Interesting Critter Category

Interesting critter category:
Guinea pigs, apes, fruit bats and humans


What do guinea pigs, apes, some fruit bats and humans have in common? They all share the inability to produce their own ascorbic acid (vitamin C). All other animals produce vitamin C endogenously, or inside their own bodies.

Scientists believe they have evidence suggesting that humans used to produce their own ascorbic acid from an enzyme produced in the liver. But something happened and humans now depend on dietary sources of vitamin C.

Guinea pigs, apes, some fruit bats and humans share another trait: The tendency to develop coronary heart disease. The development of heart disease only occurs in animals and humans that lack adequate intake of ascorbates through dietary sources.

It has also been observed that zoo animals, such as gorillas fed processed "gorilla chow" readily develop heart disease unless they are supplied with adequate amounts of ascorbates.

By comparing the amount of vitamin C produced endogenously in animals that do not develop heart disease, we can get a good idea of how much vitamin C is essential to maintain cardiovascular health in humans.
Goats, cows, dogs, cats, squirrels and rabbits manufacture ascorbic acid at a rate of about 10 g per 70 kg (154 pounds) of body weight. In other words, to achieve the levels of ascorbic acid produced by animals that do not develop coronary heart disease, a 154-pound human would need to ingest 10 g of dietary or supplemental vitamin C daily.

Noting that 1,000 mg = 1 g, the U.S. Food and Drug Administration has established the U.S. Recommended Daily Allowance (RDA) for vitamin C at 35 mg for infants; 45-50 mg for children and 60 mg for adults.
According to the FDA, humans require about 200 times less vitamin C than animals to maintain optimal health.

The late Dr. Fred Klenner was one of the world's foremost authorities on vitamin C. He believed that the government's concept of daily minimal intakes should be abolished because, "The physiological requirements [for ascorbic acid] in man are no different than other mammals capable of carrying out this synthesis."

Judging from the numbers of people being stricken by and succumbing to heart disease in the U.S., it would appear that Dr. Klenner (and doctors Pauling, Irwin Stone, Glenn Dettman and Archie Kalokerinos) are correct about the levels of ascorbic acid necessary to maintain optimal cardiovascular health.
 

3 Elements of Optimal Health

Our health relies on trillions of cells repeatedly performing billions of specialized functions. Though the processes and systems that animate our bodies are phenomenally complex, what the cells driving them need is simple-simple to understand and simple to provide. You are about to discover the three elements of optimal health-the collagen matrix, acid/alkaline balance and hormonal balance.

Element I: The collagen matrix

The entire body is held together by connective tissue. Collagen is the strong, fibrous protein that serves as the building block for connective tissues-including skin, tendons, ligaments, eyes and arteries. Collagen is like the glue that holds the body together. Collagen production is dependent upon ample supplies of ascorbates. While most animals produce their own ascorbates from the food they eat, humans, guinea pigs, fruit bats and primates do not. Scientists believe that about 10,000 years ago humans could produce their own ascorbates. Unless sufficient quantities of usable ascorbates are ingested daily, the collagen matrix becomes stiff and brittle: Skin wrinkles, backs ache, ligaments pull and the little sacs in the lungs get stiff-causing blood vessels and arteries to crack. Also critical to the production of collagen are the amino acids lysine and proline. When our bodies do not have enough vitamin C, they cannot use the amino acids lysine and proline to make the proper cross links in the collagen. Like ascorbates, humans must obtain lysine from dietary sources. Our dietary intake is usually deficient in lysine. Proline can be produced by the body but usually in inadequate quantities. Lysine and proline are essential for proper collagen formation and to prevent cholesterol build-up in the form of plaque. Symptoms caused by ascorbate deficiencies (and the body's subsequent inabilityto utilize lysine and proline) are traditionally referred to as "scurvy." The body can, for a time, manufacture enough lipoproteins from blood plasma to "patch" the vesicular/arterial cracks. The patch material is commonly called "plaque." As the plaque gets thicker, vessels and arteries can no longer flex and blood flow is restricted. As a result, the resting heart rate increases. This condition is commonly diagnosed as "high blood pressure." Over time, vessels and arteries can become so cracked and plaqued that people lose blood internally, eventually resulting in a heart attack. High blood pressure, also known as hypoascorbemia, is advance warning that the host is preparing to become another heart disease statistic. A diet rich in ascorbates can prevent scurvy and, to some extent, therapeutic doses of ascorbic acid (vitamin C) can reverse the deficiency and other chronic conditions created by a lack of vitamin C. But ascorbic acid is only one form of ascorbate and can cause digestive discomfort when therapeutic doses are administered. Buffered mineral ascorbates (sodium ascorbate, calcium ascorbate and potassium ascorbate) can be taken daily in larger quantities without discomfort. The only substances capable of healing damaged vessels and arteries are ascorbates. It should also be noted that the presence of buffered mineral ascorbates prevents and/or reverses the symptoms of high blood sugar, commonly referred to as "diabetes." There are no surgical procedures to be performed nor drugs taken that will remove the plaque and heal cracked vessels and arteries.

