The Healing Factor
ISBN 0-448-11693-6
Chapter 10: CORRECTING NATURE
(Pages 50 - 56)
By Irwin Stone
No one would have any difficulty recognizing the violent, extreme symptoms of totally "uncorrected" hypoascorbemia - the clinical scurvy; but the milder forms, from which most people suffer, are difficult to detect. Chronic hypoascorbemia, or as it was previously called, "subclinical scurvy," is relatively symptom-free and can only be diagnosed by clinical or chemical testing, or by difficult long-term observations. Acute scurvy in the well-developed nations is, nowadays, not a common disease for two reasons. First, the daily amounts of ascorbic acid needed to protect against the symptoms of clinical scurvy are very small and, second, the improvements in food preservation and distribution make it easy to obtain these small amounts in foods available the year round. This is not the case, however, for chronic hypoascorbemia. Anyone who depends solely on foodstuffs for ascorbic acid cannot expect "full correction" of hypoascorbemia. The more stress that such an individual is under, the higher would be the deficit. It is the lack of recognition of the distinction between acute scurvy and chronic hypoascorbemia, and the narrow aims of the "vitamin" theory, that have given a false sense of security, for the past sixty years, as to the adequacy of foodstuffs to fully supply the body's needs for ascorbic acid.
Hypoascorbemia can be "corrected" by supplying the individual with ascorbic acid in the amounts the liver would be making and supplying to the body if the enzyme were not missing. How, then, can we determine the amounts of ascorbic acid the human liver would be producing by an enzyme that is not there? The solution to this question may not be as difficult as it may seem at first glance. If the requirements for ascorbic acid in man are assumed to be similar to those of other, closely related mammals, then, by measuring the amounts of ascorbic acid produced by other mammals, we should be able to get a pretty good estimate of what man would be making, had he the complete synthetic enzyme system.
When we look for this very important data in the literature, it is amazing how little we find. The only information available is on the rat. No one has bothered to determine the amounts of ascorbic acid the larger mammals such as the pig, dog, or horse are capable of producing.
Clearly, a great deal more research is required to determine the extent of ascorbic acid synthesis by different mammals so that a more accurate estimate of man's needs can be calculated. Until this work is completed, we are forced to rely on the figures presently available for the rat.
From these available figures, "full correction" of hypoascorbemia in a 70-kilogram adult human is estimated to require a daily intake of 2,000 to 4,000 milligrams (2.0 to 4.0 grams ) of ascorbic acid, under conditions of little or no stress. Under conditions of stress, the data indicates an increase to about 15,000 milligrams ( 15.0 grams) per day. Under very severe stresses, even more may be required.
Biochemical stress covers a wide range of conditions, among which may be mentioned: bacterial and viral infections, physical trauma, injuries and burns, exposure to heat, cold, or noxious fumes, ingestion of drugs and poisons, air pollution and smoking, surgery, worry, aging, and many others.
Ascorbic acid is rapidly absorbed from the digestive tract so that "full correction" can be established by giving it, preferably in solution, in several oral doses during the day. This is easily and pleasantly accomplished by dissolving a one-half level teaspoonful of ascorbic acid powder (1,500 milligrams or 1.5 grams) in a half glass of fruit or tomato juice or in about two ounces of water sweetened to taste. A dose in the morning and another at night and possibly one midday should establish "full correction" under conditions of no unusual stresses. This basic regimen for "normal" individuals should be the subject matter of extensive long-term clinical trials by statistically sufficient numbers of subjects of different age groups, to determine the long-range effects of these "corrective" dosage levels of ascorbic acid on their well-being, disease resistance, disease morbidity, the inhibiting effects on aging, and the possible lengthening of the human life span. The medical authorities supervising this proposed research, if and when it is conducted, should be convinced of its safety because: 1. these are normal mammalian ascorbic acid levels, 2. ascorbic acid virtually lacks toxicity, and 3. countless generations of monkeys have been raised using these ascorbic acid levels throughout their lives with the diet recommended by the National Research Council of the National Academy of Sciences.
