Fitness

Although the word vitamin was not coined until this fi century, vitamin C has been known for over 200 years; its deficiency disease, scurvy, has played a major role in history. In 1754 James Lind wrote a treatise on scurvy recommending lemon juice for its prevention or cure. Despite the fact that we live in a land of plenty and our need for this vitamin can scarcely be called news, surveys show that three-fourths of our populations receive less than the minimum daily allowance recommended by the National Research Council.

All fresh, growing foods contain vitamin C, or ascorbic acid. The richest sources are citrus fruits, guavas, ripe bell peppers and pimientos, and the seed pods of wild roses, known as rose hips. During World War II, the English extracted quantities of vitamin C from rose hips, simultaneously using hops from beer for the B vitamins; a wit remarked that England’s magnificent strength was maintained by “her hips and her hops.” Tomato juice, cabbage, and fresh strawberries are fair sources. Scurvy has resulted whenever people have been unable to get fresh foods.

One function of vitamin C is to help form and maintain a strong cement-like material, known as collagen, which holds together every cell in your body. The amount of collagen required uses about a third of all the body protein. The collagen serves much the same purpose as cement does in a brick building except that the “concrete” in a healthy body is in the form of a stiff jelly, like gristle or a tough gelatin, known as connective tissue; thus every cell in your body “reposes” in a protective bed of jelly. This connective tissue is concentrated in the cartilage, the ligaments, the walls of all the blood vessels, the base of the bones and of the developing teeth, and gives all of these structures both great strength and elasticity. Although vitamin C is necessary for the formation of this tough jelly, adequate calcium must be present before the “[el” can set.’ Calcium is not part of the structure; it merely has a stiffening effect much as pectin does. In fact, pectin is to the plant world what connective tissue is to the animal body; neither can be formed without vitamin C or be strong in the absence of adequate calcium.

Strong connective tissue plays a role of far greater importance than has heretofore been appreciated. Cell walls are only a few molecules thick; almost any harmful substance can penetrate them, whether it be virus, poisons, toxins, dangerous drugs, allergins or other foreign materials which often gain access to the body. Strong connective tissue is not easily penetrated; thus the cells are protected. An undersupply of vitamin C, however, allows this tissue to break down; a lack of calcium allows it to weaken; protective doors are flung open, and pirates are invited in.

The walls of blood vessels must be able to expand or contract, depending on the amount of blood needed at a certain place and time; hence elasticity and strength are of paramount importance. Normal blood vessels are amazingly elastic, like rubber bands. Although a partial lack of vitamin C causes changes in all blood-vessel walls, those of the capillaries, made of single cells cemented with minute quantities of connective tissues, are affected most. When a deficiency exists, therefore, the capillary walls readily break down, and blood is freed into the tissues. These tiny hemorrhages occur first in the intestinal walls, the bone marrow and joints, sometimes causing pain spoken of as “rheumatism.” When the walls break near the surface of the skin, the freed blood discolors to produce a bruise. Regardless of the severity of a blow, a bruise shows brittleness and loss of elasticity in the blood-vessel walls; it is usually the first visual evidence of a vitamin-C deficiency, especially in women and children. “Pink toothbrush” may be the first symptom in men, who bruise infrequently because their muscles are generally harder than women’s. Bruises and bleeding gums are both important danger signals. When adequate vitamin C is added to the diet, however, the capillary walls become strong within 24 hours.

A subtle lack of this vitamin causes profound changes in growing teeth. A deficiency in childhood causes slow dental growth or temporary cessation of growth. The dentin formed during a deficiency is porous and soft; if decay later penetrates the enamel, it meets little resistance; the pulp quickly becomes infected; the tooth dies and is probably lost. Experiments with labeled minerals show that when vitamin C is added to the diet of a child lacking it, normal dentin formation is resumed within a few hours.

If vitamin C is inadequate, the foundation of the bones partially breaks down, minerals are lost, the bones become rarefied and brittle and lack elasticity and strength; such bones break easily. Even when generous amounts of calcium and phosphorus are available, they cannot be deposited in the bones because the collagen base is too weak to hold them.

If vitamin C is generously added to a diet otherwise adequate and the vitamin is well absorbed, dramatic changes take place in the bones whether during childhood or advanced age. New bone foundation forms within 24 hours, and minerals, if available, are quickly laid down. Bones thus continually change; a deficiency of vitamin C during the winter, followed by generous amounts from summer fruits and vegetables, produces alternate softening and strengthening of the bones, causing them to break easily at one time and to resist fractures at another.

Gum tissue fits tightly around the base of each tooth in a healthy mouth; it does not bleed even when brushed vigorously with a stiff-bristled brush. If vitamin C is undersupplied, the gums become puffy and spongy and bleed easily. Ever-present bacteria live on the dead cells of the gum tissue, and infections such as pyorrhea pockets often develop. When such patients have the pockets cleaned out and an adequate diet is eaten, soreness and inflammation often show marked improvement in a few days. A lack of vitamin A or niacin, however, also causes susceptibility to gum infections.

In pyorrhea the gums not only bleed easily and become infected, but much bone surrounding the teeth is destroyed, causing them to become loose. When guinea pigs (used experimentally because most animals produce their own vitamin C) are kept only mildly deficient in this nutrient, a condition strikingly similar to pyorrhea develops in nine months, which is equivalent to 40 years of human life, the age when pyorrhea most frequently appears. It seems probable that a subtle undersupply of vitamin C over a period of years plays a causative role in the onset of pyorrhea. Typical pyorrhea, however, is not uncommon among malnourished children and adolescents. If the infection is not too far advanced, an entirely adequate diet unusually high in vitamin C can restore oral health.