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Did you know that ascorbic acid is actually synthetic vitamin C? What’s more, it is usually GMO vitamin C, which means it was derived from GMO corn.
If you are learning this for the first time, it can be a rather shocking realization as almost all vitamin C supplements on the market use isolated ascorbic acid separated from a whole food source. The manufacturing process that produces synthetically derived vitamin C leaves all the beneficial co-factors behind!
Even more disturbing, ascorbic acid is frequently marketed as natural vitamin C and added to organic foods as a natural preservative. Truly natural forms of vitamin C and synthetic ascorbic acid seem to be used interchangeably.
How confusing for the consumer!
Nearly all juices and fruit products are loaded up with ascorbic acid, even many organic, healthfood store versions. It seems that if a product is labeled “high in Vitamin C”, consumers buy more of it.
A lot of folks are being fooled by these misleading semantics. There is a growing body of evidence that those consuming high doses of ascorbic acid should have reason to worry.
Three Studies Suggest Caution with High Dose Ascorbic Acid
The journal Wise Traditions cites three studies that give pause about large doses of vitamin C. The first, from the Jun 15, 2001 issue of Science, showed that “synthetic vitamin C may contribute to the formation of genotoxins that can lead to cancer”.
A second study presented to the American Heart Association showed a link between consumption of only 500 mg of vitamin C per day and a greater propensity toward thickening of the arteries (Los Angeles Times, March 3, 2000).
More recently, athletes taking 1000 mg of isolated ascorbic acid per day showed reduced endurance capacity from interference with antioxidant enzymes (American Journal of Clinical Nutrition, Jan 2008).
This information should give pause to anyone who is actively taking synthetic vitamin C supplements such as those Emergen-C packets that are available everywhere, from pharmacies and health food stores to even gas stations!
Supplements like these are NOT boosting immunity and are NOT good for you!
Synthetic vitamins such as ascorbic acid act more like drugs in the body rather than whole food nutrients with all the available co-factors. Taking any synthetic vitamin can cause imbalances in the body and should be avoided.
Another worrisome and popular trend is the recommendation of some alternative health professionals to do a “vitamin C flush” during illness. This therapy (if you can call it that) calls for large doses of ascorbic acid until the onset of diarrhea.
This approach to regaining wellness has never made any sense to me. Now, with more studies indicating the danger of high doses of vitamin C, caution seems well-founded.
Fan of Linus Pauling? Consider This…
If you are a fan of Linus Pauling who popularized the notion of huge doses of Vitamin C for the common cold in the 1970s, consider this. GMO Vitamin C did not exist when Pauling was conducting his studies. GMO derived Vitamin C is what most people are unwittingly taking today!
What’s more, the studies indicating the danger of high doses of vitamin C over long periods of time had not been done yet. They were conducted long after Pauling died in 1994.
What about High Dose, Intravenous Ascorbic Acid?
What about high dose, intravenous ascorbic acid for the very ill? Note that vitamin C for IV use is almost always derived from GMO corn as well as being extremely high dose and synthetic ascorbic acid only.
Under certain circumstances and for the very ill, high dose GMO ascorbic acid therapy can be beneficial. For example, my husband used IV ascorbic acid therapy immediately after each amalgam removal. This prevented any released mercury from getting stored in the tissues. Not doing this risks the development of autoimmune disease.
However, synthetic vitamin C especially when genetically modified shouldn’t be a regular feature in anyone’s diet or supplement regimen.
Whole Food Vitamin C is Naturally Low Dose
The best way to get vitamin C on a daily basis is from whole foods sources. This will provide you this critical nutrient at a low dosage that will do no harm over the long term.
When you get the whole foods version of vitamin C, you don’t need much at all. A truly natural vitamin C supplement with no isolated ascorbic acid is naturally low-dose and yet highly effective.
Don’t forget about the benefits of fresh grassfed milk – a great source of vitamin C. The vitamin C in milk is mostly destroyed by pasteurization, along with many other nutrients. This is why buying fresh and local is so important.
