Showing posts with label Vitamin C. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Vitamin C. Show all posts

Oct 23, 2015

Vitamin C Myth

Thought it might be worth replaying this one as this is the beginning of the cold and flu season.

Hundreds of studies have now concluded that vitamin C does not treat the common cold. The results of many studies of various types, involving hundreds of thousands of people from around the world have all arrived at the same conclusion - vitamin C has no effect to prevent or cure colds or cancer.

The FDA, the American Academy of Pediatrics, the American Medical Association, the American Dietetic Association, the Center for Human Nutrition at the Johns Hopkins Bloomberg School of Public Health, and the Department of Health and Human Services do not recommend supplemental vitamin C for the prevention or treatment of colds. Vitamin C does have other benefits and the studies did not say vitamin C is bad for you, it just does not provide the cancer and common cold remedies claimed.

Aug 15, 2015

Seven Home Remedies That Work

Feeding a cold, even when you are overfeeding it vitamin C supplements, is not supported by science. However there are many other home remedies that have been proven to work.

In three separate studies since 2001, scientists have directly measured a reduction in acid reflux in subjects who chewed sugar-free gum after a meal, designed to give them heartburn, versus those who did not. The saliva you secrete when chewing gum has a calming effect on acid reflux.

Oats have anti-inflammatory compounds that are effective when applied directly to the skin and can be applied as oatmeal or adding ground oats to a bath. Good for treating poison ivy, irritated skin, or itching due to eczema.

One way to reduce sunburn pain is cucumber. Use a food processor to turn it into paste, apply it to sunburned skin and leave it on until it dries.

In a small study published in the American Journal of Physiology, researchers induced nausea by spinning subjects in a large drum after a heavy meal. Ginger helped ease the nausea of the subjects. Try
drinking ginger ale, eating a ginger candy, or dissolving a teaspoon of ginger powder in a cup of water or tea.

According to 2002 research in the Journal of Family Practice, nasal irrigation with a saltwater solution relieved the symptoms of sinus congestion and improved sinus-related quality of life. Add half a teaspoon of salt for every eight ounces of warm water. Use a neti pot or a squeeze bottle to pour the solution into your nostrils while leaning over a sink to catch the drainage.

Apple cider vinegar is an antibiotic and can be used to treat fungus. Soak toes or fingers in apple cider vinegar for twenty minutes twice a day until symptoms go away. It is also good to combat acne as it kills bacteria on your skin and shrinks blood vessels around the acne. Soak a cotton ball with apple cider vinegar, and apply it to affected skin after washing.

According to a 2009 and 2011 studies,
tart cherry juice that lists montmorency cherries in the ingredients increases melatonin levels in the body. Melatonin is a hormone instrumental in sleep regulation. Subjects in the studies reduced the amount of time it took to fall asleep and saw significant increases in sleep time and quality

Nov 8, 2013

Top Ten Vitamin C Foods

Top ten foods that have more vitamin C than oranges. Guava with 376 mg of vitamin C for 1 cup. Next are red bell peppers followed by lychee, a small Asian fruit, followed by parsley, kiwi, broccoli, brussels sprouts, papaya, strawberries, and pineapple. Bringing up the rear are oranges.

Oct 11, 2013

Vitamin C Myth Lingers

As we approach the cold and flu season, I thought it might be interesting to follow up on the persistent vitamin C myth of using it as a prevention and cure for the common cold. Some people have also claimed it to be a cure for cancer.

Hundreds of studies have now concluded that vitamin C does not treat the common cold. The results of many studies of various types, involving hundreds of thousands of people from around the world have all arrived at the same conclusion - vitamin C has no effect to prevent or cure colds or cancer.

The FDA, the American Academy of Pediatrics, the American Medical Association, the American Dietetic Association, the Center for Human Nutrition at the Johns Hopkins Bloomberg School of Public Health, and the Department of Health and Human Services do not recommend supplemental vitamin C for the prevention or treatment of colds. Vitamin C does have other benefits and the studies did not say vitamin C is bad for you, it just does not provide the cancer and common cold remedies claimed.

Potato Facts

China grows the most potatoes of any nation on earth, followed by Russia, India, and US in fourth place. China consumes almost half of all potatoes produced and the Europeans, per capita consume the most potatoes annually. Potatoes rank as the world's fourth most important food crop, after corn, wheat, and rice.

