Vitamin C

What Can Vitamin C Supplements Help Me With?*

Support the immune system, promote healing and protect cells from daily wear and tear.*
Build and strengthen collagen to provide essential support for the blood vessels, arteries, ligaments, bones, gums, and teeth.*
Increase metabolism, promote weight loss, and boost energy production by making carnitine, the amino acid responsible for transporting fat to mitochondria for conversion to energy.*
Promote brain and eye (retina) health.*
Improve heart function and overall cardiovascular health.*
Support arterial health*
Regenerate other antioxidants like vitamin E and CoQ10.*
Neutralize oxidative damage caused by free radicals and protect cells from wear and tear.*
Support artery and blood vessel flexibility and encourage healthy inflammation cycles in the cardiovascular system.*
Promote adrenal gland function, which uses large amounts of vitamin C, to support the body’s healthy stress response.*
Boost production of norepinephrine, a neurotransmitter critical to brain function that’s known to affect mood.*

Why do we need vitamin C?

Unlike most mammals who produce their own vitamin C in very high amounts (and even more under stress), humans do not have the ability to manufacture their own vitamin C. Interestingly, we have 3 out of the 4 enzymes needed to make vitamin C, but the 4th enzyme is turned off — the gene that made the 4th enzyme mutated and is no longer is expressed in humans. Therefore, we must obtain vitamin C through our diet and/or a vitamin C supplement in order to support proper health.

What happens when the body is running low on Vitamin C?

According to the National Institutes of Health, too little vitamin C can lead to serious health challenges. Low Vitamin C levels can affect several body parts and systems, including:

Hair health and texture*
Gum and dental health*
Dermal (skin) health and texture*
Wound-healing process*
Bruise recovery*
Joint health*
Red blood cell health*
Immune system response*
Metabolic rate*

Can You Replenish A Deficiency Taking Only The Recommended Daily Allowance (RDA)?

No. The RDA is the minimum required to avoid scurvy, not the maximum needed for good health. As in all cases, “deficiency” is not something that’s digital – meaning you either have it or you don’t – it’s a matter of degrees. Researchers are proving the many ways in which “sub-clinical scurvy” (meaning you are deficient but not immediately about to die) is significantly detrimental to health and makes the body vulnerable to various kinds of damage.

Why is Lysine included?

Lysine, or L-lysine, is an essential amino acid, which means that it is necessary for human health but cannot be made by the body. Amino acids are the building blocks of protein. Lysine is important for proper growth, and it plays an essential role in the production of carnitine, a nutrient responsible for converting fatty acids into energy and helping to lower cholesterol. Lysine appears to help the body absorb and conserve calcium, and it plays an important role in the formation of collagen.*

Lysine supports immune system response, especially the body’s ability to recognize and fight viruses. Taking lysine supplements can support recovery time and reduce the chance of recurrent health challenges. Lysine also plays a role in supporting arterial health. Lysine is one component of a protocol proposed by Linus Pauling to promote optimal heart and immune health.*

Vitamin C 101:

Vitamin C is required for the growth and repair of tissues in all parts of your body. The body needs vitamin C to make its most abundant protein, which is collagen. Collagen is the cellular “glue” that holds the skin, blood vessels, arteries, muscles, bones, tendons and ligaments together. This is especially important in the artery walls, which must expand and contract with each beat of the heart.*

Vitamin C is also essential for wound healing – both obvious, traumatic wounds and chronic wounds at the cellular level (such as free radical damage and inflammation). In fact, vitamin C is arguably the most effective and versatile antioxidant there is, being used by literally every system of the body to perform critical, health-maintaining tasks.*

Background Information:

Vitamin C, also known as ascorbic acid, is a water-soluble vitamin. Water-soluble vitamins cannot be stored in the body, meaning the body must have a continuous stream of this nutrient to maintain necessary levels for optimal health. Unlike most mammals, humans do not have the ability to make their own vitamin C. Therefore, we must obtain vitamin C through our diet or through a vitamin C supplement. Vitamin C is found in a variety of fruits and vegetables, however, larger amounts of this nutrient (greater than what can be obtained though food alone) can have wide-ranging health benefits.*

In addition to being required for the synthesis of collagen, vitamin C also plays an important role in the synthesis of the neurotransmitter, norepinephrine. Neurotransmitters are critical to brain function and are known to affect mood. Vitamin C is required for the synthesis of carnitine, a small molecule that is essential for the transport of fat to cellular organelles called mitochondria (known as “cellular power plants”), for conversion to energy.*

Recent research also suggests that vitamin C is involved in the metabolism of cholesterol to bile acids, which may have implications for maintaining healthy blood cholesterol levels.

Also, the more vitamin C cells are exposed to, the more they absorb until they are saturated. Optimal health is supported when each cell in the body is saturated with multi-functional vitamin C.

Vitamin C is also a highly effective antioxidant. Even in small amounts vitamin C can protect indispensable molecules in the body, such as proteins, lipids (fats), carbohydrates, and nucleic acids (DNA and RNA) from damage by free radicals and reactive oxygen species that can be generated during normal metabolism as well as through exposure to daily stresses and environmental factors.

Vitamin C may also be able to regenerate other antioxidants such as vitamin E. Normal metabolism and daily “wear and tear” on the body produces oxygen free radicals, which have degenerative effects on the body. When your body is weakened, free radicals are produced at an exponentially higher rate. Antioxidants like vitamin C neutralize free radicals and protect cells and tissues of all kinds against oxidative damage, promoting wellness on multiple levels.

* These statements have not been evaluated by the Food and Drug Administration. This product is not intended to diagnose, treat, cure, or prevent any disease.

(Jigsaw Health Products are the Supplements of choice for The Hatched Egg. These are the ones I personally use due to the fact that they are manufactured with the highest quality & research to produce the best product & best result available.) ~The Hatched Egg, Amy Furbee