@Yen, vit C is a very small portion of acidity in the stomach, as can be seen in those books... He never claimed vit C will obliterate cancer. His claim is that it can help prevent and it can help treat it. Anything on top of that is nonsense claimed by the aggrieved parties, which has no value in this debate. Even in that video one can hear that subsequent studies on large numbers of people show quite clearly that people who take 10 times the recommended dose of vit C live longer, on average 6 years longer, and have less health issues... I'd say this is significant. Btw, the claim of one of the contributors in the video that Pauling was universally rejected by the medical profession is wrong! That can also be seen from the very same video. The attempt at patronising him from the people who will never come close to him in terms of significance in science is laughable, quite frankly.... Pauling questioned their dogmas and of course they attacked him - but their methods were anything but scientific! In the context of Corona virus, look at the significant differences in death rates between the haves and have-nots. I'd say it's obvious why that is. That was Pauling's goal and his legacy. But for that to happen wholesale, I think we should change the society drastically...
Yes this is right. I actually wanted to refer / have referred to my dad's situation (no stomach anymore) I correct my post to make that more clearly. I know people who are convinced that taking vitamins is good for them. I have absolute no objections. I posted my personal opinion about, because MJ asked for it. A close friend takes vit D during 'dark' seasons. He's from Argentina and used to have had lot of sun when growing up there. He feels less depressive since then... I also know a study where vit D had been useful at respiratory disorders. It has clearly effect on calcium and phosphate metabolism (bones)...also calcium uptake there. And taking 1,000 IU per day during dark seasons (or even through COVOD-19 crisis) is for sure no mistake. (Cholecalciferol can be seen as pro vitamin, it is no active D)...but I myself don't take vit.D
So, let's drink green juices / smoothies full of vitamin C. All natural sources of course. If it's man-made don't take it. lol
The best vitamins come from a good diet and good nutrition. IMHO, there are two candidates where vitamins are crucial a ) Children, because they are developing. and b ) pregnant women, because their bodies are caring for two or more beings "in the same shell" so to speak. As far as uaing vitamins to battle cancer, it's been proven time and time again that it's junk science, left over from the days of P.T. Barnum. and the travelling salesmen from pioneer times. Some vitamins, in high doses can hurt or kill you. Vit. A is toxic in high doses. Vit. C, in high doses can cause kidney stones. I haven't had it in a while, but there's just something about freshly squeezed orange juice that I like.
Vit C is actually prescribed to prevent kidney stones or to help deal with them, if memory serves. There are two forms of vit C, so one needs to know what kind of stones one is prone to making and then the opposite form is prescribed as prevention... MJ, if one actually reads the book one can see how we have created a society where food is not used fresh and hence.... Oh, well, no need, the prejudices will stay, what can anyone do... @Yen, thank you! It's easy to talk to people who actually studied something properly, know their stuff and don't generally have a chip on their shoulder... What I learnt over decades of reading on the subject and testing it on myself - taking vitamin and mineral supplements - is that I stopped the bleeding and retreat of my gums, when I was forced to join the army (that food is... oych... don't get me started!) , that a number of other things have improved, as I discovered after that, when I studied, once out of the army, given the kind of food one is eating then (plus not sleeping regularly and so on and on) and my colds have become shorter and milder if caught early with mega-doses of vit C in particular. I also learnt that they are mutually active and help each other with absorption rates, also with absorption of some minerals (like C/E and C/iron etc.), which helped me when I had anaemia (and I was a sportsman, hence this was weird and quite astonishing - what I was able to do even though I was literally about to collapse [as I did, hence taken to a doc and tests have revealed...] - as well as the improvement when I started using C and iron etc.). But people live in this dreamland as to what our food is actually like... Especially if you are not exactly rich or well off... And that is the point here - general health of Humanity. But who's bothered, eh? Well, Linus was! He deployed not only his general chemistry knowledge but also his historical thinking to point to obvious issues in our civilisation, when it comes to our nutrition/diet and system of food production, delivery and so on... But OK... S/he who has the ears to hear it will and s/he who doesn't...
a good meal is digested and your body absorbs what it needs, vitamins are supplements, I take certain vitamins every other or every three days ! never the same vitamin every day ! nobody eats the same food every day like I said your body absorbs what it needs from the food you eat ! I drink one glass of tart cherry juice for gout about every 3 days I used to drink a glass a day until the swelling and pain went down, to much of anything could be bad for you ! if you eat good you may not need any vitamins just remember there supplements if your low on "c" and feel a cold coming on by all means take a little just don't over do it. I grow a lot of my fruit and vegetable's and make my own tomato sauce and bread and butter pickles grow my own herbs so I know what's in my food and I do all this on 1/4 acre .