Fresh and lacto-fermented fruits and vegetables (such as traditional sauerkraut) are other excellent sources of the whole vitamin C complex.
Perhaps folks feel the need to take large doses of synthetic vitamin C because all the processed foods they are eating are so devoid of the nutrient in its whole form. Switching to whole foods and dumping those vitamin C supplements in the trash would be a much better approach to boosting immunity!
Ascorbic Acid is Usually from Genetically Modified Corn
What’s worse is that ascorbic acid is not just synthetic. Remember that it is also usually derived from genetically modified corn! More on that GMO vitamin C travesty fooling millions of consumers every single day in the linked article.
Another vitamin scam harming consumers concerns synthetic folate commercially known as folic acid.
The pushing of beta carotene as true vitamin A by food manufacturers and supplement companies is another nutritional falsehood scamming millions of consumers and worse, seriously harming their health.
What to Look for in a True Vitamin C Product
To give you some idea of what to look for in a vitamin C supplement, here are the ingredients of the one I use. Notice that there is no isolated ascorbic acid or other ascorbates and no additives. Just pure food Vitamin C sources. Please note that this is not the only Vitamin C supplement that qualifies as totally pure. There are a few others.
Pure Radiance C ingredients: camu camu berry extract, manioc root, acerola berry extract, amla berry extract, buckwheat sprouts, freeze-dried berry blend, blueberry, raspberry, cranberry, cherry, rose hips fruit, lemon peel, black pepper berry extract.
I also use the Amla C Plus. Here are the ingredients: Organic Amla berry, organic spirulina.
Notice that the words “ascorbic acid” are not listed in either of these products!
Want to know where to find a complete line of whole food Vitamin C supplements from a variety of whole food plant sources?
Click here for several carefully vetted brands to choose from.
Sarah, do you know anything about Liposomal C? My nutritionist put me on it…I get kidney stones and am worried that any kind of C might cause them…THanks!
Someone emailed me about this today … it is ascorbic acid, right?
I learned about this subject recently and I use Dr. Schulze’s Super C Plus because it is all made from real food sources. He also has a video explaining everything that Sarah has mentioned here.
For people with oxalate problems, the vitamin C can turn into oxalates after eating and kidney stones are made up of oxalates.
I’d like to point out that the acerola recommended on your resources page is from NOW Foods and contains added maltodextrin (corn), ascorbic Acid, and does not say non-gmo. Do you actually use this product?
This is disappointing .. no I use Pure Radiance C which has no additives whatsoever and is ONLY true vitamin C complex. My resources page links into a different website that lists multiple sources/brands of pure Vitamin C complex. It is unfortanate that the NOW brand is on this page as well. It should be removed. Thanks for the heads up .. I will ask if the company that manages that page can take it off.
Can children take the pure radiance vitamins?? Thanks
Any thoughts on calcium ascorbate?
On the positive side, it’s not GMO which is very good. However, calcium ascorbate, like ascorbic acid, is a fractionated nutrient and not the entire Vitamin C complex. Not the ideal in my book. Here are the ingredients on the vitamin C I take:
Pure Radiance C ingredients: camu camu berry extract, manioc root, acerola berry extract, amla berry extract, buckwheat berry sprouts, freeze-dried berry blend, blueberry, raspberry, cranberry, cherry, rose hips fruit, lemon peel, black pepper berry extract.
This is Pure Radiance C … no isolated ascorbic acid, no additives. Just pure food Vitamin C sources.
https://www.thehealthyhomeeconomist.com/resources/#supplements
I have to disagree, Sarah. The research of Pauling, Stone, Hoffer, and Riordan found high-dose vitamin c to be very affective against viral illness. Most mammals can make their own ascorbic acid but humans and guinea pigs lost the ability leaving them vulnerable to viral disease.
Yes, healthy diet is very important but sometimes for preventive purposes and dealing with chronic disease supplementation is necessary.
