Re Re Re A whole lemon working better than ascorbic etc. C,

Hi Lorica,

I have ingested [on average] well in excess of 50 grams of ascorbic acid [in superb health, not illness, I might add] every day for the past 20 years. I check my saliva pH every morning upon arising. If ascorbic acid made one's fluids overly acidic, I [of all people] would/should most certainly have that problem, so I can only be surprised at [and do not understand] your [testing] results!

I will admit, Lorica, that it takes a very HEALTHY GI tract to be able to ingest large amounts of ascorbic acid, and that many [if not most] people do not have it. Pauling was one of those [who did not have it (he did not start dosing until he was 65 years old, and was relatively unhealthy earlier in life)]. If a person PERSISTS in cleaning up/out their GI tract, my experience is that they will have little to no problem with ingesting their ascorbate in the hydrogen form [which form has DOUBLE the "free"/extra/alkalinizing/toxin neutralizing/antioxidizing ELECTRONS per molecule (vs. the mineral ascorbates)].

Lorica, please consider: Lemons have a very large amount of citric acid in them. HOW could they CAUSE an ALKALINE reaction in the body? Alkalinity is caused by "extra" electrons, purely and simply. That is what the pH scale measures. Just like citric acid , ascorbic acid is a weak acid, allowing it to be eliminated by the body, by-and-large, via the lungs, as carbon dioxide [vs. the urine, which requires the expenditure of some of its (precious and limited) alkaline buffer(s) to excrete (as is the case with strong bodily acids like lactic and phosphoric, etc.)].

As Dr. Cathcart wrote, "I have not been able to achieve the ascorbate effect with mineral ascorbates orally. Mineral ascorbates are fine forms of vitamin C, but when you are really sick, the mitochondria are failing in their refueling of the free radical scavengers with electrons. The ascorbic acid carries 2 extra electrons per molecule, where the mineral ascorbates...carry only one (plus, per molecule, the mineral ascorbates are heavier. So the mineral ascorbates are not potent enough to accomplish the ascorbate effect. There may be other reasons that we do not appreciate additionally."

It is those [extra] electrons, Lorica, that produce health, and eliminate disease [obviously after an adequate diet], and ascorbic acid is the BEST, i.e. most concentrated, source of them [at least supplementally] that I am aware of. A few quotes from Dr. Thomas Levy, MD, are very instructive [in this regard]:

"Electron flow supply: high flow = health; low flow = illness; no flow = death....

"All good nutritional nutrients are ultimately always antioxidants, and all antioxidants are always ultimately nutrients. The ability to donate electrons means it is a nutrient. Toxins are always oxidants, and oxidants are always toxic. The ability to take electrons away, means it is a toxin [and is synonymous with toxins of all varieties]. To my knowledge yet, no exceptions....

"ALL disease symptoms are induced by oxidants, i.e. electron depletion....

"All antioxidants replete electrons, and it is by that mechanism that you get pain relief or resolution of any particular symptom. It is literally that simple....

"Vitamin C is proven effective against ALL toxins....

"Everything you ingest, when it is metabolized and brought down to a molecular level, is going to do one of three things: it's going to give up an electron; it's going to take an electron away; or in extremely rare circumstances, it is going to be electronically inert, and do neither. There's really no other options."

So the "$64,000" question, Lorica, is: How do we get as many of those ELECTRONS into us as possible? I submit to you, that ascorbate, and particularly hydrogen ascorbate, i.e. ascorbic acid [orally], is absolutely the BEST source of them that exists [at least that I have been able to discover after much research]. That is why Dr. Levy called it, i.e. ascorbate, the "Primal Panacea."

As for source, the ascorbate molecule is produced from glucose, whether in the animal's livers, or in a manufacturing plant. The source of that glucose is irrelevant. As just one example, the astronauts all drink water produced from their own, and their fellow astronauts, URINE. H2O is H2O.

And I agree with you, Lorica, we are the healthiest when we are slightly alkaline, e.g. [as you wrote] in the 7.2 to 7.5 pH range. With all of the extra electrons ascorbic acid is able to "donate," my experience and study convinces me it is the number one source [supplementally] to produce that alkalinity in the body!

I offer all of this, Lorica, only as "grist for your mill," and wish you the very BEST of health!

Sincerely,

David Tweet