Vitamin-C-Effective-Against-Flu

What I know from my experience is that when I had tetanus and little money,
causing Doctors to refuse to see me, I couldn't get a prescription for
Metronidazol, the antibiotic used to kill the tetanus causing bacteria.

By chance I found a web site focusing on the dangers of vaccinations. I wrote
the webmaster saying that if I'd had a tetanus shot it would have been vastly
better than getting the disease which kills about half the people who get it.

The webmaster, however, pointed me to a page of hers showing a study in
which vitamin C had been given to chickens poisoned with strychnine, which
is similar to tetanus, and to people in Bangladesh with tetanus, and in every
case those receiving the vitamin C did not die nor did they have as severe
symptoms as those not receiving vitamin C.

I immediately began taking several 500mg. vitamin C with a lot of water and a
couple crackers three or four times a day. I didn't know how much I should
take and hoped the amount I was taking was about right.

What happened next made all the difference: I got a terrible tooth ache from
an impacted dental implant. My face swelled. My vision blurred as the
swelling put pressure on my optic nerve, and the pain was extreme.

I decided to take 15 of the 500 mg. vitamin C three times a day with a lot of
water. It was now almost impossible to eat due to pain and swelling.

The day after I began taking the large amount of vitamin C there was
improvement: I no longer felt like screaming from the pain. By the third day
the swelling was down and the pain was mostly a memory.

I was, to say the least, impressed.

Still, I was surprised to find a Dr. Thomas E. Levy writing that vitamin C
would be effective against anthrax and plague used in biological warfare and
comparing vitamin C to well known antibiotics.

I liked the sound of Dr. Levy's disclaimer, "It would be inappropriate to try to
treat the plague with only vitamin C, even though it’s effect on other bacterial
diseases would predict a high likelihood of complete clinical success in the
treatment of plague," especially the, "likelihood of complete clinical success."

Since then my dental infection flares periodically due to stress and I've noticed
that it makes my hair fall out. At its worst I am constantly covered in strands.
But, each time I increase my vitamin C intake my hair loss begins to lessen,
corresponding with a reduction in pain and tiredness from the infection.

This makes me think that if you are losing hair you may have a hidden
infection and vitamin C might make a significant difference.

Because there are two very different ways to use vitamin C: taking a lot to
deal with serious disease and infection, or, taking an ongoing small dose to
keep ones immunity strong and protective, it's important not to confuse them.

To see the protection enhancing qualities of vitamin C, look at a study that
followed 2,000 residents of a rural Japanese community and found something
surprising at the end of 20 years. While the risk of stroke in those with the
highest serum levels of vitamin C was 29% lower than in those with the
lowest serum levels of vitamin C, the surprising thing was that the risk of
stroke in those who consumed vegetables 6-7 days a week was 54% lower
than in those who consumed vegetables 0-2 days a week. That's nearly twice
the protection from eating foods containing vitamin C.

Another extremely interesting study followed 870 men over 25 years. It found
that those consuming more than 83 mg of vitamin C daily had 64% less lung
cancer than those who consumed less than 63 mg per day.

That made me rethink something I read years ago about how eating carrots
reduced cancer from smoking. I so believed it that when I was driving and
saw kids smoking I would stop, park and go over and tell them about carrots.
What is really interesting is that several of the kids said they had a great aunt
or grandfather who had smoked all the years of a long life, some over ninety
years and had always loved carrots and eaten them, and had not gotten cancer.

Because I associate carrots with vitamin A, it didn't occur to me that there
was vitamin C in carrots and the vitamin C was providing the protection.

Here's a list of foods containing vitamin C. Do any of the foods surprise you?

