Vitamin C (ascorbic acid) is a colorless and odorless, crystalline, easily water-soluble solid with an acidic taste. Vitamin C performs many important functions in the body. Its name is derived from Latin “scorbutus“, preceded by an “a-” to negate it – the antiscorbutic acid. This is because the disease scurvy, which was particularly feared among seafarers in the past, is prevented by sufficient amounts of vitamin C. A detailed description of the scientific thriller surrounding the discovery of vitamin C as an antidote for scurvy can be found in the book “Bye bye, booze!“.
Today, scurvy is considered to have been eradicated in our latitudes – but possibly wrongly so. “The effects of vitamin C deficiency affect millions worldwide,” write Swedish researchers – particularly affected: alcoholics. That’s because alcohol washes vitamin C out of the body. Moreover, alcohol prevents vitamin C from entering the body’s cells, i.e., where it can exert its effects in the first place.
American researchers have found out that this is probably the reason why alcoholics so often suffer from pancreatitis. And in 2016, Australian diabetics made the headlines. They were diagnosed with scurvy.
The British Medical Journal recently published a call to action on vitamin C: “Call for Action!” The benefits of the vitamin for sufferers are too clear – at such a low cost. The problem is that since most medical professionals believe that scurvy has disappeared from the Western world, no one is looking for it anymore. Medical students practically no longer learn about the disease at university.
You can read about the detailed symptoms, what this means for alcoholics in particular, and how to counteract it in the book “Bye bye, booze!”
Vitamin C is something like a universal catalyst, a lubricant needed everywhere. It accompanies chemical reactions in the body and defuses unpleasant or dangerous by-products. The importance of vitamin C is shown by the fact that it is found most abundantly in the body after the adrenal gland: In the brain.
After that come other vital organs where the chemistry is boiling. Liver and kidneys, for example. That’s why vitamin C is so important when quitting alcohol: the body needs to detox vigorously and the metabolism needs to get going again. There are reports that withdrawal is much easier with vitamin C.
