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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.
The main problem with high dose Vitamin C is not the fact that it is synthetic, but that our bodies can only recycle about 250mg per day. Any excess turns into oxalate and most people already ingest more oxalate than their bodies can throw out. So I’m not surprised that someone else here has commented that their husband got a kidney stone from it. The increased cancer risk is due to the accumulation of oxalate in the body which causes inflammation and sulphate deficiency, creating the perfect environment for cancer to grow. Lack of sulphate also slows the blood flow, and I wouldn’t be surprised if the oxalate also directly interfered with the mentioned antioxidant enzymes.
How about Seeking Health Optimal vitamin c buffered powder? I just bought it and was going to give it to my family including my 10 year old?
I haven’t examined that specific brand. I will see if I can find more about it and take a look!
Standard Process Cyruta–look it up–whole Vitamin C. SP is, of course, non-GMO; they grow everything themselves and it’s highly controlled.
All vitamin C is Ascorbic Acid, all Ascorbic Acid is Vitamins C. It doesn’t matter where it comes from. That’s how chemistry works. The properties of this chemical are not different because it has a different source, it is a fixed ratio of hydrogen, oxygen and carbon atoms in a specific arrangement. There are no “genes” involved. But honestly, if you’re really going to continue to be worried about it in the face of reality then don’t take any supplements for it at all. You get more than enough Vitamin C from eating a reasonable amount of fresh fruits and vegetables. The vast majority of supplements are a scam and do nothing but give you expensive urine.
For many, the very real problem involving all supplements, is HYPERSENSITIVITY to corn and ALL corn derivatives used in the production of the supplement. Whether synthetic or natural, most of us have been misled because of the CORN LOBBY “persuading” those who decide which foods are officially included in THE KNOWN ALLERGENS WHICH MUST BE LISTED ON A PRODUCT’S LABEL. In other words, someone arbitrarily decided for all of us that corn is not an allergen and does not require specific language warning a shopper that he/she is considering a product that may cause very serious health issues. Hence, the labels stating that the product contains NO SUGAR, NO SOY, ETC ETC, are no longer required to warn potential buyers of the inclusion or non-inclusion of corn. I am affected by corn, but many people probably have the same problem with other foods or substances.
FYI, I have been tested for allergies many times over thirty years. I have never tested positive to corn. However, when/if I ingest a supplement made with corn starch, corn syrup, or any other derivative of corn, I could very well end that day in a mental hospital, and that would probably be a “best case” scenario. A friend of mine has the same risk but would probably end up in an ER, experiencing anaphylactic shock.
Fortunately, many psychiatrists and psychiatric nurses have learned that sometimes (what appears to be) serious psychosis can be treated and “cured” with nothing more than a change in diet and/or supplementation. Probably the quickest way to determine a nutrition-related issue would be through fasting.
Thank God for Sarah, the host of this website and like-minded individuals working to spread the truth … as much as we know it at this time.
Sera often goes against the conventional wisdom of the alternative health community.
She does not have a contact link on he website which I find frustrating. Apparently the only way I might get to her is through this blog.
In view of your remarks in this article I think you have a duty to explain away Tom Levy’s book Curing the incurable. Also, Linus Pauling is reported to have taken 10 grams of C a day.
How was he harmed by doing so?
Actually, I DO have a contact link in the footer of every single page. The name is Sarah and not Sera, by the way 🙂
The scientific studies in this article on the dangers of mega-doses of Vitamin C were not conducted during Pauling’s lifetime if you want to take a look again.
Mega-doses of Vitamin C that would NEVER occur in a traditional, fully whole foods diet are said to harm the kidneys over the longterm as well … I will see if I can find the reference for that. Again, short term IV Vitamin C for very sick people is therapeutic. But, taking megadoses everyday like some people do is misguided.
I noticed you mentioned rose hips as an ingredient in the vitamin C supplement you are recommending. You might want to research about the dangers of rose hips. Kind regards 🙂
I just purchased a bag of frozen tropical fruit (organic) and two of the listed ingredients are ‘ascorbic acid’ and ‘citric acid.’ Even though it’s an organic-certified product (which, my limited understanding of the organic food industry, tells me that that there should be no GMO ingredients in those types of products), would you be aware if there is a chance that the ascorbic acid and/or citric acid would be GMO? Thank you, in advance, for your thoughts. 🙂
You are CORRECT most (90%) of your Ascorbic Acid is from GMO corn / fungal /mold grown on Sorbitol – while Citric Acid is grown on Aspergillus black mold / so you have about 10% of your Ascorbic acid from natural bioactive sources – you won’t see this on labels as FDA does not distinguish between natural and artificial Ascorbic acid – but you can find out / PULL a COA = on the product from the Company if you can get one, if they don’t give you COA on request you know they are hiding – other ways is like I have a 1,500 mg per teaspoon Acerola C Ascorbic acid FROM THE JUICE ( 1.5 grams per teaspoon from the juice ) so it is fully bioactive cold pressed has the flavonoids everything from the skins seeds ( Stone fruit ) etc in it ( tho all this is not listed again FDA reg’s as they recognized the Ascorbic acid content ) so where it came from is the key / ours is label rated at 25% for the 1,500 mg per teaspoon but 3rd party COA came in at 31.56% beating all my minimum requirements / I sell this for 75.00 / Pound , Similar sells on AMZN for 19.99 per OUNCE / mine is spray dried on super heated super dry maltodextrin calorie free , most do not know maltodextrin comes in 1001 types for many uses from thickening agent like for jellos / cooking to sweeteners, to like mine just a drying agent / depends on the use – in general it is just the starch from virtually any plant where the proteins and everything else is denatured / On a Per dosed basis mine has =0= calories for example , so when you see one saying take 1 teaspoon and it has 200-500 mg with 3 grams of carbohydrates and 1 gram sugar it’s not 25% -they may have put sprinkles of 25% in it but the rest is a sugar cut lowering it to the 200-500 mg’s – You could do same with mine cut it with 3 lbs sugars ( sugar is a carbohydrate ) and get 6-8% Acerola at 200-500 mg, this is a prime example of Label deceit and now you know how to catch label lies Watch those grams of sugars and carbs per teaspoon or scoop – you get about 3.5-4 grams per teaspoon M/L – and then they can ADD the Artificial mold grown to buffer the strength so then they can say 25% Acerola at such XXX mg when in fact it is all a like- Read your labels = Dan Webb on Fb / been in business since 1978
I’m an Amateur Mycologist, and I’m pretty sure that the “majority” of Vitamin C produced today is NOT synthetic, and nor is it produced from corn… but is “milked” as a secondary metabolite from genetically modified Aspergillus flavus, a non-deadly strain of the deadly fungus with the same name. I’m confused as to why you didn’t even mention fungal-derived Ascorbic acid? While not deadly, it is still GMO. Corrections welcomed.
Did you ever get a response on your questions? I am very interested.