What Is Vitamin C?
Vitamin C (also called L-ascorbic acid or ascorbate) is a nutrient that humans must get from food or dietary supplements since it cannot be made in the body. Vitamin C is an antioxidant and helps prevent oxidative stress. It also works with enzymes to play a key role in making collagen.
When taken by intravenous (IV) infusion, vitamin C can reach much higher levels in the blood than when it is taken by mouth. Studies suggest that these higher levels of vitamin C may cause the death of cancer cells in the laboratory.
A severe deficiency (lack) of vitamin C in the diet causes scurvy, a disease with symptoms of extreme weakness, lethargy, easy bruising, and bleeding. The lack of vitamin C in patients with scurvy makes collagen thinner in texture; when vitamin C is given, collagen becomes thicker again.
High-Dose Vitamin C Benefits
Antioxidants are unique nutrients that help protect our cells against free radicals. Free radicals are damaging substances that form in our bodies at an increased rate as we age. Free radicals are even more abundantly produced when our bodies are exposed to harmful environmental factors such as pollution, poor diet, drinking alcohol in excess, and smoking. These free radicals cause a condition called “oxidative stress” that is directly related to cell damage and death. This damage leads to what we refer to as “normal aging” as well as numerous other diseases and medical conditions such as:
- central nervous system diseases, such as Alzheimer’s and other dementias
- cardiovascular disease due to clogged arteries
- autoimmune and inflammatory disorders, such as rheumatoid arthritis and cancer
- cataracts and age-related vision decline
- age-related changes in appearance, such as loss of skin elasticity, wrinkles, graying hair, hair loss, and changes in hair texture
- diabetes
- genetic degenerative diseases, such as Huntington’s disease or Parkinson’s
Antioxidants help to fight free radicals by neutralizing them and reducing our body’s oxidative stress. This protects the health and viability of our cells and keeps our body working the way it should. Vitamin C is one of the most potent anti-oxidants that we have available to us, and its strong role in free radical and oxidative stress reduction makes it truly one of nature’s miracle nutrients and highlights it’s potential ability prevent numerous diseases as well as modify the so-called “natural aging” process. Infuzio’s high-dose Vitamin C cocktails captures the amazing health benefits of vitamin C by attaining far greater blood levels of this nutrient that last for an extended period of time versus ordinary oral supplementation. This approach maximizes the amazing health and anti-aging benefits of vitamin C supplementation!
- High-dose vitamin C may be given by intravenous (IV) infusion (through a vein into the bloodstream) or orally (taken by mouth). When taken by intravenous infusion, vitamin C can reach much higher levels in the blood than when the same amount is taken by mouth.
- High-dose vitamin C has been studied as a treatment for patients with cancer since the 1970s.
- Laboratory studies have shown that high doses of vitamin C may slow the growth and spread of prostate, pancreatic, liver, colon, and other types of cancer cells.
- Some human studies of high-dose IV vitamin C in patients with cancer have shown improved quality of life, as well as improvements in physical, mental, and emotional functions, symptoms of fatigue, nausea and vomiting, pain, and appetite loss.
- Intravenous high-dose ascorbic acid has caused very few side effects in clinical trials.
Vitamin C is a necessary nutrient for our body’s production of collagen. Collagen is a critical structural protein which is important not only to the structure and function of our bodies but to the youthful appearance that we lose as we age! Collagen is responsible for attaching muscles to bones, providing structural support for our veins, and keeping our skin looking young and our cartilage strong. Collagen is the material that is directly responsible for the elasticity and youthful appearance of skin and for the resiliency and durability of the cartilage which lines all of our joints. The wearing and aging of this cartilage is what causes osteoarthritis and leads to joint pains, degeneration, physical limitation, and the necessity for surgeries such as arthroscopy (“joint scopes”) and even the need for joint replacement. While a lack of collagen also contributes to fine wrinkles and sagging and less-elastic, “older-looking” skin on our body and our face. When we don’t have enough collagen the body is structurally more brittle and weaker- this can lead to aneurysms, sports injuries, stroke, and the undesirable cosmetic appearance of aging.
Infuzio’s high-dose vitamin C infusions can assist in our body’s ongoing production of collagen and lead to healthier functioning and a more youthful appearance!
L-carnitine is a non-essential amino acid that facilitates the burning of fat in our body to produce fuel for energy. This process is also known as “thermogenesis”. Vitamin C is an essential co-factor for the formation of l-carnitine in our body. Therefore, it is not surprising that feeling tired, run-down, and fatigued is one of the first signs of vitamin C depletion. Replacing and supplementing our bodies with vitamin C can boost l-carnitine production, thus increasing the amount of fat we burn for fuel! Infuzio’s high-dose vitamin C drip can increase the amount of fat your body burns and leave you feeling younger, more energized, and ready-to-go!
Now, more than ever, it is critically important to keep our immune systems healthy and strong. The emergence and persistence of COVID-19 has highlighted this necessity to an undeniable extent. Vitamin C is believed to have a direct inhibitory effect against many bacteria and viruses. It can help treat the common cold and decrease the length of cold symptoms by up to 1.5 day. Even more critically nowadays, and directly applicable to COVID, a recent meta-analysis of 12 trials with 1,766 patients calculated that vitamin C reduced the length of ICU stay on average by 8%. Another meta-analysis found that vitamin C shortened the duration of mechanical ventilation in ICU patients. Two randomized placebo-controlled trials found statistically significant reduction in the mortality of sepsis patients. As we are aware, some of the primary reasons COVID has killed so many patients is due to the development of ARDS (Acute Respiratory Distress Syndrome) that often results from COVID, along with pneumonia and often hospital time spent in the intensive care unit and the possible need for mechanical ventilation.
Some of the molecular and cellular mechanisms that enable vitamin C to be such a potent assistant in the fight against viral and bacterial infections include:
- Supporting the production of interferons- one of body’s primary defenses aganst viral infections like COVID!
- Enhancing the function of phagocytes (white blood cells which surround and capture invading infectious entities).
- Supporting the production and activity of antibodies, which are a major and prime contributor to our body’s defenses against a wide variety of viral, bacterial, and fungal infections
Infuzio’s high-dose vitamin C infusions can assist in maximizing our immune system function, both helping prevent the occurrence of symptomatic infections and reducing their length and severity should they occur! “An ounce of prevention is worth a pound of cure”- take a critically important step in infectious disease prevention with Infuzio’s high-dose vitamin C infusions!