Under conditions of biochemical stress, the frequency and size of the doses are increased depending upon severity of the stress. Amounts over 100 grams (100,000 milligrams) per day have been suggested for the therapy of acute viral infections. Clinical trials and dosages for the therapy of specific conditions will be discussed in later chapters.
The known lack of toxicity of ascorbic acid would indicate that no general serious side effects or toxic reactions would be incident to these "full correction" regimens. One mild discomfort that has been noted is diarrhea in individuals whose digestive tract is hypersensitive to the cathartic effect of fruit acids. The diarrhea stopped when the dosage was reduced and no other sequela resulted. Administration by injection has been used, but the oral route is so much simpler and pleasanter that intravenous doses may be reserved for cases where the oral route is not feasible or very severe stresses require heroic measures for building high blood levels of ascorbic acid quickly under medical supervision.
If gastric distress is encountered due to the acidity of the ascorbic acid, partial neutralization with small amounts of sodium bicarbonate or the use of sodium ascorbate instead of ascorbic acid will overcome this (see Chapter 21 )
"Full correction" of this genetic disease has only been possible since the late 1930's when the synthetic production of ascorbic acid made it available in unlimited quantities at a low enough price. This "correction" could never be established by dependence upon ascorbic acid-containing foodstuffs because it is just physically impossible to ingest the large volumes of foods required to give the necessary dosage levels.
Actually this "full correction" concept merely attempts to duplicate in man a normal physiological process which is taking place all the time in other mammals, and that is to supply ascorbic acid in amounts in accordance with the needs.
The National Research Council of the National Academy of Sciences publishes reports from their Food and Nutrition Board and their Committee on Animal Nutrition. These are published as bulletins, available to the public, and they are the authoritative, last word on the nutrient requirements of humans and animals. The Food and Nutrition Board's bulletin on human needs is entitled "Recommended Dietary Allowances" (Seventh Revised Edition, 1968) and gives the recommended daily allowance for an adult human for ascorbic acid as 60 milligrams per day (about one milligram per kilogram of body weight). From the Committee on Animal Nutritions "Nutrient Requirements of Laboratory Animals" (1962) we find some startling figures. The recommended diet for the monkey - our closest mammalian relative - is 55 milligrams of ascorbic acid per kilogram of body weight or 3,830 milligrams of ascorbic acid per day for the average adult human. The daily amount suggested as adequate for the guinea pig varies depending upon which of two diets is selected and ranges from 42 to 167 milligrams per kilogram of body weight (based on a 300-gram guinea pig). This amounts to 2,920 milligrams to 11,650 milligrams per day for the average adult human.
In summary, on an equivalent body weight basis the daily intake of ascorbic acid recommended by the National Research Council for humans is 60 milligrams; for monkeys, 3,830 milligrams; and for guinea pigs, 2,920 to 11,650 milligrams. It is noteworthy that the figure for the monkeys is similar to our estimate of the daily amount that would be produced in the human liver if the final essential enzyme were not missing. There is a 55-fold difference between the amount recommended for man and that given for monkeys; and the guinea pigs have a 42- to 167-fold advantage over man. Are these agencies shortchanging the human population in favor of laboratory animals? The pressure groups that are continually complaining of how badly laboratory animals are being treated certainly would have no complaint on this score. It is time we had a pressure group to see that humans also receive enough ascorbic acid!
The author has not been alone in the belief that the present recommended levels of ascorbic acid may not be the optimal levels to fulfill all our requirements. In 1949, Geoffrey H. Bourne, now head of the Yerkes Regional Primate Research Center in Atlanta, Georgia, pointed out that an adult gorilla in the wild state consumes about 4.5 grams of ascorbic acid a day in his food. He also speculated that the recommended milligrams a day for humans might be wide of the mark and 1 or 2 grams a day might be the correct amount.
Dr. Albert Szent-Gyorgyi, who received the Nobel Prize in Medicine for his research on ascorbic acid, in a private communication to the author in 1965, stated that what he liked about the author's genetic concept is that it suggested "that the daily dosage of ascorbic acid in man should be much higher. I have always pleaded for such a higher dosage."