Yes, but supplement with real vitamin C … the entire complex. Not one piece of it (ascorbic acid) synthetically derived, or worse GMO in most cases.
people are overlooking the powerful word: COMPLEX
Exactly! Well considered comment Bianca.
the wisdom of nature is that it provides a synergy amongst all things…. isolating a single part disrupts the function and worthiness. Ascorbic acid is nothing but sugar. When I mentioned this to a naturopath many years ago he simply laughed and said what are you worried about? High doses of anything is unwise (unless in a dire temporary situation) because it disrupts the bodies natural ability and sometimes shuts it down. If one thinks about how things occur in nature, ie whole milk from cows (not skim or 2%) Vit. C COMPLEX from a single fruit, it is easy to realize the wisdom inherent in all things. Real food is best. Information is Transformation !
We use NutriBiotic Sodium Ascorbate. It’s Non GMO and you can take a large dose without any tummy issues to follow. Great article. I used synthetic Vit. C up until 2 years ago. I’m always open to change if anyone has found reasonable fault with NutriBiotic Sodium Ascorbate.
NutriBiotic Sodium Ascorbate has gotten me off my asthma inhaler. I’ve been on GAPS for over 2 years and was still needing to use a very small dose of a rescue inhaler several times a week when I decided to try high doses of the NutriBiotic Sodium Ascorbate. I had tried Acerola and Camu Camu in the past without any luck but this stuff did the trick. I had concerns about the high dosing but I would rather take my chances with this than use an inhaler and suffer the side effects and long term damage to my body. Maybe at this point after being on GAPS for so long the Acerola or Camu Camu would work but if not I’d way rather use the Sodium Ascorbate than an inhaler. Plus I figure I won’t need to do it forever once my body fully heals on GAPS.
Maybe you have histamine intolerance. I was on GAPs and taking the fermented cabbage juice. It resulted in me having to use my inhaler quite a bit. Best.
Tracey perhaps you might also like to consider a salt inhaler, it may be very beneficial. Cheers
This is an ill-researched article and amounts to an ill-informed opinion piece. There are non-GMO ascorbic acid options available. This is irresponsible fear mongering I wouldn’t have expected from this blog. The molecule in L-ascorbic acid is exactly the same as the one you would make in your liver (like most all mammals) if you made it, which we don’t. There is nothing toxic about it. The link below has excellent research links – just ignore the vegetarian slant in the rest of the site.
The RDA (Ridiculous Daily Allowance) for vitamin C is 50mg. There is no toxic, dangerous or damaging dose. 500 mg is not anywhere near a high dose. Humans do not make vit c in their livers like EVERY other mammal does, except for Guinea Pigs and primates. For optimum health in captivity, primates are given a maintenance dose of 12 GRAMS a day. Guinea pigs are used in research because they get all the diseases humans do. The chemically isolated form of vitamin c is exactly the same as the molecule produced in the liver. Linus Pauling (2 time Nobel prize winning biochemist) recommended buying the least expensive biochemically identical ascorbic acid you can find. I take a 30 gram maintenance dose daily, and up to 150 grams when I’m fighting a virus. I still get the virus, but not the symptoms.
http://www.doctoryourself.com/titration.html
This article never claims that all ascorbic acid is GMO derived. Just that “most* is especially if not otherwise labeled. Moreover, ascorbic acid is only one part of the Vitamin C complex and hence consuming it alone in a synthetically created supplement is not consuming true Vitamin C as found in food or food based Vitamin C. It is consuming one piece of it which is not as effective and therefore requires dangerous high dosages.
This is a very good response from Sarah. Very intelligent. Isolating a single nutrient seems to have become an American way of life. So sad. No magic bullets to be found anywhere out there….. ancient wisdom and the beauty and sustenance of nature itself should be pursued.
Indeed … this is why I NEVER take synthetic or fractionated vitamins like ascorbic acid in any form for any reason. Perhaps if I was extremely ill I might consider a high dose ascorbic acid IV … but never ascorbic acid for everyday use.
Don’t you understand that most mammals produce their own vitamin C? Humans don’t. Most 160-lb mammals produce 10-20g of vitamin C daily, and produce even more in times of illness or disease.
Primates lost that ability due to a viral mutation circa 25 million ya.
To consume 20g of vitamin C daily, you would need to eat almost 300 oranges!