The best source of vitamins are natural foods. This cannot be repeated frequently enough. At kids and pregnant women there even has to be caution taking vitamin pills! There is a higher demand of vitamins when being pregnant, this applies to the mother-to-be. But the vitamins which are taken also circulate through the fetus. There can be vitamin levels compared to the fetus which can get harmful easily. Taking vitamin pills is only indicated when a doc is involved and explicitly prescribed. This actually applies to kids as well. We all know that it's the dose that makes something being a poison and kids usually have a lower body weight than adults. If you want to support your kids ..a balanced nutrition is enough. An adult can reflect if a vitamin supplement is useful by checking own well-being before and after and by comparing if a progression of a certain disease is better when taking vitamins or not. As being posted already...I actually would measure the levels before... Gorski posted where they had benefit, MJ posted where and I mentioned my friend from Argentina.... ...only at such cases I have absolutely no objections. Vitamin C: There is only one vitamin C! L-(+)-ascorbic acid L= laevo (+) = dextrogyral Yeah, even though laevo means left and dexter means right. (+) means it turns polarized light to the right. D and L is pure nomenclature (Fischer Projection) Chemistry knows even 4 different ascorbic acids, but only one of has a biological activity and that is vitamin C (L(+)) The name comes from a= anti, scorbic = scorbut(ic) = scurvy acid. And something on topic. Remdesivir has got FDA approval in the US. I posted here at 5/4 that it looks promising. Anyway any euphoria would be too much and too early. It can shorten the disease and lessen the symptoms and it has little side effects. More studies are needed.
MJ, as I said above (my memory still serves me well) - I just checked after 20+ years since I read the book by Linus - you can prevent kidney stones using one of 2 forms of Vit C, if you know the type of stones you are making: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Chemistry_of_ascorbic_acid - L & D form and accordingly... http://orthomolecular.org/resources/omns/v09n05.shtml https://blog.livonlabs.com/vitamins...-c/the-vitamin-c-kidney-stones-misconception/ https://www.drrusselljaffe.com/vitamin-c-kidney-stones/ I repeat "my" previous point: bad quality diet brings you(r immunity and not just immunity) down in a variety of ways. Many, many deaths by Covid 19 will, no doubt, be attributed to precisely that - poor overall health... Just you wait... I simply took the practical and necessary path (if you are not a food producer or are tied directly to a food producer and eat really well, fresh food almost directly from the fields etc.) - and took supplements. I stopped fainting (iron/vit C deficiency), bleeding gums, gums retreat, I had fewer and milder colds, better overall health and capacity to exercise and so on and on. I followed Linus' advice, I experimented with various vits and mins and their levels/doses and found the ones which were so obviously beneficial to me. Why is that important? Because we are different and our physiology is not the same, hence there are no absolutes in this (or anything when it comes to Humans)... One simply must use one's brains and go against the orthodoxy which one sees in that article following the Swedish study, which recommends ridiculously low doses of vit C, hence showing its prejudices...
