Duo C Complex (CT–405)
Vitamin C
If an individual could choose only one vitamin to take supplementally, it should be vitamin C. Unfortunately, in today’s age it isn’t easy to get the vitamin C that is required by eating traditional food sources of this nutrient. Even so, many people believe that by eating a helping or two of fresh fruit every day, they are protecting themselves from becoming vitamin C deficient. This is not necessarily true. Furthermore, even though commercial orange juice is thought to be an excellent source of vitamin C, it may contain little or none, which is of the naturally occurring type. That’s because cooking, pasteurization, and storage, as well as the addition of synthetic chemicals, destroy much of the vitamin C naturally found in citrus drinks.
Americans live in a world contaminated with a wide range of toxins, and these toxins, whether in the air, water, or food, all destroy vitamin C. What’s more, the standard American diet is typically vitamin C deficient, and this is particularly true for those who consume significant amounts of deep fried food, sugar-infested food, and/or junk food. Since the majority of Americans follow such a diet, the fact that over 60% or more of Americans receive less than the RDA for this nutrient should come as no surprise.
Prolonged vitamin C deficiency may result in degenerative changes within a number of tissues, including the joints, spine, spleen, thymus, lymph glands, liver, adrenal glands, ovaries, heart, arteries, veins, testes and thyroid gland. Vitamin C deficiency may occur within the white blood cells, and this leads to a significant reduction in their microbial killing power. A lack of it also causes a reduction in interferon synthesis, and this chemical is the body’s most crucial anti-viral compound.
While classical scurvy is uncommon today, sub-clinical scurvy due to low-level vitamin C deficit, affects millions of Americans. Those at highest risk for such a deficiency include:
Certain individuals are at a high risk for developing vitamin C deficiency as a result of working around or with noxious compounds. A wide range of compounds destroys or inactivates vitamin C, whether these compounds come in contact with the skin, are ingested internally, or are inhaled (volatile compounds). A list of some of the workers exposed to vitamin C-destroying substances includes:
However, despite this extensive problem of toxic chemical exposure, vitamin C deficiency is common in the United States primarily for another reason: the food supply. Less then five percent of the daily caloric intake for Americans comes from fresh uncooked foods. As indicated previously, citrus fruits, unless eaten directly from the tree, are not necessarily vitamin C-rich. Most commercial grapefruits, oranges, and tangerines are picked green and ripened in large warehouses. Incredibly, the ripening agent is bromine gas, which is such a noxious chemical that if it is inhaled in sufficient amounts, it can maim or kill. In contrast, sunlight is a nontoxic ripening agent which activates or causes the synthesis of vitamin C within the fruit. Thus, because citrus fruits are not tree-ripened, their vitamin C content is reduced significantly. In some instances these fruits contain no measurable amount of this nutrient. What little vitamin C they may originally possess is destroyed by the gas-ripening process as well as by the various fumigants and pesticides that are applied to the fruit prior to shipment. Add to this, vitamin losses during transport and storage, plus the fact that fluorescent light destroys vitamin C and it can be readily understood that it is possible to purchase citrus fruit devoid of vitamin C.
Gas ripening is so widely practiced by the commercial food and produce industry that only locally grown and/or organic produce can be relied upon as a guaranteed way to receive optimal amounts of dietary vitamin C, that is the amounts listed on food charts. Another option would be to pick your own wild berries and/or fruits or maintain your own fruit trees. However, for the vast majority of Americans that’s impractical. Thus, vitamin C supplements must be utilized to fill the void.
To make matters worse, Americans are being routinely exposed to a wide range of vitamin C-depleting substances. Anti-vitamin C agents inactive or destroy the vitamin through a process known as oxidation. These oxidative agents include:
Vitamin C cannot be made by humans; it must be taken in by way of food and food supplements. Abunda Life laboratories bring the most effective form of Duo C Complex supplement available because it contains equal amounts of essential bio-flavanoids which are necessary for Vitamin C to be effective.