In times of acute disease (hepatitis, cancer), one would do well to consume 200g vitamin C daily to cure serious “incurable” diseases. To consume 200g of vitamin C, you would need to eat 3000 oranges daily!!!!
3000 oranges!!!!!!!
Here’s the point: if its real vitamin C you don’t need anywhere close to 20g … you don’t even need 1 gram. My REAL vitamin C supplement is only about 120 mg for 1/4 tsp which is plenty.
Any vitamin C supplement is still an isolated single nutrient, whether the source is natural or synthetic. It’s still better to eat the whole foods that contain the vitamin C and other nutrients.
I think the criticism is very much warranted … ascorbic acid is not true Vitamin C and many people are being fooled into thinking it is. Worse, the ascorbic acid they are taking is usually GMO! There are three studies which point to the dangers of high dose ascorbic acid … one of which is thickening of the arterial walls (precursor to heart disease) so your claims of no/low risk are off base with all due respect.
My other comment goes into this in more detail, but I think it’s worth clarifying:
Vitamin C is Ascorbic Acid, but not all Ascorbic Acid is Vitamin C.
It’s the same as all squares are rectangles but not all rectangles are squares.
So it’s not that Ascorbic Acid isn’t real Vitamin C, it’s that Ascorbic Acid isn’t PURE vitamin C. It’s Vitamin C (L-Ascorbic Acid) + D-Ascorbic Acid. There is still real vitamin C in there.
The reason you need less of what you refered to as “real vitamin C” is because it contains only the Vitamin C not the mirror image form of the molecule.
As for negative health effects:
There is no/low risk if a person is healthy. Things like thicking of the arterial walls aren’t caused by the ascorbic acid, they cause by other health problems causing the filtration of excess ascorbic acid to not occur properly. Most people aren’t really fully healthy even when they seem to be.
These things will still occur if you take too high a dose of pure Vitamin C as well because that filtration is still impaired. It’s just going to take more pure vitamin C to reach that concerning excess level of ascorbic acid then it will with a mixed ascorbic acid. (Cause mixed has forms that can’t be used by the body.)
I think what tripping people up here is organic chemistry:
L-Ascorbic Acid isn’t a piece of vitamin C, it’s just the scientifc name of the actual vitamin C molecule. A natural “Vitamin C complex” likely contains L-Ascorbic Acid (reduced form), L-Ascorbate (the ionized form), and L-dehydroascorbic acid (oxidised form). A synthetic vitamin C is these same things but are D instead of L.
Reduced doesn’t mean it is lessened. It refers to just the placement of one Hydrogen atom on the molecule as part of redox chemistry: Reduction reaction = loss of one electron. Oxidation reaction = gain of one electron. The difference between these molecules is literally one electron. Ascorbic Acid has a single bonded OH group. Dehydroxyascorbic Acid has a double bonded O because the Hydrogen molecule (with it’s one proton) has been removed. Ascorbate is basically the transition state between these where the second bond from isn’t formed to either the H (Asocbic acid, forming OH) or the carbon atom it is attached to on the carbon ring of the molecule (making the double bond). Thus Ascorbate has a small – charge.
Here is the thing though: These reactions all occur spontaneously at any given time. It’s not really possible to have “pure ascorbic acid” because the molecules are going to be constantly exchanging those electrons and shifting back and forth from Ascorbic Acid to Dehydroxyascorbic Acid unless there is some other molecule in the mix to buffer it and slow this reaction.
So even if something is labelled as ascorbic acid it is still going to contain all three forms. That’s basic chemistry. When it says “ascorbic acid” as an additive on a label thats what form they added but chemical reactions are constantly occuring in your food and in your body. Nothing is one static form.
So what the real concern is:
No matter what the label says, you are never going to have 100% pure ascorbic acid/ascorbate/vitamin C. There is going to be trace amounts of other molecules from it’s source. This is the problem with most commercial products having stuff sourced from corn when it comes to corn allergies. Same thing with those “vitamin c complex” supplecments. What you are actually getting is not “complete vitamin c” versus “one part of vitamin c”. What you are getting is vitamin C + other molectules from the fruits that vitamin C is sourced from. Likely a lot of other antioxidents and phytochemicals.
