Deirdre F Parker wrote:
>
> Wasn't there a scare about "excess" Vit C recently?  Anyone know what
> became of it?
>
  That whole vitamin C scare last year was irresponsible nonsense, if
not pernicious, and has been thoroughly debunked. It wasn't even a real
study, just some little partial study, that was prematurely reported on
orally at an AHA conference and not published for peer review, but
picked up on by the media. They found some slight thickening of the
intimamedia, a middle layer of connective tissue, in the walls of
carotid arteries. They didn't even look for arterial plaque,
inflammation, or morbidity. Everyone knows that vitamin C promotes
healthier connective tissue, and that's what they were probably seeing.
A healthy response, not in any way connected with hardening of the
arteries, plaque formation, or disease. Arteries normally get thinner
with age, and vitamin C probably helps counteract that. If you are good
with web searches you could probably find  articles that have been
published blasting that "study" and calling for a retraction. I've seen
several articles, but can't find the references right now, alas. I would
try Vitamin C Foundation, Linus Pauling Institute, and Life Extension
Foundation.
  Lots of vitamin C is very, very good for you. Some studies have shown
little or no benefit, but one of the things going on is that vitamin C
has a very similar molecular structure to one of the sugars, maybe
glucose. When you have too much of that sugar, as most Americans do, the
sugar gets in where the vitamin C should be, and prevents it from having
it's beneficial effects. (I got that last bit from what seemed like a
reliable source, but can anyone verify or contradict it?) Perhaps that
is one reason why sugar is supposed to attenuate your immune system.
Americans drink an average of fifty something GALLONS of soda a year.

Hilary McClure
Danville, VT

-----------------------------------------------------------------
To unsubscribe from the list send an email to [log in to unmask] with the words SIGNOFF EVOLUTIONARY-FITNESS in the _body_ of the email.

To get a copy of the old archives or the FAQ, look in the EvFit folder at http://briefcase.yahoo.com/dryeraser