Dr. Frederick R. Klenner of Reidsville, North Carolina, who has had more actual clinical experience in megascorbic prophylaxis and megascorbic therapy in the past thirty years than anyone else in the world, routinely prescribes ten grams of ascorbic acid daily to his adult patients for the maintenance of good health. His daily dosage schedule for children is one gram of ascorbic acid per year of age up to ten years and ten grams daily thereafter (e.g., a four-year-old child would receive four grams daily ).
Linus Pauling pioneered in the field of molecular diseases with the discovery, published in 1949, that sickle-cell anemia is due to slight, but very important, changes in the structure of the blood protein, hemoglobin. He has also been very active in developing concepts which indicate that we may have inadequate levels of various natural substances normally present in the body, and which can bring forth symptoms of disease. In 1967, in a communication to the Thirteenth International Convention on Vital Substances, Nutrition, and Diseases of Civilization, held in Luxembourg, Dr. Pauling described other molecular diseases and developed the concept of "orthomolecular therapy." Generally, orthomolecular therapy involves supplying vitamins, amino acids, or other natural bodily constituents which are at suboptimal levels by intakes of large amounts of the needed substance.
Dr. Pauling also described in this paper the application of orthomolecular medicine to the treatment of mental disease by the provision of high levels of ascorbic acid and other vitamins as the preferred method of treatment. The subject of orthomolecular psychiatry was developed in further detail in a 1968 paper appearing in the April 19, 1968 issue of Science. In the book Vitamin C and the Common Cold published in 1970, Dr. Pauling devotes a chapter to orthomolecular medicine. The use of high levels of ascorbic acid in the prevention and treatment of the common cold is a practical application of the principles of orthomolecular medicine. Megascorbic prophylaxis and megascorbic therapy are, thus, branches of orthomolecular medicine.
In a paper presented by Dr. Pauling to the National Academy of Sciences and appearing in the December 15, 1970 issue of their Proceedings, calculations were made from the caloric and ascorbic acid content of raw plant foods. From this data, Dr. Pauling concluded that the optimum daily intake of ascorbic acid, for most human adults, is in the range of 2.3 grams to 9 grams. Because of the variation due to "biochemical individuality" the range of optimum intake for a large population may be as high as 250 milligrams to 10,000 milligrams (10 grams) or more a day.
"Biochemical individuality" is a concept from the work of Professor Roger J. Williams at the University of Texas, which indicated that individuals vary over a considerable range in their need and use of metabolites and that a value based on a so-called average may be far off the mark.
Dr. Leon E. Rosenberg, Associate Professor of Pediatrics and Medicine at the Yale University School of Medicine, in discussing biochemical abnormalities due to hereditary defects, suggested differentiating between vitamin-deficiency diseases and vitamin dependent diseases. The vitamin-dependent diseases are those which may require 10 to 1,000 times the "normal" daily requirements for their successful treatment. Rosenberg's work was confined to vitamin-dependent genetic defects of the various B vitamins and vitamin D. He apparently has not worked with ascorbic acid.*
*This was reviewed in Science News of August 29, 1970, pages 157-158, and in the Journal of the American Medical Association of September 21, 1970, page 2001.
The interesting conclusion which can be drawn from: 1. the gorilla data of Bourne, 2. the evolutionary raw-plant food calculations of Pauling, 3. the daily synthesis of ascorbic acid by the rat, 4. the dietary recommendations of theNational Research Council for the good nutrition of monkeys, and 5. the actual human clinical data of Klenner, is that all of these point to an intake of several grams a day, rather than the sixty milligrams a day now regarded as adequate.
*Stone I. The Healing Factor. Vitamin C Against Disease. New York: Grosset & Dunlap, p258 1972. ISBN 0-448-11693-6
Forewords by Linus Pauling and Albert Szent-Gyorgyi to The Healing Factor
Updated November 2002