Vitamin C
...amage and destroy tissues and cells and eventually lead to the mutation of cells. Today it is clear that oxidation causes free radicals and to provide defense for our bodies we have established the term “antioxidant” to refer to the enzymes that battle against free radicals. Vitamin C, also called ascorbic acid, is a potent free-radical fighter. Along with Vitamin E, Vitamin C works to stop free radical chain reaction. Vitamin C is important to all animals, including humans. Most animals have the ability to manufacture their own vitamin C, but man, primates and guinea pigs have lost this ability. So in order to get our daily dose it must be obtained from our diet. The recommended daily allowance of vitamin C is 60-90 milligrams. Smokers are advised to take more since smoking deletes vitamin C. Vitamin C is found in citrus fruits such as oranges, limes, and grapefruit; and vegetables such as tomatoes, green peppers, potatoes and many others. Vitamin C is easily damaged during food preparation stages such as chopping, cooking and being submerged in water. The amount of vitamin C in common foods is high enough that the quantity which remains after processing is usually more than enough for a daily supply. A small table of dosage for the vitamin is: Vitamins are classified as either fat-soluble or water-soluble. The lipid-soluble vitamins are often associated with toxicity when taken in large amounts while the water soluble vitamins, like vitamin C, are passed through urine when taken in excess and are not normally liked to toxicity. However, there are rare manifestations of vitamin C which include kidney stones, anemia and diarrhea It is rare in the United States in this day and age for there to be a deficiency of Vitamin C in one’s diet. This hasn’t always been the case and when one does not receive enough vitamin C there are dangerous side effects. Scurvy is the most common disease that results from the lack of Vitamin C in a diet. Famous in the history of the sea, it occurred when seamen had no vitamin C in their diet. Scurvy symptoms include bleeding of the gums, loose teeth, poor wound healing, purplish spots that resemble hemorrhages, easy bruising, bumps of coiled hair on the arms and legs, pain the in the joints, muscle wasting and general deterioration. It was found that the inclusion of citrus fruits in the diets of the sailors prevented the disease by supplying the vitamin. But since Vitamin C is readily available in the modern diet, scurvy is now rare except in alcoholics who receive their entire calorie intake from alcohol. Although scurvy is the only disease clinically treated with vitamin C, many studies have found that vitamin C is an effective anti-cancer agent. Studies suggest that vitamin C’s antioxidant mechanisms may help to prevent cancer in several ways. It combats the peroxidation of lipids which have been linked to the aging process and degeneration. It can also reduce the development of nitrosamines from nitrates, the chemicals that are commonly used in processed foods. Studies support the preventive effects of ascorbic acid on nitrate induced cancer. Vitamin C it is vital to the production of collagen. Collagen is the most abundant fiber in connective tissue. The manufacture of collagen in the body involves a sequence of events both inside and outside a forming cell. Vitamin C is active inside the cell, where it hydroxylates (adds hydrogen and oxygen) to two amino acids. This helps to form a forerunner molecule called procollagen that is later packaged and modified into collagen outside of the cell. Without vitamin C, collagen formation is disrupted, causing a variety of problems throughout the body. Ascorbic acid, which gets its name from the Latin “scorbutus” meaning scurvy and ascorbic meaning anti-scurvy, also promotes healthy cell development, proper calcium absorption and normal tissue growth and repair. It assists in the prevention of blood clotting and bruising and strengthens the walls of the capillaries. Vitamin C was first isolated in 1928 by the Hungarian biochemist and Nobel Prize winner Dr. Szent-Gyorgyi. The discovery of Vitamin-C is an achievement of the latter part of the 20th century that stands out. The years after World War I were crucial in the research of the isolation of Vitamin C in both the United States and Europe. The winner of this race would reap the scientific and financial benefits of the research and development. As many groups of researchers would find out, the act of isolating this vitamin was difficult. It was not easy to separate the vitamin fr the other sugars present in concentrated fruit juices. They would obtain material which was powerfully anitscorbutic but not purely crystalline. As many researchers were working hard to find this vitamin, Dr. Szent Gyorgyi had an essential girl to “see what everyone else was seeing but think what no one else was thinking”. Gyorgyi perceived an unlikely connection between Addison’s disease, which is a deficiency of hormones made in the adrenal cortex, and that of freshly cut potatoes, apples and pears. This arose from a disturbed redox process, and he subsequently discovered a strong reducing agent. He then was determined to isolate what he thought to be a new adrenal hormone. After much time and effort, his attempt was unsuccessful and he became frustrated. Through his frustration he managed to accumulate less that a gram of an off-white crystalline substance. Dr. Szent Gyorgyi described his process of extracting his reducing factors as follows: 1) It was extracted from chilled and minced adrenal cortex by shaking with methyl alcohol, and bubbling through with carbon dioxide to prevent its having contact with oxygen. 2) The filtered extract was then mixed with a solution of lead acetate, which precipitated the reducing factor. 3) The precipitate, separated by further filtration, was suspended in water, and sulfuric acid was added. The reducing factor dissolved, and lead sulfate was precipitated. 4) The filtrate was evaporated to dryness in a vacuum. 5) The solids were re-extracted with methanol and steps 2, 3, and 4 were repeated. 6) The solids were dissolved in acetone, and when an excess of light petroleum was added, crystals of the reducing factor gradually precipitated. This crystalline substance that Gyorgyi obtained was given the primal name of Cx11 and then renamed hexuronic acid. The identity of the substance was announced in 1932 and was soon renamed to its present moniker, ascorbic acid. Next, the chemical structure of vitamin C was established by Dr. Glen King in 1932. It was found to be C6H8O6 and arranged in the following manor. Dr. King and Dr. Linus Pauling made remarkable contributions to the knowledge of this chemical compound. It exists as colorless or white crystals. It is odorless and has a pleasant, sharp acidic taste. It is freely soluble in water and sparingly soluble in ethanol. It is practically insoluble in ether and chloroform. Ascorbic acid has a melting temperature of 190 degrees Celsius with decomposition. The vitamin solution is rapidly oxidized in air and alkaline media. Ascorbic acid gradually darkens upon exposure to light; however, slight discoloration does not impair the therapeutic activity of it. Even in the absence of light, ascorbic acid is gradually degraded on e...