Amount of vit C in un-supplemented western diet

[trillian]

Does anyone know a credible figure for the amount of vit C the average person on a Western
(US / UK) type diet gets per day?

Taking into consideration the relatively low intake of vegetables and even then they
are usually cooked.

(When I think about how I used to eat in my youth I am amazed I'm still alive.)

Anyway, if there are good figures for this somewhere let me know, I am currently
writing a book and need to finish the vit c chapter soon.

Thanks,
sheryl

[zucic]

Does anyone know a credible figure for the amount of vit C the average person on a Western
(US / UK) type diet gets per day?

It must be very miserable. In fact, large part of vitamin C is oxidized, and
used thanks to some recycling. This is probably how potato eradicated
scurvy in Norway. Raw potato is toxic, and cooked potato probably delivers
vitamin C in oxidized form.

[ofonorow]

Well, if the diet is less than 10 mg daily - you die of scurvy.

[trillian]

Well, what I will probably have to do is just see if I can get a figure for
how much cooking decreases the vit C content and then use a chart I
have for different foods and let people judge for themselves how much
they probably get in their diet. (and I will mention that some things
that are prominant in many diets, like sugar, increase the need for vit C so they
lose out on both sides)

Sheryl

[individual freedom]

trillian,

one of the books i am now reading touched on this very subject.

book: the real vitamin and mineral book 2nd ed. by shari lieberman and nancy bruning

it's ten years old, but seems to be an honest and fairly accurate work. (they could have done more reading of atkins before being somewhat critical of him)

i can't find the exact item you are looking for but i thought i came across it in my read.

here is an example: p.24: "the results of several studies have indicated that hospital patients as a group are some of the most malnourished people in the world. in one study, only 12 percent of the patients tested had normal levels of vitamins in their bodies. yet most of them had been eating a "normal American diet."

somewhere in the book i believe there was mention of how a third??? of Americans do not eat any vegitables???
there was other discussion of how short lived vitamin c is in the fruit we might use, as well as other talk regarding the low levels of vitamins and minerals in the food we eat or the food fed to the livestock we eat.

hope this helps your research for your book.

individual freedom (richard)

[trillian]

Thanks Richard, I'll see what I can find online under those author names.

Yeah the thing about hospital food is just glaring evidence for a fundamental
problem in conventional medicine, which is that they almost completely
ignore diet and nutrition (and are often not trained in nutrition).

I think more and more awareness is happening though. Over here we have
had a major shake-up in school meals and I think some of that is trickling
down to hospitals as well.

[Van Carman]

As I understand,a key recycling enzyme is enabled with sulfhydryls present in humans,to recycle ascorbic acid.This may help keep many going.Others may input on this.Van

[Kathy]

[individual freedom]

trillian (sheryl),

from the main page of the vitamin c foundation, under breaking news:

http://www.medicalnewstoday.com/medical ... wsid=54550

i think you may have seen this, but if not, the links may be of help.

regards,

individual freedom (richard)