Sodium ascorbate crash-course 2013

[DizzyIzzy]

This is a piece I wrote a couple of months ago because I was sick of answering vitamin C questions!!

Enjoy

http://www.ias.org.nz/natural-immuni...h-course-2013/


SODIUM ASCORBATE/ ‘SA’
By Admin [ahem, that'd be me in this case]

What is it?

The most easily absorbed, safest form of Vitamin C – one of the body’s two chief antioxidants, and perhaps the most under-rated and misunderstood nutrients there are.

What does it do?

Fixes everything (almost). Seriously. Wound healing, immune boosting, virus-busting, toxin-neutralising, allergy-clearing, almost-everything-fixing ‘primal panacea’ [to borrow a phrase from Dr Thomas Levy]. More or less. And even if it doesn’t work for a particular ailment, it doesn’t hurt either. Humans have an annoying quirk in that we’re one of the few animals who can’t produce their own Vitamin C, and unfortunately in today’s world, even on a strict raw-plant-based diet it’s virtually impossible to get anywhere enough of what you need from food.

How do I take it?

The easiest way is as a powder, which you mix into water (or juice, or smoothies, or whatever – as long as it’s cool. Heat destroys vitamin C). Non-GMO (check that; most are GMO), obviously. The one I usually recommend is from iherb.com, by Nutribiotic. US$14 for nearly half a kilo, versus $22+ for 120g here in NZ. Though as long as it’s good-quality, non-GMO, and the pure powder, it doesn’t matter too much where you get it from.

What dose is good?

Take it until bowel tolerance is reached on a normal, non-stressed, healthy day, and then cut back slightly and that’s your average. You need much more during times of stress and when you’re ill – again, use bowel tolerance as your gauge.

1 teaspoon is approx. 4g/4,000mg

Bowel what now?!

Bowel tolerance is reached when your body has reached its vitamin C saturation point, and starts to excrete it, by way of loose stools. Noice. Bowel tolerance is the point where the body can’t use any more at that time, and so the stools start to loosen (i.e. ‘you get the squits’). It isn’t dangerous (unless you’re already severely dehydrated, in which case, replenish liquids and use usual first aid and common sense measures as per usual), and you can’t actually overdose on it. Sometimes it’s good to have a clear-out anyway if you’re ill!! Obviously bowel tolerance is going to vary from person to person, and for different ages and stages and even different days. The more stressed or ill you are, the more you need.

My suggestion is to take it to bowel tolerance, then to cut back for a few hours or until the next day and start again, going until just under tolerance.

It also pays to go slowly and gently with children and babies, especially when they’re ill – the last thing you want is an already sick child with diarrhoea too!!

Can you overdose?

No – but you can hit bowel tolerance (see above)

So what do you take?

Personally I take about 8g (8,000mg) a day, more if I’m sick.

What about kids?


(Continues on link)

[Islander]

The body can only absorb a portion of an oral dose, so taking more than a gram at a time is largely wasted. Personally, 4g/day keeps me well year after year, and I take this in divided doses (breakfast, lunch, dinner, bedtime). If I should feel the beginnings of a sore throat, I increase the dose to a gram an hour; usually by next morning all symptoms are gone. I have never reached bowel tolerance — which tells me that my body really needed everything I gave it.

[Reesacat]

Love it Dizz! It is informative, fun and comprehensive — your usual excellent writing!