@Yen: these guys are no slouches, you know: https://lpi.oregonstate.edu/mic/life-stages/pregnancy-lactation Yes vit A can be dangerous in higher doses, for sure (I learnt it the hard way ). But this is well known and advised against: Vitamin A Adequate maternal status of vitamin A is critical for a healthy pregnancy. Forms of the vitamin, known as retinoids, are involved in the regulation of gene expression, cellular proliferation and differentiation, growth and development, vision, and immunity (see the article on Vitamin A). The retinoids, retinol and retinoic acid, are essential for embryonic and fetal development (55); for example, retinoic acid functions in forming the heart, eyes, ears, and limbs (56). Animal studies demonstrate that severe vitamin A deficiency or excess during critical periods of development results in a spectrum of malformations, especially affecting craniofacial structures, limbs, and visceral organs (57). Forms of vitamin A are also necessary for maternal health. Vitamin A deficiency during pregnancy has been linked to impaired immunity, increased susceptibility to infection, increased risk of maternal morbidity and mortality (58-61), and night blindness (62). Vitamin A deficiency may exacerbate iron-deficiency anemia (see section on Iron below); co-supplementation with vitamin A and iron seems to ameliorate anemia more effectively than either micronutrient supplement alone (63). Vitamin A deficiency is a major public health problem in developing nations, where availability of foods containing preformed vitamin A (retinol) and provitamin A carotenoids is limited (for information on food sources of vitamin A, see the article on Vitamin A). The RDA during pregnancy is 750 to 770 μg/day (2,500 to 2,567 IU/day) of preformed vitamin A (see Table 1 above). Although normal embryonic and fetal development require sufficient maternal vitamin A intake, consumption of excess preformed vitamin A during pregnancy causes birth defects. An increased risk of vitamin A-associated birth defects has not been observed at supplemental doses below 3,000 μg (10,000 IU)/day of preformed vitamin (64). However, because a number of foods in the US are fortified with preformed vitamin A, the Linus Pauling Institute recommends that pregnant women avoid multivitamin or prenatal supplements that contain more than 750 μg (2,500 IU) of preformed vitamin A. Vitamin A from β-carotene is not known to increase the risk of birth defects (58), although the safety of high-dose β-carotene supplements in pregnancy has not been well studied. Moreover, pharmacological use of retinoids by pregnant women causes serious birth defects; thus, tretinate, isotretinoin (Accutane), and other retinoids should not be used during pregnancy or if there is a possibility of becoming pregnant (65). Use of tretinoin (Retin-A), a topically applied retinoid, exhibits very low systemic absorption, but is not recommended during pregnancy due to possible risks (66). It is important to note that retinoids tend to be very long acting; birth defects have been reported to occur months after discontinuing retinoid therapy (57). Retinoids are used therapeutically to treat retinitis pigmentosa, acute promyelocytic leukemia, various skin diseases, and other conditions.
When I was a kid I suffered from Strabismus divergens. This has been corrected by 4 surgical interventions during childhood. Anyway the eyesight of my left eye suffered...my parents gave me a lot of carrot juice to drink (because I liked and still like)....it had a pleasant side effect I got a very brown skin when being in sunlight. It's the mentioned beta-carotene a provitamin of A. And a natural source (carrots). I am somehow convinced if I had not drunken that much juice my left eyesight would be worse today. Vit A has another issue (as actually all fatty vitamins)...the BA (biological availability). There is a rule: Take the fatty vitamins together with fatty foods, not alone. And if the body would only take what it needs...(a common statement on vitamins, not yours) well you could not become poisoned at all! This can apply to the pro vitamins, or another approach light therapy at dark seasons (vit D). You can rely on statistics concerning overall health relative to regions. And by that regional vitamin deficits and diseases. But in the western tech world it also depends on individual nutrition and how your parents have cooked. I had the luck growing up at the countryside. Many things were self-made. Own garden and farmers around. My grandma was an excellent cook with traditional stuff. Today nutrition / cooking is also an educational process and part of the individual life style. When money and availability plays no role it solely depends on own 'cooking-ideology'.
Even then, when we cook we destroy some of the nutritional value of it... Moreover, from what little I know, carrot (and not just carrot) cell membranes are not easy to break down for Humans and need to be processed/cooked... Most of the time, though, the food takes a long time to travel from the fields to our tables and is usually processed, sometimes heavily. The way of living is another serious point: the mad race for profit forces most people to function 110% a day (which is where Capitalism is "great") and that leaves little energy for anything else. Nutrition suffers greatly in all this. Even production of food is greatly subsumed into profit making, rather than satisfying real needs - just look at junk food, even allegedly healthy breakfast or snack stuff, filled to the gutters with all manner of artificial additives, sugar, (sometimes artificial) fat and so on.... So, in the Corona context, I would conclude - in relation to the links I gave previously re. twice the mortality of people who are not rich and BAME people v. white people in the UK - that all this must be taken into account when we are talking strategy and health policy on the level of a society and Humanity as such! Supplements deffo can help, given all the above and being "realistic", i.e. not presuming one's experience is a universal experience...
Russia takes over as the second fastest growing numbers of infections.... and it is reasonable to assume it will eventually be shown there is a correlation with overall health of the population... relative to many relevant factors...
Totalitarian regimes and Reason do not go into the same sentence... But no evidence of "foul play" in terms of "experimentation > infection"...
@Yen thanks for these many links and articles, you opened my eyes many times now. My intention was never to start such a big discussion, but I could learn a lot from it. Greetings from NRW.