Vitamin C: Virus Killer

Vitamin C: Virus Killer

Last week I said I would be discussing medicinal mushrooms in my next newsletter. However, we have decided to change the subject to vitamin C, as it is currently trending in the Alternative Health field, due to its powerful antiviral properties. So we will look at medicinal mushrooms, as a treatment for viral conditions, next week.

As mentioned in last week’s newsletter, being susceptible to a virus depends largely on the immune status of the potential host. While the coronavirus is quite contagious, like regular influenza (which has already killed far more people than this new virus), deaths are a result of the viral infection escalating to pneumonia. It was the same with the Spanish Flu (1918 – 1920): the vast majority of the deaths occurring were due to the victims developing pneumonia.

It has been well established scientifically that having low vitamin C levels makes one more susceptible to viruses, and studies ranging back as far as 80 years ago, have also proven vitamin C to be a life-saver for pneumonia patients.

From the 1940s through to the 1970s, Dr. Frederick R. Klenner successfully treated influenza and pneumonia with very high doses of vitamin C. (His collected papers and clinical studies are gathered here.) A variety of studies, and hospital treatment protocols, confirm the use of vitamin C, both orally and/or intravenously, since the 1930s, in the treatment of a wide variety of lung, respiratory, and viral ailments (including pneumonia). Such studies ran on into the ‘80s. (Source)

Thus, one cannot even debate the value of vitamin C for treating respiratory viral conditions, yet according to Dr. Andrew Saul, “anyone saying that vitamin therapy can stop coronavirus is already being labeled as promoting false information and promulgating fake news”. Even the sharing of verifiable news, and direct quotes from credentialed medical professionals, is being restricted or blocked on social media, and being criticized or ignored by conventional media. (Source)

Using Vitamin C to Treat Coronavirus

Dr. Saul is a respected voice in the field of alternative medicine, and editor of the Orthomolecular Medicine News Service (a website based on the works of Dr. Linus Pauling and Dr. Abram Hoffer). He is currently revealing how Chinese medical authorities have recommended that COVID-19 should be treated with high amounts of intravenous (IV) vitamin C, suggesting that this simple nutrient can dramatically slow, or halt, the development of the coronavirus.

Recently the Chinese editor of the Orthomolecular Medicine News Service, Dr. Richard Cheng reported, from China, about the first approved study of 12,000 to 24,000 mg/day of vitamin C by IV. (Hear Dr. Cheng discuss the subject here.) He is also specifically suggesting that medical professionals recommend people use vitamin C for prevention of coronavirus (COVID-19).

On Feb 13, Dr. Cheng reported on a second clinical trial of intravenous vitamin C to be initiated in China. In this second study, “They plan to give 6,000 mg/day and 12,000 mg/day per day for moderate and severe cases. We are also communicating with other hospitals about starting more intravenous vitamin C clinical studies. We would like to see oral vitamin C included in these studies, as the oral forms can be applied to more patients and at home.”

And, on Feb 21, 2020, Dr. Cheng reported an announcement has been made of a third research trial now approved for intravenous vitamin C in the treatment of COVID-19. (Video)

According to Dr. Cheng, “Early and sufficiently large doses of intravenous vitamin C are critical. Vitamin C is not only a prototypical antioxidant, but also involved in virus killing and prevention of viral replication. The significance of large dose intravenous vitamin C is not just at antiviral level. It is acute respiratory distress syndrome (ARDS) that kills most people from coronaviral pandemics (SARS, MERS and now NCP). ARDS is a common final pathway leading to death.”

While the Chinese experiment with a safe, inexpensive treatment for coronavirus, here in the West, our media shuts down any discussion of such an approach. Meanwhile, our scientific community races to develop a vaccine, or drug, to treat coronavirus: one that will provide hefty profits for whoever discovers, and patents, it. (You can’t patent vitamin C, and thus no great profits can be derived from vitamin C therapy.)

Liposomal Vitamin C

Getting IV vitamin C is not an easy thing to accomplish, especially since the Western medical system seldom uses this approach. In the U.S. you can pay a doctor to do IV, however, in Canada, since it is not covered by our medical plan, the only place we can get this treatment is through a Naturopathic clinic.

Paying out of pocket for IV treatment can be expensive ($200 per treatment, and upward). One must also book an appointment, travel to the location, spend time getting the procedure, and travel home. Thus IV is both expensive and time consuming, and while this might seem trivial when facing death, don’t forget how much more difficult it would be if one were ill and/or quarantined. And it has to be done frequently.

For those looking for a simpler alternative to IV, the next best thing is liposomal vitamin C. In fact, liposomal C may even be somewhat superior to IV.

Liposomal vs IV

Liposomal technology was pioneered for pharmaceutical drugs, and, until recently, liposomes were used exclusively by the drug industry. However, now liposomes are beginning to be used for the oral delivery of certain dietary and nutritional supplements which are poorly absorbed, and/or easily damaged by the digestive system.

A number of alternative health practitioners (including Dr. Joseph Mercola, and Dr. Thomas Levy), believe that liposomal vitamin C is at least as good as intravenous C, and possibly even better.

“Comparing the bioavailability of all other oral vitamin C delivery with oral liposomal delivery is like comparing a squirt gun to a fire hose …far surpasses any traditional oral vitamin C supplement… may sometimes be better than IV injection.” Dr. Thomas E. Levy

We know from studies that liposomes deliver much more vitamin C into circulation than conventional oral vitamin C (ascorbic acid, buffered vitamin C), but, according to Dr. Levy, one gram of true liposome-encapsulated vitamin C is as, or more, effective than 5 to 10 grams of vitamin C given intravenously.

Since liposomes are made with similar material as our cells (phospholipids), the nutrients they carry are easily delivered directly into the cells. But IV vitamin C has limits in terms of raising intracellular levels of vitamin C, because most of the vitamin C is still in the blood. Some of it will find its way into the cells, but not as much as liposomes can deliver.

How to Recognize A True Liposomal Product

Creating liposomes is an expensive and time consuming process, which is why such products cost more than simple encapsulated drugs or nutrients, and why few companies produce true liposomal products.

Given the cost of producing liposomal products, many so-called liposomes are in fact just nutrients mixed with fats, but not correctly bonded. The presence of ethyl alcohol in a liposomal product indicates an inferior form of manufacturing. Our manufacturing process does not use alcohol, heat, chemicals, or nanotechnologies.

Nutristart has available three true liposomal products: Vitamin C, Glutathione, and a Curcumin/Resveratrol combination.

The long and short of it is, vitamin C is a reliable, clinically proven method to treat the very thing that coronavirus patients ultimately die from, which is pneumonia. And, at the very least, liposomal vitamin C is far more efficient than oral vitamin C, given its ability to enter into the cells, and far more convenient and cheaper than IV vitamin C.