The joke's on us

In almost all things, I trust the wisdom of Mother Nature. But she
pulled a fast one on us when it comes to vitamin C. It seems that
just about every other animal can produce its own vitamin C --
except humans. Really. Cats, dogs, elephants, birds -- you name it.
Only humans, monkeys and other primates, guinea pigs, and an
obscure bat found only in India have been left out in the genetic
cold somewhere along the way. Whether by genetic error or
cosmic joke, we are left to fend for ourselves when it comes to
getting the vitamin C we need.

You might be thinking, like I did, that we're well past worrying
about getting enough vitamin C in our diets. Scurvy (a disease
caused by severe vitamin C deficiency) is long gone, right?

Well, a new study published in the American Journal of Public
Health says otherwise. Although fruits and vegetables are readily
available, many people don't partake of the abundance as they
should, leaving them dangerously depleted of this essential
nutrient.

The study included 15,769 participants ranging in age from 12 to
74 years and found a distressing 10 percent of women and 14
percent of men to be deficient. While it's not even close to being a
majority, it's still an alarming number since vitamin C plays such a
critical role in so many of the body's functions. So, to ensure that
you're getting enough, this is one of those instances where you'll
most likely need to supplement in addition to adding more fruits
and vegetables to your diet.

Determining how much supplemental vitamin C will meet your
individual requirements is fairly easy using a tolerance-test
technique that Dr. Wright shared with his readers a few years ago.

The tolerance test starts with a dose of 2 grams of vitamin C per
day. Then, slowly increase your dose each day until you start
experiencing excess gas or loose bowels. At that point, your body
isn't absorbing or able to use that much, so you should scale back
to the largest amount that doesn't produce these symptoms.

Dr. Wright finds that most adults need 3 to 6 grams (3,000 to 6,000
milligrams) daily. When illness occurs, however, the amount
frequently increases quite significantly. Also, keep in mind that
vitamin C is water-soluble and rapidly used by our bodies, so it's a
good idea to spread the total daily quantity you take out over two
or three doses.

One note of caution: Individuals who have formed calcium-oxalate
kidney stones or who come from families who've had them should
limit supplemental vitamin C to 1 gram daily unless they're
working with a health-care professional knowledgeable in
nutritional therapy. For the rest of us, however, don't settle for less
than you need of this critical nutrient. 

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Timing is everything

Q: I have always been puzzled about when to take supplements --
on an empty stomach, or a full stomach? Should I do what my
system tolerates best, or is there some rule of thumb depending on
what I'm taking?

JVW: The most important part of taking supplements is
absorption. Anything that is not properly absorbed into your
system is ultimately of no use to you.

It is generally considered best to take vitamins with a meal since
the digestive juices you produce at mealtime enable you to absorb
the maximum amount of the nutrient. Fat-soluble vitamins such as
vitamins A, D, E, and K require either animal or vegetable fat to be
present in the stomach to be optimally absorbed. It is also a good
practice to space your vitamins and supplements throughout the
day, especially those that are water-soluble, such as the B-complex
and vitamin C. If you are taking 3,000 milligrams a day of vitamin
C, for example, you should take 1,000 at each of your three meals
that day.

A few things to take note of: if you are taking both mineral
supplements and a fiber supplement, consider taking them at
different times of the day. The fiber makes it difficult for the
minerals to be absorbed. Taking too much zinc at once can cause
stomach cramps, so you might want to split your dose up,
depending on how much you take. And if you are taking any
essential fatty acid supplements, you should take your vitamin E at
the same time.

Herbal remedies and probiotics, on the other hand, usually require
an empty stomach for maximum effectiveness. This means 20-30
minutes before meals, or two hours after.

Of course, no one wants to spend all of their time worrying about
when to take their supplements. Perhaps the best strategy is to
consult your nutritionally oriented physician, or a compounding
pharmacist about the particular mixture of supplements you take
and get his or her help planning out your day according to your
specific combination. Then stick with the same routine every day.
After all, the best plan is one that you can easily follow
consistently.

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What is… biochemical individuality?

An important principle in orthomolecular medicine, biochemical
individuality holds that each of us respond to different substances
differently -- even if our age, body size, gender and other factors
are the same. Our body chemistry is unique and will respond to
chemicals, environmental conditions, stress and other influences
differently than anyone else, even if we resemble them or are
related to them.

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