In the 1940s, Dr Frederick Robert Klenner began to use large doses of vitamin C to treat many diseases. The important promoter of this statement is Linus Pauling, who won two Nobel Prizes, so his remarks have a great influence on the public.
From 65438 to 0966, linus pauling was exposed to the therapeutic idea of high-dose vitamin C through biochemist irving stone. From then on, Pauling took 3 grams of vitamin C every day to prevent the common cold, and published a book "Vitamin C and the Common Cold" in 1970 to promote this view.
Pauling loves vitamin C, and has also conducted research on the treatment of cancer, brain injury in children and cardiovascular diseases, but all of them have been proved ineffective in the end. In China, the widespread spread of this statement is mainly due to the excessive publicity of vitamin C supplements. And many people are really doing it, and they believe it. It would be very convenient if taking vitamin C can prevent the flu, but do they really have this effect? What role does vitamin C have?
Vitamin C, also called L- ascorbic acid, is a water-soluble vitamin, which is rich in fruits and fresh vegetables. Vitamin C in food is absorbed by human small intestine, which does have many functions.
1 helps to synthesize collagen. Collagen produces connective tissue and forms the bones of the body. Such as bones, blood vessels and ligaments. 2. Treat scurvy. When vitamin C in the body is seriously insufficient, it will lead to scurvy. Although cases are rare, serious cases can be fatal. 3. Prevent gingival atrophy and bleeding. 4. Anti-oxidation. Vitamin C is a strong antioxidant, which can protect the activity of some enzymes in the body, scavenge free radicals, prevent lipid peroxidation and toxic effects of some chemicals, and protect the detoxification ability of the liver and the normal metabolism of cells. 5, promote the absorption of iron in the intestine, and help to treat anemia. 6. Vitamin C is also involved in amino acid metabolism and neurotransmitter synthesis. It has antihistamines and prevents the formation of carcinogen nitrosamines.
Can vitamin C prevent or treat influenza? However, in 1975, Thomas Chalmers analyzed the possible role of vitamin C in treating colds, and the results showed that vitamin C had no obvious effect on colds.
Although some people later questioned that the dose of vitamin C in this study was too low, only 0.025-0.05g/ day, a small dose of vitamin C may be an important reason for the lack of positive results in this study. In some later studies, some people came to the conclusion that vitamin C can treat colds. However, it is worth mentioning that a meta-analysis published on 20 18 summarized 45 studies and finally concluded that vitamin C could not prevent colds. So there is no real hammer to prove that vitamin C can prevent and treat colds.