DIETARY VITAMIN C Vs SUPPLEMENTAL VITAMIN C

DIETARY VITAMIN C OR SUPPLEMENTAL VITAMIN C-WHICH ONE IS GOOD

Every body knows, HUMAN body canot produce  VITAMIN C on its own, so you need to get from outside. Whether it should be from your diet or as vitamin c supplement . This is what we are going to discuss.

I will be perfectly honest with you. Abstain from supplemental Vitamin C tablets and increase the intake of dietary vitamin C. This is my advice to you. But you should not stop discussing with your doctor too. There are buffered supplemental vitamin Cs ( sodium ascorbate, calcium ascorbate which is more gut friendly .But more prone to kidney stones and sodium level hike-hypernatremia)

1 in 300 chance of risk is there in getting kidney stone instead of 1 in 600. -if you are taking supplemental vitamin c

1 in 300 is not an insignificant risk as kidney stones can be really painful. Also huge hospital expenses now a days ( of course  medical insurance policy helps, but what about severe pain and  your body wants  operation-that should be a last option)

The problem for the supplemental vitamin c ( Vitamin c Tablet) is it will get converted in to oxalate in the body. There is a bacteria in our gut which will break down oxalate ( before it will bind with mineral calcium or phosphorus ). People who take antibiotics or had any gastric surgery will lack this bacteria in their gut. Such people will be more prone to oxalate. The oxalate will bind with mineral calcium . 80% of kidney stones are made up of calcium oxalate. Usually calcium and small amount of oxalate will pass through urine. For some people they may form crystals. And for some people they lead to kidney stones. If your urine out put is high compared to oxalate, you are not likely to get kidney stone.  So we donot know how your body reacts to supplemental vitamin c. Another issue is -Vitamin C supplements even u take 500 mg or 1000 mg , body cannot absorb so much vitamin c at a time, it will not get fully absorbed by the body, as it is  water soluble vitamin, kidneys will flush it out. So you may not get full use of supplemental vitamin C. So use of Supplementary vitamin c is less where as risk is higher.Simply by living on Earth you are putting yourself at risk when taking Vitamin C tablets ( Supplemental Vitamin C)

But if you take high amount of vitamin c from fruits or vegetables ( yes you need high amount of vitamin c  when you have inflammation, cold etc), this will only decrease oxalate in the urine probably from the extra potassium and citrate in the fruit.

I don't think there's any reason why one should be taking a vitamin c supplement if they are eating any kind of diet that contains high amounts of vitamin c