A fresh potato contains about 80 percent water and 20 percent dry matter. About 60 to 80 percent of the dry matter is starch. On a dry weight basis, the protein content of potato is similar to that of cereals and is very high in comparison with other roots and tubers. In addition, the potato is low in fat. Potatoes are rich in several micronutrients, especially vitamin C, if eaten with its skin. A single medium sized potato provides nearly half the daily adult requirement. The potato is a moderate source of iron, and its high vitamin C content promotes iron absorption. It is a good source of vitamins B1, B3 and B6 and minerals such as potassium, phosphorus, and magnesium, and contains folate, pantothenic acid and riboflavin. Potatoes also contain dietary antioxidants and dietary fiber.

Boiling potatoes in their skins prevents loss of nutrients. Baking causes slightly higher losses of vitamin C than boiling due to the higher oven temperatures, but losses of other vitamins and minerals during baking are lower.

More than 5 000 native varieties are still grown in the Andes. While the Incas called it papa (as do modern-day Latin Americans), Spaniards called the potato patata, apparently confusing it with another New World crop, the sweet potato, known as batata. In 1797, the English herbalist Gerard referred to the sweet potato as "common potato", and for many years S. tuberosum was known as the "Virginia potato" or "Irish potato" before finally displacing batata as the potato.

Oct 7, 2011

Vitamin C Facts

It has been talked about as a cure-all for everything from preventing colds and AIDS to curing cancer. The death of its biggest proponent and Nobel prize winner in Chemistry (not medicine), Linus Pauling died of cancer. Reminds me of the eye doctor on TV pushing his weight loss pills.

Vitamin C, ascorbic acid, does slow down and prevent some cell damage. It really does prevent scurvy and anemia. It is essential for the repair of bones and teeth. It helps to produce collagen and cells are held together by collagen. Collagen is found in your skin, bones, ligaments, tendons, liver, cartilage, bone marrow and blood vessels.

Occurrence of cataracts, hay fever, and asthma can be reduced, to some extent, with daily doses of the vitamin and its role in reducing common cold is known, but sometimes debated about dosage required. The body eliminates vitamin C rapidly, so it is better to take a lesser amount more often to keep it in your body.

it is not usually mentioned, but meat and potatoes both contain vitamin C. It is a preservative that can be used in jams and pickles. Kiwi has almost twice as much vitamin C as an orange.

Too much Vitamin C can cause kidney stones and also cause diarrhea.

Jul 16, 2010

Vitamin C

Linus Pauling, Nobel prize winner in chemistry touted that vitamin C was a cure-all for everything from preventing colds to curing cancer. He died of cancer in 1994. In spite of some other outrageous claims, vitamin C is still good for you, it just doesn't cure everything. Also, don't take the chewable kind, because it is ascorbic acid and will rot your teeth if you chew too much of it.

Common Cold

I 'caught a cold' a few weeks back, (actually it turned out to be pneumonia, contracted from a visit to the doctor and it is gone now). Anyway, it started me thinking about where the name 'common cold' came from.

The name "common cold" came into use in the 1500s, because its symptoms seemed to appear in cold weather. Of course, we now know that a common cold is not limited to cold weather. It seems more prevalent, because people spend more time indoors in close proximity to each other, sharing the virus.

It is difficult to catch a cold by eating something infected with cold virus. The secretions of the mouth tend to kill the virus and any that survive end up in the stomach where gastric juices quickly destroy them. Also, kissing a person with a cold will not cause you to catch it. The quantity of virus on the lips and mouth are miniscule.

There is no cure, due to the hundreds of varieties of viruses, but many medicines can mask the symptoms until it runs its course, usually a week or less. People are most infectious during the first 24 hours, even if the symptoms have not begun to show.

Zinc, echinacea, vitamin C, garlic, eucalyptus, honey, lemon, menthol, steam, hot toddies, alcohol, Zicam, chicken soup, and many other "cures" have been repeatedly tested and have been scientifically proven to not prevent or shorten the duration of a cold. At best they provide some physical relief. People believe these are effective because of the varied nature of colds. Some viruses only last a few days, while others last for weeks.

Flu shots are designed to prevent the most common type of virus and are effective for only that type. Antibiotics do not cure a cold as they work on bacteria and most colds are caused by virus. However, if it is bacterial, such as half of pneumonia strains, it does help. Bacterial pneumonia usually comes on suddenly and viral types take some time to develop.

Imagine a person with a four-day form of cold. If he does nothing he will be well in four days, but he immediately drinks a gallon of orange juice. A couple of days later he feels great and tells everyone that the vitamin C in the juice killed his cold. His story quickly spreads and everyone starts drinking orange juice. The vitamin C didn't cure it.

On the other hand, people who try a cure and find that it doesn't work aren't as likely to report it, because most folks do not brag about failures. Human nature and the variability of the cold virus create a situation where beliefs in cold cures persist in spite of overwhelming scientific evidence to the contrary.