Vitamin C

The BEST Immune System Boost

part 1

Here we are taking a close look at the benefits of the Jujube, the Baobab, the Camu Camu. Why? Yep - you got it right. They have extremely high concentrations of Vitamin C. You know that they are fruit, right? You hunt them down at your supermarket, right? You DO know what they look like, don't you?

I don't. I have NEVER seen a Camu Camu. I wonder what it tastes like.

Let's take a look at the chart below and check out the fruit with the highest C content AND let's take a look at those that are proported to be the best - the oranges - so readily available to us at the supermarket.

The half ripe fruit of the camu camu, a shrubby tree of the Amazon, has the distinction of having the highest recorded levels of any fruit, surpassing even the highest levels recorded in the acerola. At 2.7 grams of ascorbic acid per 100 grams of fruit, the ascorbic acid content is nothing short of astounding!

Vitamin C content in fruit decreases with storage. For example, the kiwifruit is an exceptionally rich source of vitamin C - a medium sized fruit has 74 mg, but a kiwifruit that has been coolstored for a while has a vitamin C content of 57 mgs. Still excellent, but less excellent!
 
In terms of consumer acceptability and likely frequency of eating, the yellow fleshed kiwifruit can be considered the best source of vitamin C in commercially available fruit.

The daily intake for a gatherer hunter would depend on the season, the particular ecosystem the tribe was living in, and the size of the family unit that shared whatever resource was available. The daily intake would probably have been well in excess of the RDA at times of year when fruit and greens were relatively abundant, and at other times may well have been much less.

Why is it so important to have Vit C in our diet?

Basically - unlike other animals - we can't make it - AND we NEED it for maintaining health. It is vitally important.

Humans (as well as primates and, interestingly, guinea pigs) are the only beings that do NOT synthesize their own Vit C. Most other animals make approx. 30mg per kilogram of body weight. On average, that's about 2 grams per day - every day. Impressive, huh? Rats, mice, and rabbits manufacture 7 times that amount when they are under stress. How clever are they?

Paleantologists have found that primitive humans ate between 400mg and 2 grams every day.

Today approx. 25% of all Americans consume 39mg a day of Vit C. As we will soon find out, that is way below what is required to simply maintain health. Few people eat enough fruit and vegetables that contain this nutrient. How many Camu Camus have you had this lifetime? Heat, storage, cooking, and biochemical processing destroy it before we get to eat it. After it gets into the body, even more is burned off by stress, cigarettes, and exposure to pollutants such as smoke and smog, as well as being depleted by medications such as aspirin and oral contraceptives.

What happens if you don't get enough?

We probably know about the main Vit C deficiency condition - Scurvy. This is a condition characterized by general weakness, anemia, gum disease (gingivitis), and skin hemorrhages. Scurvy is now most frequently seen in older, malnourished adults.

Vit C is ALSO important for:

1. formation of collagen and the health of bones, teeth, gums, nails, muscles, ligaments and all other connective tissue
2. strengthens blood vessels and prevents bleeding and plaque formation in the arteries;
3. prevents atherosclerosis (hardening of the arteries)
4. promotes healing of all body cells
5. increases resistance to infection
6. aids iron absorption and utilization
7. anti-oxidant which helps prevent cancer and heart disease
8. natural antihistamine in high doses
9. natural antidepressant because it helps convert the amino acid tyrosine in the brain to adrenalin
10. lowers high cholesterol levels

There's 10 good reasons to find that Camu Camu.

In case you didn't get them all, I will note its most important functions again. Vitamin C

• is an important anti-oxidant,
• helps protect against cancers,
• heart disease,
• stress,
• it is part of the cellular chemistry that provides energy,
• is essential for sperm production,
• for making the collagen protein involved in the building and health of cartilage, joints, skin, and blood vessels.
• helps in maintaining a healthy immune system,
• aids in neutralizing pollutants,
• is needed for antibody production,
• acts to increase the absorption of nutrients (including iron) in the gut,
• and last but by any stretch the least
• thins the blood

I think you probably have got the message that Vit C is ESSENTIAL to maintaining health.

To be sure .... to be sure you get it

Supplement 1 gram* DAILY of Calcium Ascorbate
If you are recovering from illness or a medically diagnosed condition, you can take much more than this.

That is the ONLY way I know (and you will know) that you are getting the pure Vitamin C in the quantities that will maintain our health status.

NOTE:
Vitamin C enhances iron absorption from the gut into the bloodstream. If a blood test called "ferritin" (the storage form of iron) is very high, avoid vitamin C supplementation. If it is low, vitamin C will help bring iron levels back up to normal.

THE BEST immune boost - ever.
Vitamin C Flush

Go to the next page to read how to do this.