracture. Research has shown vitamin C plays a pivotal role within the structural matrix of the bone itself, forming and cross-linking collagen, developing other non-collagen bone matrix proteins, regulating cells that are forming collagen and cartilage in the bone, as well as differentiating stem cells into bone cells.

Researchers at Mount Sinai School of Medicine were the first to demonstrate in an animal model that vitamin C actively protects against osteoporosis. Researchers there found that supplementing with vitamin C prevented bone loss in mice. Similar findings were documented in the International Journal of Experimental Pathology by researchers at Kyungpook National University in Daigu, Korea, who found that vitamin C deficiency caused failure of collagen synthesis, leading to symptoms of scurvy, including spontaneous bone fracture.

Take a comprehensive approach to avoid osteoporosis

There are a number of steps you can take for preventing and reversing osteoporosis. This comprehensive approach will address oxidative stress as well as get at the cause of that stress:

1. Eradicate old infections, detoxify your body and minimize new toxin exposure.
2. Address any critical hormone deficiencies.
3. Optimize antioxidant levels by supplementing with vitamin C, preferably a high-quality powder and liposome encapsulated forms.
4. Consider additional recommended dietary supplements, including lysine and proline, complete B complex, beta carotene, vitamin D3, vitamin K2, omega-3 fatty acids, magnesium glycinate, and mixed tocopherols.
5. And, of course, consider weight-bearing exercise like, walking, jogging or hiking.  Plus, strength training exercises like, dumbbell chest presses, push ups, lunges and squats. If you don’t know how to exercise properly, consider working with a health coach or fitness professional.  The rewards are worth the effort.

Groundbreaking study reveals that heart disease is an early indicator of vitamin C deficiency

Posted by

0


Image: Groundbreaking study reveals that heart disease is an early indicator of vitamin C deficiency

Heart disease is usually linked to issues with cholesterol, but researchers are increasingly finding that vitamin C plays an outsized role in heart health. This antioxidant nutrient, which the body uses to make connective tissue, has already gotten some buzz for its utility in cancer treatment, but its effects on the heart may be even greater.

Researchers at the Dr. Rath Research Institute of California found that a vitamin C deficiency can cause coronary heart disease. In their study, they used transgenic mice that mimic the human metabolism in two key ways: They don’t produce vitamin C internally, and they generate lipoprotein to make up for this. After feeding the mice a diet that was lacking in vitamin C, their bodies acted as expected and created their own lipoprotein to fix the vascular walls. This caused them to develop heart issues and atherosclerosis.

Crucially, they discovered that the degree and level of heart disease the mice developed was directly linked to their vitamin C intake and blood levels. Those mice who had consumed the highest amounts of vitamin C naturally produced the least lipoprotein to repair their arteries, and by extension, had the strongest hearts and fewest atherosclerotic lesions.

Therefore, the researchers believe that proper vitamin C intake could be the secret to preventing heart disease and other cardiovascular problems. That doesn’t mean that cholesterol isn’t important; maintaining healthy HDL and LDL cholesterol levels is still a powerful component of overall health, but it may not play as big of a role as once believed.

100% organic essential oil sets now available for your home and personal care, including Rosemary, Oregano, Eucalyptus, Tea Tree, Clary Sage and more, all 100% organic and laboratory tested for safety. A multitude of uses, from stress reduction to topical first aid. See the complete listing here, and help support this news site.

Higher vitamin C intake linked to lower heart disease risk

This is supported by a study that was recently published in the Journal of the American College of Nutrition. That study looked at 108 men and divided them into three groups according to their intake of vitamin C.

They found that the men in the top tier of vitamin C intake had a 66 percent lower risk of heart disease compared to those who had the lowest intake. The researchers aren’t sure exactly how vitamin C brings about such significant benefits to heart health. They theorize that it could be related to its ability to prevent and ease the stiffening in artery walls that can block the flow of blood. In fact, they discovered that the vitamin is especially effective at doing this in people who smoke.

Further studies provide additional evidence of vitamin C’s heart benefits. For example, a study carried out by the University of Copenhagen that involved more than 100,000 people found that higher blood concentrations of vitamin C were associated with a lower risk of not only cardiovascular disease but also death. It is important to keep in mind, however, that they saw this benefit in those whose high vitamin C blood levels came from eating lots of vegetables and fruits.

Getting vitamin C from food is preferable

The researchers said that although vitamin C supplements can help raise your levels of this important nutrient, getting it from a healthy diet is far preferable. Doing so will also help you develop a long-term healthy lifestyle, which will bring many other health benefits over time.

With heart disease being the leading cause of death around the world, we are lucky to have such an affordable way to prevent it that has very few side effects. Some of the best food sources of vitamin C include citrus fruits, acerola cherries, kale, broccoli, kiwis, strawberries, sweet potatoes, and bell peppers. Best of all, eating these foods will not just enhance your heart health; your immunity will also get a nice boost!

Sources for this article include:

NaturalHealth365.com

NaturalNews.com