A List of Foods Containing Vitamin C

erving Cals Amount

(mg)

Bell peppers, red, raw . . . . 1 cup . . 24.8 . . . 174.80
Parsley, fresh          . . . . . 2 tbs   . . . 2.7 . . . . 9.97
Broccoli, steamed    . . . . . 1 cup . . 43.7 . . . 123.40
Cauliflower, boiled   . . . .   . 1 cup . . 28.5 . . . 54.93
Strawberries . . . . . . . .   1 cup . . 43.2 . . . 81.65
Lemon juice, fresh   . . . .     0.25 cup .15.3 . . .   28.06
Romaine lettuce   . . . . . .   2 cup . . 15.7 . . . 26.88
Mustard greens, boiled . . .   1 cup . . 21.0 . . .   35.42
Brussel sprouts, boiled   . . . 1 cp . .    60.8 . . .   96.72
Papaya       . . . . . . . . . 1 each . 118.6 . . . 187.87
Kale, boiled   . . . . . . . .   1 cup . . 36.4 . . . .53.30
Turnip greens, cooked   . . . 1 cup . . .28.8 . . . 39.46
Grapefruit . . . . . . . . . .0.50 . . . 36.9 . . .   44.00
Kiwifruit . . . . . . . . . . 1 . . . .   46.4 . . . 57.00
Cantaloupe, balls/cubes . . . 1 cup . . .56.0 . . . 67.52
Oranges . . . . . . . . . . .1 . . . .   61.6 . . . 70.00
Cabbage, boiled . . . . . . . 1 cup . . .33.0 . . . 30.15
Tomato, ripe . . . . . . . . 1 cup . . .37.8 . . . 34.38
Swiss chard, boiled . . . . . 1 cup . . .35.0 . . .   31.50
Collard greens, boiled . . . . 1 cup . . 49.4 . . . 34.58
Raspberries . . . . . . . . . 1 cup . . 60.3 . . .   30.76
Asparagus, boiled . . . . . . 1 cup . . .43.2 . . .   19.44
Celery, raw . . . . . . . . . 1 cup . . .19.2 . . .   8.40
Spinach, boiled . . . . . . . 1 cup . . .41.4 . . . 17.64
Cucumbers, slices, with peel . 1 cup . . 13.5 . . . . 5.51
Fennel, raw, sliced . . . . . .1 cup . . 27.0 . . . .10.44
Pineapple . . . . . . . . . . 1 cup . . 76.0 . . . .23.87
Watermelon, balls/cubes . . .1 cup . . .48.6 . . . 14.59
Green beans, cooked . . . . 1 cup . . .43.8 . . . 12.13
Cranberries . . . . . . . . . 0.50 cup . 23.3 . . . . 6.41
Summer squash, cooked . . .1 cup . . .36.0 . . . . 9.90
Cloves, dried, ground . . . . 2 tsp . . . 14.2 . . . . 3.56
Winter squash, baked . . . . 1 cup . . . 80.0 . . . 19.68
Basil, dried, ground . . . . . 2 tsp . . . . 7.5 . . . .1.84
Cayenne pepper, dry . . . . 2 tsp . . . 11.2 . . . .2.72
Blueberries . . . . . . . . . 1 cup . . . 81.2 . . ..18.86
Carrots, raw . . . . . . . . 1 cup . . . 52.5 . . .11.35
Garlic . . . . . . . . . . . .1 oz-wt . . 42.2 . . . 8.85
Apricots . . . . . . . . . .   1 . . . . .16.8 . . . .3.50
Calf's liver, braised . . . . . 4 oz-wt . 187.1 . . . 35.16
Sweet potato, baked . . . . .1 . . . . . 95.4 . . . 17.06
Plum . . . . . . . . . . . . 1 . . . . . 36.3 . . .   6.27
Green peas, boiled . . . . . .1 cup . . 134.4 . . . 22.72
Onions, raw . . . . . . . . .1 cup . . . 60.8 . . . 10.24
Oregano, dried, ground . . . 2 tsp . . . .9.2 . . .   1.52
Chili pepper, dried . . . . . .2 tsp . . . 25.5 . . . 3.84
Leeks, boiled . . . . . . . . 0.50 cup . 16.1 . . . .2.18
Potato, baked, with skin . . .1 cup . . 133.0   . . . 15.74
Yam (Dioscorea), cooked . . 1 cup . . 157.8 . . . 16.46
Banana . . . . . . . . . . . 1 . . . . 108.6 . . . .10.74
Apples . . . . . . . . . . . 1 . . . . .81.4 . . . . 7.87
Beets, Boiled . . . . . . . . 1 cup . . . 74.8 . . . .6.12
Shiitake mushrooms . . . . . 8 oz-wt . .87.2 . . . . 5.98
Pear . . . . . . . . . . . . 1 . . . . . 97.9 . . . . 6.64
Grapes . . . . . . . . . . . 1 cup . . . 61.6 . . . . 3.68
Corn, yellow, cooked . . . . 1 cup . . 177.1 . . . .10.16
Avocado, sliced . . . . . . . 1 cup . . 235.1 . . . 11.53