Functions of vitamin C in your body:
Symptoms of vitamin C loss:
Things that cause you to have a lower vitamin C level:
Negative Vitamin C Balance
As previously indicated, millions of Americans receive less than the pathetic RDA of vitamin C in their diets. In addition, the dietary habits of Americans, as well as the environments they live in, expose them to a number of substances, which destroy vitamin C. Yet, of all vitamin C antagonists cigarette smoke takes precedence; some 25 million Americans are heavy smokers. Cigarette smoke destroys vitamin C essentially at a more rapid rate than it can be consumed. The smoke from a single cigarette may consume as much as 100 mg. of vitamin C. A pack wipes out approximately 2,000 mg: three packs, 6,000 mg. Virtually no one in this country consumes enough dietary vitamin C to neutralize that many cigarettes. Thus, smokers, even without considering any other vitamin C-destroying factors, suffer form an extremely dangerous condition: totally negative vitamin C status, a condition which leaves them vulnerable to a wide range of severe illnesses, including lung infections, systemic infections, liver disease, blood vessel fragility, heart disease, emphysema, connective tissue breakdown, and, of course, cancer. What’s more, most smokers consume large amounts of coffee, refined sugar and alcohol, all of which oxidize vitamin C. So-called medications further destroy vitamin C.
Passive smokers may think they fair a little better. Second hand smokers, those who are in the same room with cigarette smokers, lose untold millions of molecules of vitamin C every time smokers light up. We are now learning that even third hand smoke destroys vitamin C. Third hand smoke is the area that smokers smoked in.
Let’s look at another example: the business executive who has a high stress job. Stress causes vitamin C to become rapidly consumed within the body and also leads to its loss into the urine. Without vitamin C the body
fails to produce enough adrenaline, adrenal steroids, neurotransmitters, and similar substances which maintain normal cellular functions. The preliminary manifestation of this is fatigue. This forces the executive to pursue uppers; he/she uses sugar fixes, coffee, tea, cigarettes, alcohol, and even drugs in an attempt to achieve quick remedies for the tiredness. The morning begins with a cup of black coffee and a sweet roll: a zero vitamin C breakfast. The refined sugar in the sweet roll and the various chemicals in the coffee destroy whatever vitamin C exists in the body. Thus, the executive starts the day with a negative C balance, a nutritionally disastrous circumstance.
To make matters worse, the executive arrives at the job only to enter a smoke-filled room. Next, he/she attends a midmorning conference, which happens to be a particularly stressful one. In addition to the cigarette smoke which permeates the air there is a tray of doughnuts, cookies, and plenty of piping-hot coffee. He/she chugs down another cup of coffee and half a doughnut. The vitamin C deficit deepens. Now the executive begins to develop the symptoms of a migraine but thinks it is stress-induced (it is probably due to sugar, coffee, or smoke allergy). Worrying that it might become severe and force him/her to leave work; the executive pops a couple of aspirin. What little vitamin C is left in the tissues is now thoroughly decimated. By noon the pain deepens; perhaps eating will make it feel better, he/she presumes. The executive orders a submarine sandwich with french fries and covers the sub and fries with ketchup. The sub contains salami, a nitrated meat. Nitrates aggressively oxidize vitamin C. Then he/she ingests another dose of aspirin and follows the sub with a cup of coffee. Immediately after lunch, sinus pressure develops; he/she swallows a couple of antihistamines, another drug which destroys vitamin C. To his/her surprise the headache is worse, not better. What’s more, the executive is now overwhelmed with severe fatigue and a sort of internal agitation. Migraine pain, fatigue, agitation, and stuffy sinuses all add up to prompt this person to leave work early. This is despite consuming six aspirin, which failed to curb the pain.
Even though the executive is now in the relaxing confines of home, he/she feels overwhelmed because of the stress at work and the stress of the sinus pressure and migraine. The executive was previously informed by a misinformed medical professional that alcohol helps digestion. Since his/her stomach is tied in knots, he/she drinks a couple of shots of bourbon before the evening meal. He/she continues to feel miserable, picks at supper, grabs a glass of milk, takes another antihistamine and three more aspirin, then retires for the night; sick, tired miserable, in pain, stressed, and totally deficient in vitamin C.
