Vitamin C: The Mysterious Redox-System A Trigger Of Life?

In 1970, Linus Pauling, winner of the Nobel Prize in 1954 for his work on the chemical bond, speculated the potential of vitamin C to prevent and cure diseases such as cancer, flu and cold by using high amounts of vitamin C. First of all, Vitamin C, also known as ascorbic acid, is a molecule with complex characteristics despite its simple structure. It is an “elusive vitamin, very variable in concentration even in food groups (fruits and vegetables) that are recognised as good sources of the vitamin, very soluble in water and very sensitive to alkali, oxidation and heat” (Nobile & Woodhill, Vitamin C : the Mysterious Redox-System A Trigger of Life?, 1981). Vitamin C has undoubtedly been a very effective deterrent and solution against numerous
Vitamin C seemed to be the solution for most of the terrible illnesses listed above. However, these symptoms occur due to lack in Vitamin C in the body. Hence, it is not the case that Vitamin C is the solution to some of the terrible illnesses listed above when these illnesses themselves are due to deficiency of dietary Vitamin C. This thus led to peoples’ illusion of Vitamin C being a “miracle” in alleviating some of the threats to human health when in truth those threats can be deterred by having sufficient dietary intake of vitamin
Furthermore, scurvy was a common disease then as stated by Lester Packer in his book ‘Vitamin C in Health and Disease’ that “during the depression years of the 1930s, many cases of scurvy were observed, particularly in large cities. This was the result of poor housing, insufficient food and lack of sources of Vitamin C in the diet”. Due to sources of Vitamin C from food being rare then, there was desperation in finding the formula for synthetic Vitamin C. With the invention of synthetic Vitamin C came the thought of the endless possibilities of Vitamin C. Thus, due to such advancement in technology back in the day, opponents see the advent of synthetic Vitamin C as a remarkable