Another thing I found extremely interesting is that vitamin C is said to help get
rid of h.pylori which often takes up residence in the stomach and which is
associated with gastric cancer and interferes with vitamin B12 absorption.

I noticed when I was having large amounts of vitamin C and later Metronidazol
that each caused a kind of "clean out" that looked as if my insides had been
wiped clean.

After that I wondered if taking 23 grams of vitamin C a day (two 500 mg
vitamin C is one gram) may not have been enough to kill the tetanus causing
clostridia when I am such a large person, six feet tall and heavy. For the
Metronidazol to kill it I had to take the largest dose there is for three weeks.

It is important to recognize that vitamin C is powerful and can be used against
dangerous things. It is not to be taken lightly. It would NOT be good to take
high doses for prevention.

Illustrating this, one night Jay Leno was talking about some man who had been
on his show tauting the wonders of vitamin C. The man said he took huge
amounts, was planning on living an extremely long time, and right there on the
show, the words barely out of his mouth, he died.

What I have found is that vitamin C is excellent for dealing with problems like
the infection in my jaw and tetanus. I have been controlling the infection with
vitamin C for a couple years now and overall I am seldom tired from the
infection any more, though, under extreme stress I can feel it getting the better
of me and beginning to cause swelling and pain.

But even with all the stress in my life the times that vitamin C stops controlling
the infection are minimal. (I take 9-12 grams a day.)

But, I am reducing that because of what I've read while composing this page.
For instance, in diabetes it has been shown that vitamin C helps some but
harms others. The difference pivots on genetic makeup and two particular
genes, haptoglobin 1 and haptoglobin 2. The study concluded that those with
diabetes should not take more than 250 mg/day of vitamin C supplements;
vitamin C in food was not associated with increased cardiovascular mortality.

Because so often what is good for one person is not good for another, it is so
important to keep notes when beginning a new supplement. By keeping notes
you give yourself the ability to go back and see how the substance affected
you, expectations aside.

It is sad, literally sad, that drugs are prescribed for everyone as if anyone with
a particular health problem is the same as anyone else with that problem, even
though within each study of a drug there were people who did not improve
from its use or indeed had adverse reactions.

It is sad that we are encouraged to trust doctors 100% rather than being
encouraged to pay more attention to our own health and to keep notes so that
we effectively have our own personal study of how each supplement and
medicine that we take works for us (or, against us).

I want to mention two other studies that interested me:

The Nurses' Health Study in which premenopausal women with a family
history of breast cancer who consumed an average of 205 mg/day of vitamin C
from foods had a 63% lower risk of breast cancer than those who consumed
an average of 70 mg/day, and

The Swedish Mammography Cohort in which women who were overweight
and consumed an average of 110 mg/day of vitamin C had a 39% lower risk of
breast cancer compared to overweight women who consumed an average of
31 mg/day.

Finally, think about how easy it is pare the skin off an apple, halve and
avocado, or scoop the insides from a kiwi. It's much easier than going in for a
flu shot, and MUCH easier than getting the flu. Give yourself the small amount
of time to do these little things for yourself. You will benefit not just from the
vitamins in natural produce, but from the moments of relief from stress.

And, keep notes. In my case, I kept notes on the dental infection and on
tetanus as they were affected by the vitamin C I took.

Prior to that I had found that by taking vitamin C a cold sore went away in less
than a day, always.

You can order vitamin C on line. It's a little further than half way down the
page.