Vitamin C with Bioflavinoids (Hibiscus)

Vitamin C is one of the safest and most effective nutrients, experts say. It may not be the cure for the common cold  (though it's thought to help prevent more serious complications). But the benefits of vitamin C may include protection against immune system deficiencies, cardiovascular disease, prenatal health problems, eye disease, and even skin wrinkling.

A recent study published in Seminars in Preventive and Alternative Medicine that looked at over 100 studies over 10 years revealed a growing list of benefits of vitamin C.

"Vitamin C has received a great deal of attention, and with good reason. Higher blood levels of vitamin C may be the ideal nutrition marker for overall health," says study researcher Mark Moyad, MD, MPH, of the University of Michigan. "The more we study vitamin C, the better our understanding of how diverse it is in protecting our health, from cardiovascular, cancer, stroke, eye health [and] immunity to living longer."

"But," Moyad notes, "the ideal dosage may be higher than the recommended dietary allowance."

According to the National Cancer Institute Vitamin C has the following benefits:

• Vitamin C is an essential nutrient with antioxidant functions at normal physiologic concentrations.
• High dosages have been studied as a treatment for cancer since the 1970's.

• Lab studies have reported that high-dose Vitamin C has pro-oxidant properties and decreased cell-proliferation in prostate, pancreatic, hepatocellular, colon, mesothelioma, and neuroblastoma cell lines.

   

.Anti-Cancer Res. 2009 Mar;29(3):809-15.

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