I know that Linus Pauling claimed that vitamin c would lower your cholesteral, but considering he’s a bit biased on the matter, I’m wondering if there’s other research out there that confirms or disproves this. Or is the jury still out?
Your first sentence contains 3 errors: (1) you don’t know any such thing; (2) it’s spelled “cholesterol;” and Linus Pauling has been deceased for quite some time now, so “he’s a bit biased” is not correct. And when he was alive, he was not biased. He did scientific, controlled studies, which were poohed by the Establishment. Now, the Establishment admits that many of the stuff he claimed are true, except for vitamin C helping cancer patients.
I’ve read both of Pauling’s books and he never mentioned cholesterol in either of them. On the contrary, there was some evidence that vitamin C could cause hardening of the arteries. Recently investigators at the U. of Southern California, LA, monitored people who regularly swallowed vitamin C pills. After one year, the C takers had more thickening of their artery walls than those who didn’t take the supplement. 573 healthy middle-aged people were involved for an 18-month period. The summary of the study provides incomplete data and leaves many crucial questions unanswered. Further, this was a single study, and not a clinical trial. Tufts U. Health & Nutrition Letter, April 2000, did not provide any details of the study, but warned against supplements. U.ofCal, Berkeley, Wellness Letter, May 2000, did, and that newsletter continues to recommend a diet rich in vitamin C, as well as a daily supplement of 250 to 500 mg. daily. And if you take C, take E supplements, too, since they work together. The RDA was raised, but just from 60 mg to 75 mg for women and 90 mg for men. The upper limit is 2,000 mg. Higher amounts can cause diarrhea.
Researchers at the U.of California made the following finding after looking at data on more than 13,000 men and women: gallbladder disease was significantly more common among women who had relatively low levels of vitamin C in their blood. (Tufts U., Health & Nutrition Letter, May 2000)barb, take a pill. First of all, Pauling at one time was portrayed as touting vitamin c as a cure all for damn near everything. That doesn’t mean that he’s wrong, but I, for one, would like to see some independant verification of his studies. Secondly, there was a guy going around who was supposedly from the Linus Pauling Institute and according to him, and the studies he’d done, indicated that vitamin c did lower cholesterol and that his theory behind this was that the body used cholesterol as spackle (if you will) to seal up leaks in the circulatory system, and that the reason behind those leaks was due to a lack of vitamin c.
I know of no good evidence that taking medium to high doses of vitamin C lower serum cholesterol, or it’s components. And yes, I have looked.
the “vitamin C” foundation http://vitamincfoundation.org/
makes claims that it does, but their evidence is not convincing to me. They talk a lot about the media’s campaign to cover up the importance of anti-oxidants. Check out their links if you like.
QtM, MD
Pauling touted vitamin C as helping colds, flus, and cancer. He never said it was a cure for anything, let alone “damn near everything.” He did maintain that if you took at least 10 grams a day you would never get a cold. Now, what the Pauling Institute claims is not necessary what Pauling maintained.
Dr. Pauling made some serious enemies amongst the right wingers of the 1940’s-1960’s. I don’t think they’ve ever given up trying to discredit him, in whatever way possible.
http://globetrotter.berkeley.edu/conversations/Pauling/
“Cholesteral”, shudder. My arteries practically polymerize at the mere thought.
barb, I’m not disputing some of Pauling’s claims in regards to vitamin C, from personal experience I know that taking large doses of vitamin C is great for knocking out a cold quickly. If I thought that all his claims about C were quackery, I never would have started this thread.
The few interviews I’ve seen of Pauling had him acting more like Timothy Leary than a Nobel Prize winner (which he was, IIRC). Finally, the doctor who was making the claims about vitamin C and cholesterol stated that both he and Pauling had been working together on the study when Pauling died and that Pauling knew that the results were pointing in the direction of C being a way of lowering cholesterol and Pauling wanted the doctor to continue the research after Pauling died.
I started this thread because I know my cholesterol levels are probably higher than what they should be and I would like to find a way to lower them without resorting to drugs with potentially severe side-effects like Lipidor.
Qadgop, since you’re the doc, do you know of anything that does work? (Yeah, I know diet and excersize do work, but diet’s a bit difficult to work on, with my current schedule.)
As someone who has just very recently found out his cholesterol is a bit high, I will be watching this thread with much interest.
I’ll mention (as if Qadgop’s not gonna be back in here soon with info 50X more informative), that I believe foods high in dietary fibre are currently believed to reduce cholesterol levels.
So I’ve been eating more oatmeal lately and less eggs (because egg whites by themselves are lacking in the flavor dept.)
Also, there is an OTC product sold in health food/vitamin stores called Red Yeast Rice which lowers cholesteral, but is possibly dangerous as it, as I understand it, is either similar to or identical to a prescription drug currently used to treat high cholesterol which carries with it serious side effects if not monitored properly.
It may not even be available OTC anymore, I’m not sure. (I mention this product not so much for the benefit of the OP but because I’m hoping others more knowledgeable will comment on it, as I’m curious).
Cholestin is the brand name of a herbal supplement made from rice fermented with a red yeast. The FDA has prohibited the company from importing it from China, calling it an unapproved drug since it is identical to Lovastatin, the active ingredient in Mevacor, a cholesterol lowering drug. A federal judge has lifted the ban temporarily. (Science News, November 14, 1998.)
A recent study (83 total subjects) demonstrated that people with mildly elevated levels can drop their cholesterol 16% by taking 4 capsules a day for 12 weeks. (Nutrition Action, April 1999) Four weeks after discontinuing the supplement, cholesterol concentrations returned to prestudy values.
There’s no substitution for a good diet with plenty of fiber and exercise. In addition, alcohol in moderation can increase your HDL, which is a good thing. 
I use Pauling’s suggestion of megadoses of C every hour when I get a cold, and it really helps with the symptoms. However, it does not really shorten the time for the cold and, in my experience, does not knock it out quickly. However, if you become asymptomatic, no big deal, except you have to balance the megadoses with the ensuing diarrhea. Once you get diarrhea, you have to temporarily, at least, stop.
Cholesterol reduction is a whole 'nuther thread. If you’re not willing to change your lifestyle by altering your diet and exercise habits, the only other option is to take drugs. Some of which may have serious side-effects.