One of the most essential nutrients required by the human body is vitamin C.

2008 was the 80th anniversary of the discovery of vitamin C. There was an article last month in the Journal of Alternative and Complimentary Medicine regarding vitamin C, asking the question, "Is supplementation necessary for optimal health?" The article notes that consumption of vitamin C is essential for life in humans because unlike other animals, humans do not have the ability to synthesize vitamin C. There have been numerous studies in the medical literature indicating that supplementation with vitamin C enhances immune function and appears to have some beneficial effect on a wide variety of human health concerns including cardiovascular health. The article notes that modern crop production, transport and fruit storage has impaired the quality of micro-nutrients, such as vitamin C. Therefore, eating fruit will not give a person the amount of vitamin C needed, and supplementation is necessary.
Two recent articles cite the beneficial effects of vitamin C. First, a study just published in the December 2008 edition of the Nutrition Journal followed 242 healthy women between the ages of 18 to 21 from California for several years. In a cross-sectional analysis, plasma vitamin C levels at year 10 appeared to be inversely associated with both systolic and diastolic blood pressure after adjusting for other factors. Individuals who had the highest ¼ blood levels of vitamin C in their blood had a decrease in systolic blood pressure of 4.6 mm and 6 mm lower diastolic blood pressure which was highly statistically significant compared to the lowest ¼. The authors concluded that vitamin C was found to be inversely associated with blood pressure changes.
In addition, there was an epidemiologic study on the effects of antioxidants and abnormal cellular growth of the uterus published in the December 2008 journal Cancer Causes and Control. The study found that there was an inverse relationship between this abnormal cellular growth and dietary intakes of vitamin C and vitamin E from living sources. (Synthetic forms of C and E did not produce these positive results. In fact the synthetic form of vitamin C, ascorbic acid, was found to rob the tissues of missing vitamin C elements, leaving the body more nutrient depleted.)

As you may recall, the great two time Noble Prize winning scientist Dr. Linus Pauling, wrote books and published medical studies on the benefits of vitamin C. It's interesting to note that when Dr. Pauling was born the average male had a life expectancy measured in their 50s and yet Dr. Pauling lived and was quite productive into his 90s.

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