Since the migraine will likely continue into the next day or for several additional days, these extreme dietary and drug habits will also be repeated. No one should be surprised if such an individual suddenly drops dead from a heart attack, suffers a stroke, develops a life-threatening bleeding ulcer, or is afflicted with some other severe disease. It should be no surprise if this type of person develops cancer at a young age. Just as vitamin C is destroyed by these dangerous habits, other crucial anti-stress and anti-cancer nutrients, which include vitamin A, beta carotene, vitamin E, B-vitamins, selenium, magnesium and calcium, are also depleted.
VITAMIN C TEST (each response worth 1 point)
Which of these apply to you?
1. easy bruising
2. bleeding and/or purple-appearing gums
3. lower back pain
4. arthritis or other joint pain
5. delayed wound healing
6. loose teeth
7. chronic fatigue
8. sensitivity to extremes in temperature
9. thinning of the bones
10. nose bleeds
11. thinning and/or premature aging of the skin
12. liver spots
13. petechiae (tiny red blood spots in the skin)
14. heightened susceptibility to infections
15. hemorrhoids
16. insomnia
17. dryness of the mouth
18. dry, itching skin
19. swollen joints
20. loss of appetite
21. listlessness and/or apathy
22. depression
23. tendency to form plaque and/or tartar
24. Do you regularly consume aspirin?
25. Do you regularly take non-steroidal anti-inflammatory agents such as: Motrin, Indocin, Clinoril or Butazolidin?
___________________________________________________________
5 or more checks = mild vitamin C deficiency
Your Score ________ 10 or more checks = sub-clinical vitamin C deficiency
____ 15 or more checks = severe vitamin C deficiency____
BIOFLAVONOIDS
Although bioflavonoids are not true vitamins in the strictest sense, they are sometimes referred to as vitamin P. Bioflavonoids enhance the absorption of vitamin C, and the two should be taken together. There are many different bioflavonoids, including hesperetin, hesperidin, eriodictyol, quercetin, quercetrin, and rutin. The human body cannot produce bioflavonoids, so they must be supplied in the diet. Vitamin C by itself is very inefficient without bioflavonoids. Most commercially available vitamin C contains no bioflavonoids what-so-ever, rendering the support highly inefficient for therapeutic use. Abunda Life Duo C Complex is an exceptional supplement containing equal amounts of bioflavonoids to vitamin C.
Rutin
FACTS
Rutin is one of several bioflavonoids that provide color and taste to fruits and vegetables and do much, much more. Bioflavonoids are meant to work together, and not surprisingly, rutin supplements often include other bioflavonoids such as quercetin and hesperidin. Bioflavonoids in general, and rutin in particular, can strengthen capillaries, the tiniest blood vessels. Rutin is essential for the proper absorption and use of vitamin C and assists vitamin C in maintaining collagen, the tissue beneath the skin that supports the epidermis, the outer layer of cells.
The most popular use for rutin is as a treatment for allergies. Studies show that rutin can slow down the release of histamine, the chemical released by mast cells that trigger common allergic reactions such as a stuffy nose. In fact, rutin is typically included in special anti-allergy formulas designed to relieve the symptoms of hay fever and asthma. Most people find that these preparations are very effective and do not cause the side effects, such as drowsiness or dry mouth, that are typical of many antihistamine medications.
Because of its ability to strengthen capillaries, rutin may also be an effective treatment for bruises, varicose veins (caused by a weakness in the blood vessels) and hemorrhoids, an inflammation of the veins in the anus and rectum. Like other flavonoids, rutin is an anti-inflammatory agent, and also shows anti-viral, anti-microbial, and anti-cancer activity. I have no doubt that the more we study rutin, the more uses we will find for it. Abunda Life Duo C Complex unlike most commercially available vitamin C contains equal amount s of the more expensive bioflavonoids including rutin.
Possible Benefits
Relieves allergy.
Helps reduce black-and-blue bruise marks on skin.
Helps rebuild the immune system.
Builds capillary integrity.
Builds collegen.