Sat 23 May 2009
Vitamin C and cholesterol
Posted by USA / R. Marika Markle under Balkers
[24] Comments
This is where I’ve been browsing…I typed Vitamin C Cholesterol into my browser earlier this week & found articles that suggest that Vitamin C naturally acts in the same manner as statins to regulate cholesterol.
Didn’t you ever wonder why your vet never tested your dog or cat for cholesterol levels? Dogs and cats make their own vitamin C. They do it naturally. It’s been a long time since college biology, but I think its only primates (including us) and guinea pigs. I swear to God, I thought the blue footed booby also needed to supplement, but I couldn’t find anything to support that, right now.
The only drawback is that we need way more C than we would normally take. And not being a physician (not even masquerading as one), I couldn’t recommend a dose.
But that gives us 3 anti – pharm choices to modulate our cholesterol, the other two being niacin and fish oils. I wonder if there could be natural, bodily feedback to indicate that our cholesterol is in a target range?
Finally, to raise your good cholesterol, the HDL, check out pantothenic acid. Don’t go on my word, check it out yourself.
I’m rushing through this…gotta go and trim that skinny, drought – struck asparagus!
Welcome R. Marika Markle to B/P! And here some readers had figured, it was strictly a geopolitical site… ;^)
…or that only Americans had high cholesterol. But to think that, is to ignore the advance of McDonalds and KFC around the globe – ;^)
Hopefully more will get researched on Vitamin C benefits. I take 500mg per day (833% of U.S. RDA), since it is supposed to boost immunity to colds.
More anti-pharma tips;
Melatonin is a highly effective natural sleep aid – use less than the bottle says and only occasionally IMO
For depression, St. Johns Wort is proven to raise serotonin levels as well as prescription drugs. Low serotonin will suppress neurotransmitter activity in the brain, which is regarded as the cause for physiologically-based depression /easy to fix. It can take 4 to 6 weeks of use to start working however. One should consult a doctor about dosage, even if only an online MD like Dr. Weil.
Some people mega-dose vitamin C to ward off colds and flu. But it’s water soluable which I think means it flushes out of the body and you can’t overdose it.
Another critical role of Vitamin C is the citric acid cycle, or as I learned it years ago, the Krebs cycle. happens in the mitochondria… another interesting coincidence…type II diabetes has been looked at from the standpoint of mitochondrial failure. This would make sense, as it would explain multiple organ failures, such as heart & kidneys. I don’t know that C would ameliorate adult onset diabetes..let’s put in the boilerplate…I’m not qualified to give medical advice.
Nor are some doctors… ;^)
But the WWW allows individuals exponentially more ability to do what they need to do in medical treatment situations, which is become your own best advocate. Now we can easily research what a medical professional is telling us, and also find others with the same afflictions and learn from their experiences with it.
A simple fix or prevention for diabetes, would be gigantic of course. That and many other serious illnesses still without cure, are exactly why we need to support genetic and stem cell research IMO. Many of today’s terminal diseases might be eliminated in 50 years.
The U.S. should keep ignoring stem cell research, that way other nations that do invest in it will be the ones to bring the remedies to market!
Sorry, I am going to beat this subject to death! Remember the lysine contingency first Jurassic Park movie? (scroll down on this page to read the excerpt:
http://biochemistryquestions.wordpress.com/moviecular-biology
A faulty enzyme in protein metabolism… intended to contain the dinosaurs to the island. They would need to have lysine fed to them, or they die…
Well, we humans have the Vitamin C contingency! This website says it better than I can:
“Apes and humans require vitamin C in their diets… which is rather odd, because most mammals synthesize their own. Yet although we humans cannot (synthesise); we do have the same gene for this that they (mammals)do… but it is broken! And it is rendered non-functional by precisely the same mutation in all the great apes.”
Credit: http://www.freewebs.com/oolon/SMOGGM.htm#scurvy
In a deficiency of Vitamin C, cholesterol levels go up. As Vitamin C increases, cholesterol levels decrease. Which is cool, when you live in Africa, and you have fresh foods all year round. But when early man migrated north, he didn’t always have sources of Vitamin C (fruit or vegetable) I was going to make this into a conspiracy type thing, that humans were engineer by aliens from outer space. That way I could claim that the Vitamin C contingency would prevent humans from successfully living outside the zone of “eternal summer”. Kinda keeps us restricted around the equator and away from the poles, where the aliens are alleged to be hiding.
