BIOMAX C - How it Works

Background

The current RDI for vitamin C is judged by many researchers as being far below that necessary for health³. Pauling calculated the amounts of vitamin C continuously biosynthesized by mammals and after adjusting for human weight, he estimated our requirement to be a minimum of several hundred mg/day - with the ideal amount being at least 3 g/day for a 70 kg person. He vehemently argued that recommendations by some authorities, of only a few tens mg/day, are well below that necessary for robust health.

It has been known for some time that vitamin C is required for the biosynthesis of connective proteins, such as collagen. Here it is a substrate for the post-transcriptional modifications of the important amino acids proline and lysine – both intimately involved with collagen cross-linking and hence stiffening collagen and strengthening bones. The importance for vitamin C assisted destruction of bacteria and viral agents is a more recent discovery. Vitamin C fights infections by assisting an active group of common white blood cells, neutrophils, in the destruction of invasive particles by the “oxidative-burst” process. Termed phagocytosis, infective agents – bacteria and viral particles – are engulfed by white blood cells such as neutrophils and natural killer (NK) cells and then liquidated. Human neutrophils destroy these invaders by releasing massive amounts of hydrogen peroxide (H2O2) and hypochlorous acid (HOCl) thus burning these bugs into water, CO2 and chlorinated organics. This oxidation also often destroys the neutrophil itself and releases excess H2O2 and HOCl into surrounding tissues. The entire process, while necessary for survival, is incredibly oxidative and inflammatory and is not initiated by the neutrophil without adequate tissue levels of protective vitamin C.

Vitamin C protects surrounding tissues from the deleterious effects of excess H2O2 and HOCl released from active neutrophils during the phagocytic process. These oxidative agents are actually sequestered by the key protective biochemical glutathione which is immediately oxidized to the non-protective glutathione dimer. The dimer is recycled back to the protective glutathione monomer by reduction from tissue vitamin C, which is itself oxidized to dehydroascorbate. This compound was thought to be the useless end-product of vitamin C oxidation, but we now know that dehydroascorbate is required by the sub-cellular mitochondria. This is the form of vitamin C which is allowed access to the inner mitochondrial matrix, where it is reduced back to vitamin C (indirectly from the Krebs cycle). Here, mitochondrial vitamin C once again protects tissues from oxidation by H2O2 produced from incomplete oxygen reduction during ATP biosynthesis in the mitochondria.

To maximize tissue protection and neutrophil activity our bloodstream vitamin C should be constantly maintained at high levels. Formulas which slowly release vitamin C over several hours have been clinically shown to maintain these high levels in the bloodstream⁴. We now know that high concentrations of vitamin C are absolutely required by neutrophils to actively fight infections⁵, meaning vitamin C does much more than retard and reverse inflammation. More than this, vitamin C taken continuously in combination with zinc, seems to reduce the occurrence of a number of respiratory, clinical complaints⁶. Research has also shown that vitamin C obtained from nutritional supplements is equivalent to vitamin C from natural sources such as orange juice and cooked broccoli⁷.

References

1. Gwaltney JM et al. (1966). Rhinovirus infections in an industrial population I: the occurrence of illness. New England Journal of Medicine 275: 1261-1268.
2. Pauling L (1970). Vitamin C and the Common Cold. W.H. Freeman and Co., San Francisco.
3. Pauling L (1974). Are recommended daily allowances for vitamin C adequate? Proceedings of the National Academy of Science 71: 4442-4446.
4. De Lorenzo A, et al. (2001). Determination of the blood ascorbic acid level after administration of slow-release vitamin C. La Clinical Terapeutica 152: 87.
5. Wang Y, et al. (1997). Ascorbate recycling in human neutrophils: Induction by bacteria. Proceedings of the National Academy of Science 94: 13816-13819.
6. Wintergerst ES et al., (2006). Immune-enhancing role of vitamin C and zinc and effect on clinical conditions. Annals of Nutrition and Metabolism 50: 85-94.
7. Mangels AR. et al. (1993). The bioavailability to humans of ascorbic acid from oranges, orange juice and cooked broccoli is similar to that of synthetic ascorbic acid. Journal of Nutrition 123: 1054-1061.

Supplement Facts - Biomax C

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Of the magnesium supplements tested by ConsumerLab.com, 25% failed to meet quality standards. One magnesium supplement contained only 45.4% of labeled amount, despite boasting a "GMP" (Good Manufacturing Practices) seal on its label, and another supplement provided only 28.8% of the labeled amount.
Reference: ConsumerLab.com, Magnesium Supplement Reviews and Quality Ratings, Posted 5/19/09

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ConsumerLab.com, New Product Review: Multivitamin and Multimineral Supplements, Posted 4/1/09

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Reference: June 22, 2007, FDA @ http://www.cfsan.fda.gov/~dms/dscgmps7.html