Vitamin C Is An Endotoxin Antagonist And Can Reduce Cortisol And Inflammation

[InChristAlone]

@tankasnowgod thanks for the video

@sugarbabe how do you figure out the correct ascorbic acid dosage? I remember before i was told if it makes you fart and have a feeling of having a loose bowel?

Yeah that's called bowel tolerance, just before the loose stool. You don't always have to be at bowel tolerance though as around here that's considered excessive. I don't take more than 4 grams usually because it's so sour and could harm my teeth. I take an extra dose is I'm feeling like I could catch whatever bug is going around. Or feel run down.

 

[yerrag]

I don't know. I've been taken vitamin C lately, 4 x 1g daily, and doing nothing as far as lowering my blood pressure. Although this thread isn't about blood pressure, it's the endotoxins in my blood vessels that's causing the high blood pressure. So if vitamin C isn't tamping down on the inflammation caused by endotoxins, it isn't bringing my blood pressure down. Btw, the 4g I take daily is based on a bowel tolerance test I took.

Next month, I get my order of GMO-Free Vitamin C, who got to converse with us on a few threads. I'll try out his product, which he says is a 100% unadulterated Quali-C, with minimal lead contamination. Maybe it will be finer as well, and altogether more potent. The one I'm currently using is a China product, from a local dealer. So the quality of the ascorbic acid I'm using may just be the cause of my disappointing results. We'll see.

 

[Dr. B]

I don't know. I've been taken vitamin C lately, 4 x 1g daily, and doing nothing as far as lowering my blood pressure. Although this thread isn't about blood pressure, it's the endotoxins in my blood vessels that's causing the high blood pressure. So if vitamin C isn't tamping down on the inflammation caused by endotoxins, it isn't bringing my blood pressure down. Btw, the 4g I take daily is based on a bowel tolerance test I took.

Next month, I get my order of GMO-Free Vitamin C, who got to converse with us on a few threads. I'll try out his product, which he says is a 100% unadulterated Quali-C, with minimal lead contamination. Maybe it will be finer as well, and altogether more potent. The one I'm currently using is a China product, from a local dealer. So the quality of the ascorbic acid I'm using may just be the cause of my disappointing results. We'll see.

does vitamin C block TLR4 like vitamin A and D, or does it help excrete endotoxins? if it boosts excretion, its still very useful, but might not give you the same 'feeling' and anti inflammatory effect of vitamin A and D which focus on the TLR4 receptor.

 

[Dr. B]

So digging around a bit with Vitamin C, turns out, it's pretty well known at opposing or neutralizing the effects of endotoxin, and I couldn't find a thread discussing this, so I decided to create one.

Sepsis, Endotoxin and Vitamin C

"Intense or endurance exercise produces a concentration of endotoxin in the blood similar to that found in patients with sepsis. Oral ascorbate pretreatment of as little as 1 gram has been demonstrated to completely block the increase in circulating endotoxin and nitrite typically found during and after intense exercise."

"Stress (including exercise) in general causes a mild ischaemia to the gut and LPS translocation increases dramatically. We know from exercise studies that oral ascorbate decreases or completely blocks LPS translocation from the gut. The most likely explanation here is that ascorbate attenuates the mild inflammatory response in the gut epithelium which is a response to decreased perfusion. Preventing mild inflammation prevents the increased vascular leaking associated with it."

Apparently, one study done on ultramarathoners found that Vitamin C could also reduce Cortisol and other stress and inflammatory markers after the race-

Vitamin C supplementation attenuates the increases in circulating cortisol, adrenaline and anti-inflammatory polypeptides following ultramarathon running.

Mean pre-race concentrations of serum vitamin C in VC-500 and VC-1500 groups (128 +/- 31 and 153 +/- 34 micromol/l) were significantly higher than in the P group (83 +/- 39 micromol/l). Immediate post-race serum cortisol was significantly lower in the VC-1500 group (p < 0.05) than in P and VC-500 groups. When the data from VC-500 and P groups was combined (n = 17), immediate post-race plasma adrenaline, IL-10 and IL-1Ra concentrations were also significantly lower (p < 0.05) in the VC-1500 group.

