Vitamin C - Potential Dangers

Vitamin C - is she sinner or saint?  Probably a better description would be that of a fallen starlet.  Vitamin C just ten years ago was supposed to the panacea for every issue from cancer to heart disease to aging.  Now some of the research is that has come out has shown that megadosing Vitamin C over 500 mg/day is a waste of money.  However, don't be deceived.  Vitamin C definitely has it's place in a man's health arsenal, and there is substantial evidence that it can help with one's hardness factor, something that I document in my link on  Vitamin C and Erectile Dysfunction. I will discuss other major benefits below as well. 

However, my philosophy has always been "full disclosure" and, while I take a lot of Vitamin C every day, there have been a few studies showing that Vitamin C may have some potential risks. 

Let's start by looking at Vitamin C and heart disease, which is the #1 killer of men and the underlying cause of most erectile dysfunction issues.  Here the studies have been decidedly mixed. In its favor, Vitamin C, and Vitamin E as well, were examined in a controlled study by Danish researchers in 2000.  Participants were given 250 mg and 91 mg twice daily of Vitamins C and E, respectively.  This study found that those on the Vitamins C and E had decreased arterial thickness, i.e. less plaque buildup from arteriosclerosis. [1] The researchers commented that "taking either vitamin separately also resulted in a reduction in plaque buildup but the combination of vitamins worked best..." Similarly, a large meta-analysis of nine cohorts found that those who took supplemental Vitamin C at megadose levels (> 700 mg) had significantly reduced (25%) cardiovascular issues compared to those who did not take Vitamin C. [2] 

Do you know the foods and drinks that increase erection-boosting Nitric Oxide? Check out the Peak Erectile Strength Diet where I show you how to dramatically and naturally improve your erectile strength.

So everything sounds like a "green light", right?  Well, unfortunately, there have been a number of studies that have found that Vitamin C has no significant heart benefit.  One of the biggest was The Physicians Health Study II of 14,000 male physicians run by a Harvard professor.  In this study physicians were put on 500 mg Vitamin C and 400 IU Vitamin E daily.  The researchers found that neither vitamin decreased cardiovascular events whatsoever. [17] Then came a study on postmenopausal women with diabetes that showed an increased cardiovascular risk with Vitamin C usage. [16]

Fears only increased when researchers discovered that Vitamin C megadosing could dampens a key oxidant, peroxide, that is responsible for supplying blood flow to the muscles and expanding arteries. [15] And then came the real black eye: one study showed increased arterial thickness from Vitamin C.  This study reported that those who took Vitamin C had 2.5 times the thickening of the arteries compared with those who took none. [3]  This study has been criticized for being relatively small and one can't help but ask the question, "If Vitamin C causes such accelerated hardening of the arteries, why aren't its proponents dropping dead like flies?"  Personally, I doubt that Vitamin C causes arterial thickness as this was a small and controversial study, but caution may be in order.

NOTE:  An interesting contrast is Pomegranate Juice which has been shown to improve the entire lipid profile, lower blood pressure and decrease arterial plaque.  Again, foods seem to have the most powerful clinical effects. Vitamin C may help some guys in the bedroom, though, and you can read about that in my link on Vitamin C and Libido.

Another researcher, Rory Collins, looked at not just heart disease during a huge five year study involving 20,000 people who took daily 600mg of vitamin E, 250mg of vitamin C and 20mg of beta-carotene.  This study [7] in the prestigious journal Lancet found that there was no improvement in heart disease or cancer rates.  Once again, Vitamin C looked like a questionable use of one's money.  Some have criticized this study for only supplementing with 250 mg of Vitamin, but keep in mind that is roughly the Vitamin C found in five oranges.

One can't help but wonder why Vitamin C does not fight cancer more effectively.  After all, it is one of our body's most important antioxidants and it is used extensively throughout the immune system.  It only stands to reason that it should help with cancer outcomes. The reason is very likely that Vitamin C very likely has a dark side:  the journal Gut simulated conditions in the stomach and found that Vitamin C, when fat levels are low, actually inhibits the carcinogenic nitrosamine production but promotes nitrosamines when fat is present. [8] I'm not talking about fat as in overweight:  I'm talking about fat in your meal.  If you eat any fat in your meal - which almost every one in a modern society does - megadosing with Vitamin C will lead to a flood of carcinogenic nitrosamines and this may explain some of Vitamin C's questionable cancer results.

So, after all of that, am I claiming that you should not take supplemental Vitamin C? Not at all - in fact, I make a strong case for it here in my link on the Near Miraculous Health Benefits of Vitamin C.

REFERENCES:

1) Journal of Internal Medicine, 2000; 248 (5), 377-386

2)  American Journal of Clinical Nutrition, Dec 2004, 80(6):1508-1520, December 2004 Antioxidant vitamins and coronary heart disease risk: a pooled analysis of 9 cohorts Paul Knekt, et al

3)  Reported on March 2, 2000, by Dr. James Dwyer at an American Heart Association meeting in San Diego

7) The Lancet, 2002, 360(9347):1781-1782

8) Gut, 2007; 56:1678-1684, Published Online First: 4 September 2007, "Fat transforms ascorbic acid from inhibiting to promoting acid-catalysed N-nitrosation"

9) J Am Coll Nutr, 2005 Jun, 24(3):158-65

14) http://esciencenews.com/articles/2009/09/09/ study.reveals.new.role.vitamin.c.skin.protection

15) Experimental Physiology, Published Online: 21 Jul 2009, 94(9):961-971, "The effects of antioxidants on microvascular oxygenation and blood flow in skeletal muscle of young rats"

16) Am J Clin Nutr, Nov 2004, 80(5):1194-1200, "Does supplemental vitamin C increase cardiovascular disease risk in women with diabetes?"

17) JAMA, 2008 Nov 12, 300(18):2123-33, "Vitamins E and C in the prevention of cardiovascular disease in men: the Physicians' Health Study II randomized controlled trial.