But maybe that cholesterol thingie … higher cholesterol in times of Vitamin C deficiency is an evolutionary response. Not only do we need Vitamin C, we need Vitamin D – the sunshine vitamin! Maybe it’s an starvation response where Low C means more cholesterol, higher cholesterol means greater opportunity to make Vitamin D, and hence hormones to reproduce. (Or it’s a cellular thing: Cholesterol maintains cell walls. And don’t get me started on that weird thing about honeybees and cholesterol. I’ll let you wonder where beeswax comes from).
So do you believe in evolution or do you believe in aliens? It’s your choice!
Some claim aliens are responsible for this… ;^)
Holy cr*p! I wouldn’t want to camp near that in a high wind!
Hey, if we had had the mass consciousness experiment, I would be telling you it worked! Rained for 3 days here! I dread checking that field of asparagus…The temp was 80 degrees yesterday & with the heat & rain, you can almost see that stuff grow!
Can we get comments on Sotomoyor’s religious background? She’s Catholic. Should be an interesting mix on the Supreme Court…the battle between the conservative Catholics & the liberal Catholics
More, later. I’m just not sure how later.
Balancing rocks do look like a physical impossibility, don’t they… ;^)
What I’m hearing about Sotomayor (besides the so-called “racist” remark alleged by Gingrich and Limbaugh but – of course – taken out of context), is that her rulings don’t fit into a set pattern or single ideology.
And just like the charge about the remark was only recycled and not researched by the major media, so too have they cast the lack of a pattern in her rulings, as negative somehow.
Nonsense. You want a judge on any level, deciding each case on it’s merits and not bringing any personal views into that. So, you aren’t going to get a pattern when they do that…
While replacing a Supreme Court judge is a big issue here in the U.S. of course, I can’t see putting up a Balk on it – too internal / not international enough in it’s relevance.
Roy G says:
28 May, 2009 at 12:18 AM
Some claim aliens are responsible for this… ;^)
It would be very interesting if you could indicate the location of this balanced rock, it has brought a lot of curiosity among my friends, if it is real or it is apaste up.
Sammy from Sicily
Welcome back Sammy! Your post got briefly routed to the moderation que in error – sorry about that.
Balancing rocks – real indeed. They are found in numerous places in the southwest U.S. desert region. See this Google image search for more pics;
http://images.google.com/images?hl=en&q=balancing+rocks&btnG=Search+Images&gbv=2&aq=f&oq=
(actually a couple of these do look fake, but most are real… ;^)
I’m confused . . . . How did we get from Vitamin C and Cholesterol to aliens and balancing rocks? Wow!
Hi sherljim! I would tell you, but I don’t know either!
LOL – I assume no responsibility for how these Balks change from their outset… ;^)
A late comment for R.M.M..On cholesterol Red Yeast Rice is a natural Statin containing nutrient.It lowers levels dramatically but dosages are hard to prescribe and like any attempt at self medication is an imprecise treatment.You can obtain home cholesterol kits now(with a lab fee)to keep track of results.Anyone using Niacin should use ‘flush free’ or time release to prevent flushing (Niaspan).Also(Roy)if using St.Johns Wort a person should know it works like other SSRI drugs but can make you photosensitive so use sunscreen.Smokers need an additional 100mg of it C for each ciggarette smoked,and 15-20 minutes of sunbathing will give you all the Vit.D synthisis the body needs(you don’t have to parbroil yourself).I have used herbal and nutricutical medicine wholistically for 25 years when I had no access to Alipathic medicine.One must remember that natural phtochemicals are still capable of side effects and interactions just like prescription drugs,so use care! be well
Thank you, Johnny Hempseed. You bring up a good point re: the American Health care system. We the consumers have very little say in our our health care. With our current system, we have no options, and from what I am hearing about the debate in Washington, we will continue to have no options. Isn’t it incredible that when we go to a health care provider that fees and charges aren’t posted? Would you buy groceries from a supermarket that didn’t price their products? Do you buy your car from a dealer who won’t explain the costs? But when you walk into your dentist or physician, fees are not posted. If you need hospitalization, you are not informed of the costs of tests. Don’t you think that’s a little weird?
I knew a woodworker who cut his finger & thought it would be a good idea to get a couple of stitches…I think the ER visit was $1500, and he was advised to come back & get his bandage changed…another $800. This guy should have been advised to see his doctor for the bandage change, but he wasn’t. It’s like health care providers don’t think of the cost.
Just like end of life issues. My father in law passed this spring of cancer. Two months before he died, I knew he was coming to the end of a 12 year battle with cancer. Neither his family physician nor his oncologist would acknowledge that he would not get better. He was seen by a neurologist, a gastroenterologist, an urologist… they all milked the insurance company for as much as they could get. This was never the way he wanted to die. He was willing to face death with dignity, but here in the U.S., you don’t get respite until you’ve exceeded your allowable insurance coverage. Yes, I’m bitter.