Element II: Acid/alkaline balance

The second element is the acid/alkaline balance in the body. It is monitored by measuring the "pH (the symbol for hydrogen ion concentration)" which is regulated by the body's oxygen saturation level. The body must be slightly alkaline for its cells to be properly oxygenated. The pH scale goes from zero to 14-zero being purely acid, 14 being purely alkaline and 7 being "neutral pH." Without exception, people with cancer have a pH below 7.0, which means their tissues, their cells, are not being properly oxygenated. This condition is called "acidosis." People with a body pH over 7.4 do not have cancer because their cells and tissues are being properly oxygenated. Contrary to current medical information, cancer is the easiest of all degenerative diseases to understand and is readily reversible without dangerous drugs and surgeries. The body is constantly regulating the replacement of worn out cells while creating new cells to repair tissue damage. "Cancerous" is the term applied to cells that reproduce in an unregulated manner until they form a tissue mass, or "tumor." In order to create a cancerous cell in the lab, technicians simply withhold oxygen from a healthy cell and it becomes cancerous within a few hours. Conversely, supplying the cancerous cell with more oxygen than was withheld from it causes that cancerous cell to die within a few hours. An individual cell cannot be cured of cancer; once cancerous, the cell must be destroyed. The natural way to accomplish the feat of destroying cancer cells is exposing them to oxygen. Increasing the amount of oxygen available to the cells is accomplished by elevating body pH through diet and exercise. In cases where elevating body pH is critical, the most alkalinizing element known to man is cesium. Daily intake of cesium, with potassium, will quickly increase body pH. It has been demonstrated that cancerous cells cannot survive in a pH of 8.0. Once cancerous cells have been destroyed, maintaining body pH at 7.4-7.5 will prevent cells from becoming cancerous. There are no surgeries that can be performed nor drugs taken that will restore or maintain the body's acid/alkaline balance

Element III: Hormonal balance

The third element is the balance between the hormone insulin and growth hormone. People with the highest levels of the growth hormone somatotrophin (STH) live the longest. Insulin, produced in the pancreas, is secreted to regulate the rate at which the body utilizes carbohydrates. When we consume carbohydrates (sugars and starches), insulin is released to lower the level of sugar (glucose) in the blood. Insulin also promotes the use of glucose as an energy source for the body, promotes the storage of fat and encourages the conversion of proteins to fat for storage. Produced in the pituitary gland, STH increases the rate of protein synthesis, affects the metabolism of sodium, potassium and calcium and influences the metabolism of carbohydrates. The purpose of STH is to convert the body's available energy into bone, muscle and tissue growth. When we are young, our bodies have a low ratio of insulin to STH so we are healthier, leaner, full of energy-and growing. The insulin encourages the body to store carbohydrates as fat while STH stimulates the burning of that fat. Due to age and inactivity, stored carbohydrates accumulate in the form of fat. Because we are now full-grown, the hypothalamus tells the pituitary gland to release less and less STH. This causes the pancreas to produce more insulin in order to maintain proper blood sugar levels. The visible result of this hormonal imbalance is weight gain. The chronic symptoms of this imbalance is hypoglycemia. If not corrected, diabetes is the end result. There are no surgeries that can be performed nor drugs that can be taken to maintain optimal levels of both insulin and STH.