VITAMIN C - THE MASTER NUTRIENT

Foreword Richard A. Passwater, Ph.D.

The scientific excitement continues about the vita-min C family of nutrients. Our knowledge of the health roles that the vitamin C family play continue to grow daily as scientific study after scientific study reveals more about them until at last it has become apparent that vitamin C is the "Master Nutrient."

The vitamin C family includes vitamin C, vitamin C metabolites, and the vitamin C "helpmates,"- the bioflavonoids. Vitamin C activity is provided by ascor-bic acid, mineral ascorbates, and other ascorbate compounds.

Scientists have long been aware of the importance of bioflavonoids, as at one time they were even thought to be vitamins themselves. At first, Nobel Prize winner Dr. Albert Szent-Gyorgyi called the bio-flavonoids "vitamin P." Now we recognize that bio-flavonoids are semi-essential secondary food factors. But recent research with formerly little-known bio-flavonoids such as pycnogenol and quercitin is caus-ing scientists to look afresh at the earlier importance of the bioflavonoids as envisioned by Dr. Szent-Gyorgi.

Vitamin C: The Master Nutrient may be the first book to describe in detail the research of vitamin C along with its natural metabolites of the aldonic acid family. These metabolites are proving to have unex-pected and exciting results that potentiate vitamin C and increase its effectiveness. The most important metabolites, L-threonic acid, L-xylonic acid and L-lyxonic acid appear to aid in the retention and circulation of active vitamin C, and even help trans-port vitamin C into both fat-based and water-based systems. Dr. Sandra Goodman states that the discov-ery of the modulating roles of metabolites will almost' certainly rewrite all our textbooks to make room for the treatment of vitamin C's many physiological and hormonal roles in the body.

Dr. Sandra Goodman also breaks new ground with details on the research of Dr. RJ Jariwalla at the Linus Pauling Institute on how vitamin C inhibits HIV reverse transcriptase activity and thus inacti-vates the AIDS virus. The far-reaching implications of the research of Dr. Anthony Verlangieri of the University of Mississippi's Atherosclerosis Research Laboratory is also reviewed. Dr. Verlangieri has shown that added vitamin C to the diet reduces deposits in the arteries.

These aforementioned are only two of the many areas in which vitamin C works. Dr. Goodman describes a significant portion of the known area of vitamin activity, and the reader will come to understand why vitamin C is being called "The Master Nutrient."

Vitamin C: The Master Nutrient has substance to offer to both the health professional and the lay person. Both need to understand the broad base of vitamin C activity and be updated on the new re-search presented. This is must reading as no health professional is fully informed without the knowledge of vitamin C presented here. In fact, all of us are responsible for our own health and for being fully informed about this "Master Nutrient."