Vitamin C - what form?

[faceinthecrowd]

I want to take a one a day men's vitamin to supplement my diet. The one I purchased has 90 mg of Vitamin C as ascorbic acid. I've read that Vitamin C as calcium ascorbate (about 2 g) is recommended for good prostate health, but it seems most multi-vitamins have vitamin C in the ascorbic acid form. Should I worry about taking a multi-vitamin with its vitamin C in the ascorbic acid form? Would appreciate any help. Thanks.

[dshoskes]

I want to take a one a day men's vitamin to supplement my diet. The one I purchased has 90 mg of Vitamin C as ascorbic acid. I've read that Vitamin C as calcium ascorbate (about 2 g) is recommended for good prostate health, but it seems most multi-vitamins have vitamin C in the ascorbic acid form. Should I worry about taking a multi-vitamin with its vitamin C in the ascorbic acid form? Would appreciate any help. Thanks.

There is no such thing as "maintaining prostate health". It is a fiction designed by supplement makers to get around FDA regulations stating that they can't market for a specific medical condition. Vitamin C does nothing in particular for the prostate. In prostatitis patients, high doses of vitamin C can acidify the urine and worsen symptoms.

[webslave]

I find Ester C (a buffered form of Vit. C that will not acidify the urine) to be useful for combating the fatigue I feel after eating some foods. Vitamin C is a histamine vacuum, and that's how I believe it helps.

During the past several years in three separate studies, Johnston has shown that high doses of vitamin C lower blood histamine levels. Histamine is the substance that causes allergy symptoms, bringing on the congestion, sneezing, and itching that plague sufferers.

"When your body is stressed, histamine levels go up. And the reason histamine goes up is because it makes you more alert, ready to fight," Johnston explains.

"But in our society we're under chronic stress. We have chronically elevated histamine. It's not doing us any good because we don't need this fight or flight process going. Your body gets all revved up and the histamine goes up. But it suppresses your immune system," she adds.

Johnston's research shows that people who consume 2,000 mg of vitamin C per day have a blood histamine level 40 percent lower than those who consume the RDA.

"People take antihistamines like they're candy," Johnston says. "Maybe the problem is we're not eating right. Maybe if we all ate more fruits and vegetables and took vitamin C we wouldn't have to be taking all these antihistamines."

She is quick to add that she's not opposed to antihistamines
From http://researchmag.asu.edu/stories/vitaminc.html

[Mike]

I use Ester-C daily, to be honest I find it helps the symptoms and my allergies.

[MastCells]

I find Ester C (a buffered form of Vit. C that will not acidify the urine) to be useful for combating the fatigue I feel after eating some foods. Vitamin C is a histamine vacuum, and that's how I believe it helps.

How many mgs do you take per day?

[webslave]

1 to 2 grams. (1000-2000mg).

[MastCells]

There is no such thing as "maintaining prostate health". It is a fiction designed by supplement makers to get around FDA regulations stating that they can't market for a specific medical condition.

I can't tell you how refreshing it is to hear a urologist say this. Every time I turn on the boob tube at 3 AM and channel surf, because I can't sleep a wink, I see a different infomercial for a supplement that "maintains prostate health." The phrase is so vague as to be meaningless.

[MastCells]

I was wondering if some of you are still taking ester-C? I have tried vit C in the past which irritated my bladder. Is ester-C well tolerated?

I could not tolerate regular vitamin C either; it made me nauseous.

I have just started taking ester-C (buffered vitamin C) at 2g/day. If it doesn't help, or if it makes my symptoms worse, I will blame Mike and Mark. Just kidding.

[Gabriel]

Keep us posted about how the ester-C works for you. I have some myself, but haven't started taking it yet.

[jamo]

I've used quercetin complex with vit c ester-c plus by solgar. No probs at all with this product, does cause me any flares at all.Helps very much with inflamation.

jamo.

[MastCells]

I was wondering if some of you are still taking ester-C? I have tried vit C in the past which irritated my bladder. Is ester-C well tolerated?

Update: I definitely tolerate ester-C *much* better than regular vitamin C (which makes me sick in large doses), and I've noticed a slight improvement in prostatitis symptoms since starting it (unless it's just the placebo effect). So I won't be yelling at Mike and Mark.