On November 22, 2002 04:09 pm, you wrote:
snip
But
> why vitamin C and E should have been harmful boggles the mind.
>
> Namaste, Liz
> <A HREF="http://www.csun.edu/~ecm59556/Healthycarb/index.html">
> http://www.csun.edu/~ecm59556/Healthycarb/index.html</A>
I've read somewhere (forgotten source )that taking extra vitamin C can cause
copper deficiency. For some consequences see below.
Thought to post just the URL, but either the link is broken or my browser is
getting temperamental again.
If anyone knows the source of the Vit. C/copper deficiency study, I would
like to have the URL.
William
Grand Forks Human Nutrition Research Center
http://www.gfhnrc.ars.usda.gov/news/nws9903a.htm
Just Say NO To Copper Deficiency!
Jack Saari
What do air pollution, the Nobel prize, Viagra and copper nutrition have in
common? The answer: Nitric oxide. Nitric oxide is a deceptively simple
molecule (chemical formula -- NO) that has complex and far reaching effects
on the body. It is not to be confused with nitrous oxide (N2O), the
anesthetic, which is otherwise known as 'laughing gas'.
Twenty-five years ago, the only known effect of nitric oxide on human health
was as an air pollutant emitted by automobile exhausts. About that time
nitric oxide was also found to be the active component of nitroglycerin and
other medications that were used to alleviate pain in patients with coronary
heart disease. Over the next ten years, extensive study of blood vessel
function showed that nitric oxide is naturally produced in the body and is
responsible for regulating blood flow and blood pressure. In the last decade
research on nitric oxide has mushroomed and shown that the compound plays a
role not only in blood vessel function but also in transmission of signals in
the nervous system, in heart contraction and in immune function.
So significant are the findings that a major scientific journal named nitric
oxide the 'Molecule of the Year' in 1992. The scientists that discovered the
relationship between nitric oxide and blood vessel function earned the 1998
Nobel Prize in Physiology and Medicine. Because so many systems are affected
by nitric oxide, potential medical applications of this research are
boundless. They include treatments for high blood pressure, septic shock,
arteriosclerosis (hardening of the arteries) and cancer. One such application
is the development of Viagra, a drug that exaggerates the effect of naturally
produced nitric oxide and thus aids men with erectile dysfunction.
What does nitric oxide have to do with copper nutrition? Recent studies
performed on rats at the Grand Forks Human Nutrition Research Center, in
conjunction with scientists at the University of Louisville, Ky., have shown
that restricting the animals' intake of dietary copper impairs the action of
nitric oxide on their blood vessels. This suggests that copper deficiency may
contribute to reduced blood flow, and hence reduce oxygen delivery to tissues
and increase blood pressure.
We have also recently found that, in the heart, nitric oxide production is
elevated by reduced copper intake. Whereas nitric acid production in blood
vessels is desirable, excess production in the heart can interfere with
contractile function. Thus, by two different processes, dietary copper
deficiency alters the action of nitric oxide, thereby interfering with
functions of the heart and circulation. And because nitric oxide acts in
other systems, such as the brain and immune system, it is likely that further
research will reveal that known defects caused by copper deficiency in those
systems relate to nitric oxide as well.
How do we prevent these undesirable effects of copper deficiency from
happening to us? Consume a balanced diet containing foods high in copper --
liver, legumes, shellfish, meats, nuts, seeds and whole grains -- to achieve
a copper intake of 1.5 to 3.0 milligrams per day.
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Copyright Grand Forks Human Nutrition Research Center
Last modified: November 30, 1999
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