Some other studies-

Protective effects of vitamin C, alone or in combination with vitamin A, on endotoxin-induced oxidative renal tissue damage in rats. - PubMed - NCBI

L-Ascorbate Attenuates the Endotoxin-Induced Production of Inflammatory Mediators by Inhibiting MAPK Activation and NF-κB Translocation in Cortical Neurons/Glia Cocultures

High Doses of Vitamin C Reverse Escherichia coli Endotoxin–Induced Hyporeactivity to Acetylcholine in the Human Forearm


There was also that study that showed drinking orange juice could neutralize the effects of endotoxin after what's termed a "High Fat Meal." It was, but it was also highly processed, high in iron (especially free iron in the bread), and high in starch-

Orange juice neutralizes the proinflammatory effect of a high-fat, high-carbohydrate meal and prevents endotoxin increase and Toll-like receptor ex... - PubMed - NCBI

"TLR2 and TLR4 messenger RNA (mRNA) and protein expression; mRNA expression of matrix metalloproteinase (MMP)-9 in MNCs; and plasma concentrations of endotoxin and MMP-9 increased significantly after glucose or water were consumed with the meal but not when orange juice was consumed with the meal."

I've seen speculation that it may be due to substances like naringin (and that may be part of it), but in light of the other studies, I think Vitamin C would be a big factor. This video about the study clearly states that the orange juice was "fresh squeezed," so Vitamin C would not have been affected from heat pasteurization-



So, it looks like adequate C in blood serum, or 360mg taken with a meal that would produce an endotoxin response is enough to neutralize or seriously reduce the effects.

Ahhhhh...... but what about Vitamin C's Iron Absorption effects?

Well, it mainly has been studied on non-heme iron, and the thinking is that it doesn't affect heme much. Much of that is done from a single meal with radiolabeled isotopes of iron-

Interaction of vitamin C and iron. - PubMed - NCBI

Over time..... it's not so conclusive-

The Effect of High Ascorbic Acid Supplementation on Body Iron Stores

"The subjects were instructed to take two 500-mg tablets of vitamin C with each of the two largest meals of the day. Seventeen participants took these levels of vitamin C for I 6 weeks and nine of them continued in the study for a total of 24 months.

"Serum ferritin levels before and after megadoses of vitamin C are listed together with baseline measurements of iron status in Table 1 . The level fell in eight subjects and increased in the remaining nine. The mean serum ferritin value before supplementation was 46 jsg/L and remained virtually unchanged after 16 weeks (mean, 44 g/L). It is of interest that of the four subjects whose initial serum ferritin values were below 10 sg/L, only one, the male volunteer, had an increase in the level to within the normal range." (Table Attached)

So, I don't know if there is much reason to avoid taking Vitamin C with meals, especially if you're a regular blood donor. It doesn't appear to increase iron burden in those with high iron stores, and it can prevent an endotoxin and inflammatory events if you do consume a meal with free iron.

Some other really quick hit studies on Vitamin C... It's an anti-histamine-
Histamine and ascorbic acid in human blood. - PubMed - NCBI

It might help shift workers or others with impaired sleep schedule-
Exploring the effect of vitamin C on sleep deprivation induced memory impairment. - PubMed - NCBI

And the title of this one is about treating and preventing Obesity-
Exploring the effect of vitamin C on sleep deprivation induced memory impairment. - PubMed - NCBI

Mate I added in 5000 IU vitamin A, and 1000mg vitamin C at the same time.
I got all the pro cortisol effects. dry, shrunken eyes, fatigue, indigestion, acne breakout, puffy face, bloating, etc... basically either the A or the C raised cortisol. I'm suspecting it was the C because of its involvement in the adrenals and usage in all the adrenal support supplements? the C I used was high quality, doctors best brand Quali C. the A is retinyl palmitate, dry vitamin A, solgar brand. it does have some fillers like dicalcium phosphate and silica. but ive used supplements with silica before and they dont cause these cortisol like effects. i cut out the C to see what happens, continuing the A 5000IU with D3 5000IU.

btw there are articles online about vitamin C drastically boosting collagen and carnitine production and boosting fat oxidation. does that mean its burning fat but its doing it in a stressful pro cortisol way?