Hi Marika,my sympathies about your dads passing.The sad part about it is if he had a single payer system he may have had access to home hospice counciling and made decisions based on his comfort level and not cost to the family.My dad died young at 43 of coronary artery disease.Being aware of the family condition has saved my life and I now have outlived him by almost 10 years.To get access to single payer healthcare(medicaid) I had to be destitute,and have to live near the poverty level.But with some new plumbing should live a few more years (I had a double bypass)to fight for various political cause like health care.I notice many hospitals now have ATMs near the ERs or in the lobby.Insurance companies are in bussiness to deny coverage and minimise costs not provide health care,they have to show a profit for the shareholders. Stay well! peace
I’ve decided that I’m going to call both my U.S. Senator’s office & ask to rein in spending by 1) discussing costs going in, and 2) offering alternatives.
Does anyone twitter? Is this something that could be twittered? This is my busy season…farming
Marika,good luck with yor congress critters,the Senators are probably afraid to lose thier lobby funds for the next dialing for dollars session.By the way what type of farmer are you ,I have worked dairies ,orchards ,crop farms and some veggies. peace
We are dirt farmers. The farm is on a bluff overlooking Lake Erie in Western NY.. so we grow Concord and Niagara grapes for Welch foods. Also grow asparagus, tomatoes, peppers, eggplant, Hungarian & bell peppers (for U-pick) & we have a small orchard which sadly gets not enough attention. Red Havens, largely. Zone 6 with the lake acting as a heatsink… this is a great fruit growing region. I kept bees until this last December..we had a major windstorm.. bee stuff everywhere! Farming is a laugh a minute, isn’t it? But when you have mud in your blood, what can you do?
I have a joke for you Marika,A doctor and a lawyer and a dairy farmer all won big in the lottery.They met while picking up thier checks and had a chance to talk before the press conference. The lawyer said” boy is this great I’m going to hire some partners and spend lots of time on the golf course”.The doctor said “me too I’m hiring out most of my practice ,opening an expensive lab to do my own testing,and hitting the links”.They looked at the dairy farmer who was’nt saying anything and asked ,well what are your plans for the money?”well said the farmer,I guess I’ll pay off the mortgage and the back bills,and keep on farming till the money is gone’.
Its cool that you have a contract with Welch,I have done some Orchard work too,and love growing food.I would love to see your farm sometime ,kinda far but would be a nice bike ride and I have a friend in Syracuse I could visit en-rought.
Wow lake Erie zone 6!Holy crap it’s zone 4/5 here in NW Connecticut that lake is a huge heat sink.Do you have a lot of lake effect snows?
I have a great book ” The Apples of New York” 1905 from the NY ag. ex.station By S.A. Beach.It has great colol plates of hundreds of varieties.There used to be way over a thousand varieties of apples in New York.I am not familiar wit Red Haven ,will have to look for it. Be Well.
Excuse the typos and spelling ,please.
Sorry I’m a little behind. Love the joke. Red havens are farmer shorthand for red haven peaches. (Another term that will always make me smile is cullivate. We live uptown next to an English teacher and she has a knee jerk reaction to correct it to cultivate… sounds too cultured for dirt.
I think we need a thread just to talk about geographies. The land shapes us so. There’s a zone running alongside of the lake that is zone 6 that is only about 1 mile…really old lake basin (after the glaciers melted, I think). Sandy soil on top, sedimentary shale & clay not far below. Then the terrain becomes gentle hills until it breaks into the foothills of the Appalachians. I’m told there’s only one patch of old growth forest, though when you get deeper into Chautauqua Counter it’s all trees on hills. (western Chautauqua county and into Cattaragus & Allegany counties.
R Maria Markle,excused my ignorance “red haven”never heard the term although I have peace experience.I just moved two mature peach trees in June they had set fruit and seem to have survived well.
My zone 4 to 5 microclimate has glacial till sand silt loam over clay bottom soils.We usually have a late frost in May around the full moon ,some times there isn’t a hard freeze until November! But normal first last dates are close to Albany.
Your area sounds interesting from a geological standpoint.The foothills of the Berkshires are too!
The growing season has been really rough here though rain dailly for 3 weeks no hay or straw being made at all,except round bales.I am busy fighting fungal diseases for my clients on all the fruit and rosatious species.And I have never seen so many slugs and snails,or mosquitos,I miss the bats that mostly all died of “white nose” fungal diseases over the winter.
Well the sun is out ,back to work. Enjoy the fourth.