So what’s the concern with “ascorbic acid”?
Nothing really. The concern is D-ascorbic acid, D-Ascorbate and D-dehydoascorbic acid. The L-form is bioactive (meaning its good for you and does what it is supposed to). The D-form is active as an antioxident (which is why it is added to a lot of foods, to prevent spoilage. ie: stops apples from browning etc.) and it won’t actually harm you, but it does nothing for the other health benefits of vitamin C. It’s not helpful for the enzymatic reactions that ascorbic acid is needed for in the body. Basically because it doesn’t fit.
A quick lesson in enantomers:
– Carbon atom had 4 spots where things can bond to them.
– When all 4 things that bind are the same thing, there is no problem.
– When some of the 4 things are different, such is the case here. You get 2 possible molecules which are mirror images of eachother. Kinda like if you were to take a puzzle piece and flip it over. It’s not going to fit in the hole in the puzzle that way. It’s still the same shape, but not the right direction. That’s what happens with molecules.
Ascorbic Acid vs Ascorbate vs Dehydoascorbate => not a big deal. Little electrons can easily move around. Will make no difference in your body because they can all convert from one to another. They are all really the same molecule which is Vitamin C.
L-form of these (natural) vs D-form of these (synthetic) => IS a big deal because D-form aren’t the right shape to fit the receptors that need the Vitamin C. Thus D-form is not really vitamin C. It’s a mirror image of vitamin C.
Think of it like your feet. Your left foot is Vitamin C. Your right foot looks like like your left, they both feet but your right foot isn’t going to fit properly in your left shoe. Your right foot of your left foot. It’s not vitamin C. It’s synthetic ascorbate/ascorbic acid. (think of the difference between that as whether or not it has a sock).
So what does this all mean in terms of your article?
– Everywhere you refer to ascorbic acid, you actually D-ascorbic acid.
– Ascorbic Acid on food labels often is synthetic D-form but sometimes it’s not, there is no way to tell unless the product label tells you a source. (such as “ascorbic acid (from oranges)” or something.)
– All Vitamin C supplements are a complex of Ascorbic Acid, Ascorbate, and Dehydoascorbic Acid whether they are synthetic or natural and whether they say Vitamin C or just Ascorbic Acid.
– Synthetic Supplements are going to be a mix of L-form and D-form. So they are still effective but you need more to have the beneficial effect. (Because there is no way to produce just one forrm in an artifical synthesis process. You will always get both.
– Natural Sourced Supplements are going to be only L-form so a much lower dose will be very effective because you aren’t getting any of that useless mirror image form that just adds empty bulk.
D-Ascorbic Acid isn’t harmful to you. You’ll pee out what your body can’t use. It’s still a good antioxident, which is still beneficial to you in other ways. It’s just not going to help any of that enzyme activity that boost your immune system.
So natural sources of Vitamin C are basically just more concentrated and thus more effective. If you mega dose a generic brand you will get the same effect. There just might be more concern of other trace contaminants.
Also I should note, the sodium ascorbate is the salt form of ascorbic acid/vitamin C. The little left over negative charge I talked about earlier? Well molecules don’t like to stay charged for long and will always look for something to bind to. If it’s not an H to reform Ascorbic Acid or a C to double bond and form dehydoascorbic acid, sometimes that little oxygen atom likes will find a positively charge ion floating about (like you have in water or the air sometimes) and bind to an Na (sodium) or a K (potassium). That’s all that is.
Once again what matters if that’s the L-form ascorbate or the D-form. The potassium or sodium isn’t a concern cause those are ions that your body has zillions of everywhere and needs and your unless you have some big health problem going on your kidneys generally filter out whatever excess you have into your pee. (If there is something else going on in your body that’s out of wack producing an excess of some other ion, that’s when stuff like kidney stones will form. It’s not from having excess of intake ascorbic acid or something else. It’s from something internally wrong in your body causing the excess to not be excreated how it normally would be. Some other system is out of wack, possibly because you are defincient in something. Vitamin C is water soluble (and it’s mirror image too) so it’s never going to build up in your body and cause harm unless something else isn’t working right and basically trapping it.)
