Severe alcoholics very often have glaring gaps in their vitamin C intake. This was found by American researchers in almost 70 patients who were admitted to the clinic over the course of a year.
Three out of four affected had vitamin C blood levels even below the limit that medicine defines as scurvy. The doctors not only treated the patients with vitamin B1, which is considered standard treatment in acute alcohol withdrawal, but also gave them larger amounts of vitamin C. As a result, the vitamin C level in the blood had already normalised after three days.
The physicians draw a clear conclusion in their study: “Our results show that vitamin C deficiency is extremely common in people who abuse alcohol. All these patients should not only receive vitamin B1, but also vitamin C in addition,” they write.
Primary source: Adding an orange to the banana bag: vitamin C deficiency is common in alcohol use disorders. Crit Care. 2019 May 10;23(1):165. doi: 10.1186/s13054-019-2435-4.
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