Vitamin C

We all know that vitamins are an essential part of life.  They are micronutrients because our bodies require them in small amounts compared to things like carbohydrates, proteins, fats and water.  Vitamins are a significant part of our good health because they regulate metabolism and are part of how our processes our food to release the energy within it.  Vitamins are either soluble in water or fat.  Water-soluble vitamins must be brought into the body daily because they are not stored in the body but pass through the body within hours.  Fat-soluble vitamins can be stored in the body, usually in the body's fatty tissues.

Vitamin C

Vitamin C is a water soluble antioxidant that is required for at least three hundred metabolic functions in the body, including tissue growth and repair, adrenal gland function and healthy gums.  It also aids in the production of antistress hormones and interferon, and is needed for the metabolism of folic acid, tyrosine and phenylalanine.  You probably have already heard that Vitamin C is an antioxidant which means that it aids in the prevention of cancer.  Studies have shown that taking Vitamin C regularly can reduce the symptoms of asthma and it helps protect against the harmful effects of pollution, protects against infection, and enhances immunity.  Vitamin C helps the body absorb iron but it also combines with toxic substances, such as some heavy metals, and renders them harmless so that they can be eliminated from the body.  This vitamin also helps to lower LDL cholesterol levels (the 'bad' cholesterol) as well as lowering high blood pressure and prevents atherosclerosis, protects against abnormal blood clotting and bruising and reduces the risk of cataracts, promotes the healing of wounds and burns.  The human body does no manufacture Vitamin C so we must obtain this vitamin from our diet.  Scurvy is a disease caused by Vitamin C deficiency and is characterized by poor wound healing, soft and spongy bleeding gums, edema, extreme weakness and "pinpoint' hemorrhages under the skin.  Other signs of Vitamin C deficiency are increased susceptibility to infection, joint pains, lack of energy, poor digestion, prolonged wound healing time, a tendency to bruise easily and tooth loss.  Alcohol, analgesics, antidepressants, anticoagulants, oral contraceptives, smoking, and steroids reduce levels of Vitamin C in the body.

Supplements

Supplementation is important today because while we were created to get all the nutrients we need for healthy lives through our food, our commercialized food supply today does not provide the same volume of important nutrients that it once did.  Due to poor commercial farming practices, depleted soils and premature harvesting, our produce is not as nutritious as Grandma's produce was.  It is important that we supplement our diets with food based supplements because our bodies don't appreciate synthetic copy-cats.  

Your body is capable of many things, but it can’t make or store vitamin C. Shaklee Sustained Release Vita-C 500 mg offers sustained-release protection hour after hour, using a proprietary sustained release system.  The “do-everything” nutrient, vitamin C is a powerful antioxidant. Sustained Release Vita-C provides:
High-potency vitamin C, A proprietary sustained-release system that delivers the vitamin C equivalent of one-and-a-half oranges every hour for five hours, A formula that helps maintain natural antioxidant defenses, cell integrity, and the health of eyes, teeth, gums, bones, muscles, and blood vessels



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The Linus Pauling Institute

National Institutes of Health 
Prescription for Nutritional Healing