This has been your chemistry 101 lesson for the day. Hopefully I explained it all in a way that makes sense to anyone without a chemistry background and that it clears up any misunderstanding and inaccuracies from the article and it’s comments 😉
Now I’m off to see if I can find the answer to what lead me here in the first place:
What is added to products labelled “Buffered Vitamin C Powder” or “Buffered Ascorbic Acid Powder”. I need the powder for chemistry reasons not nutritional so L-form or D-form makes no difference to my needs, I’m looking for antioxident effect. I just need to know what that buffer is and if it’s going to affect the reaction I need with silver halide. (I’m making some film developer.) If anyone knows the cheapest source for vitamin C powder (nutritional quality not mattering) in Canada, let me know. 🙂
The name ascorbic acid betrays the prejudice in our understanding of Vitamin C. The RDA is based on preventing scurvy. Like it is not possible it has many more subtle roles to play in the body. More telling is the natural production of vitamin C by all the mammals that make it naturally. They range for a healthy individual from 50 to 200 mg per kilogram of body weight per day. Even at the low end 50 mg x 70 Kg (155 pounds person) would naturally synthesize 3500mg a day. Under stress from disease or injury that number skyrockets by at least an order of magnitude. Will you get sick and die in short order if you don’t have 5 or 10 grams of C per day, no not likely. But the long term effects of decades of chronic shortage are totally overlooked. And the only animals that we know of that get coronary artery disease like people: great apes and guinea pigs coincidentally the only animals that like humans are missing the complete enzyme pathway to synthesize their bodies requirements.
L abscorbic acid IS found in nature and is also the most common supplement form of the vitamin. In fact, it’s the most prominent form of the vitamin found in both rose hips and hiniscus, making up more than 70% of total abscorbates.
Typing on my phone… I meant to say ascorbic and hibiscus not abscorbic and hiniscus
The point you’re missing is that ascorbic acid is only one component of the vitamin C complex and more, it is synthetically derived and GMO for the vast majority of Vitamin C supplements on the market.
Guess what? You are probably a GMO product of ancient aliens who came and modified the local monkeys.
Monsatan gave all GM tech a bad name with things like terminator-, BT-, and glyphosate-resistant- genes, evil science with profit as its motive.
Genetically modified bacteria is a totally different game – they are designed to produce specific molecules which are finally thoroughly purified into a pure form. i.e., there is no residual DNA, no glyphosate, and no chemicals beyond an amount of ppb equal to that found in organic green tea.
I found a whole food vitamin c. My family has been using it for the past 3 years. I have 3 children and it is there favorite treat in the morning. We think it tastes like a pixie stick. The vitamin c is called Real C and you can get it from there website. . The whole food vitamin c is in a powder form. it is made from acerola cherries, black currents, oranges and grapefruit juice.
Please go to the link below to read the facts (just updated two month ago) about different forms of vitamin C from the Linus Pauling Institute:
http://lpi.oregonstate.edu/infocenter/vitamins/vitaminC/vitCform.html
Many of the suggestions by the author and the readers are good, but some are just wrong. Whole food can be good, except for our present-day depleted soil. Thus supplementation with various vitamins is essential to optimum health and longevity. Look for organic supplements free of preservatives, GMO, additives, and allergens, such as those from NUTRIGOLD.
This author’s comments are biased and misleading bordering on logical fallacy. Many of us integrative medicine physicians have spent our lives researching and applying the scientific method to clinical practice and have can you please verify to me when and where you received your PhD, ND, DC, or MD degree and what biochemistry rubrics have you applied to justify these assertions?
The data points you are using to solidify your argument are industry backed sham research articles my dear.
Anyone on this board interested in the truth should simply ask Dr. Russel Jaffe MD, PhD what he thinks.
I mean to reference the original author of this article and NOT M. Mavor.
Doctors are never wrong 😀