Mothering Forum banner

Sodium Ascorbate

73K views 563 replies 154 participants last post by  PuppyLove22 
#1 ·
Where do you buy your Sodium Ascorbate? None of our Health Food Stores carry it - Ascorbic Acid, but no Sodium Ascorbate. I want to lay some up "against the season" so to speak, in case of flu, pertussis, etc. Is there a good place online that I could order from? TIA!
 
#527 ·
TS, I just kept this thread open and read it in any free time over a week.


Another well-informed user recommends a chewable SA made by Natural Factors. Not expensive, but made here in Canada so you could get it sent by a friend or???

I think there's some concern with the chewable C damaging tooth enamel over time, but then others fet anything was better than nothing? So whatever feels right for you.
 
#528 ·
Quote:

Originally Posted by WCM View Post
TS, I just kept this thread open and read it in any free time over a week.


Another well-informed user recommends a chewable SA made by Natural Factors. Not expensive, but made here in Canada so you could get it sent by a friend or???

I think there's some concern with the chewable C damaging tooth enamel over time, but then others fet anything was better than nothing? So whatever feels right for you.
Well, the high doses of SA seem to "cure" my son every time he gets close to being sick (2,000-3,000 mg for a 48 pound boy). But I can't get ANY in my daughter when she gets ill so we all suffer.
My local Whole Foods appears to sell Natural Factors so I will pick some up and give it a try! Thank you so much!
 
#530 ·
So, at some point, either in this thread or one of Momtezuma Tuatara's threads, it was mentioned that calcium ascorbate, in a pinch, is okay. Problematic long-term, but if your kid's sick and that's all that's at your local store, go for it.

Um... could be problematic for some kids. I admit, I was an idiot, and my situation is not normal--but I should've known my situation is atypical and READ THE LABEL!


Got a bottle of calcium ascorbate here, about 4 grams of vitamin C has 470mg of calcium. Okay, fine. But a sick kid may need a lot, and a kid with a high toxic load may need a lot.

If, for example, your child's bowel tolerance is 16 grams per day, that's almost 1900 mg of supplemental calcium. Holy yikes. Bad for kids with calcium regulation problems--which is not typical, but I knew that was an issue for us.

It's been a week of no naps and hyperactive kid here.

Don't be me. I admit this is not a typical problem, but I wanted to mention it somewhere in this thread, since one or two people may benefit.
 
#531 ·
Oy! Given that most people are magnesium deficient I would imagine that there are very few who could tolerate this dose although perhaps not effects lasting a week!


Have you tried making your own SA from baking soda and ascorbic acid powder? I think the ratio is 1 part BS to 2 parts AA right? That's gotta be somwhere's on this thread but I don't have time to look right now. Stir into liquid , drink when stops fizzing.
 
#532 ·
Quote:

Originally Posted by WCM View Post
The Emergen-C thing was part of wondering how straight SA in water tastes? That I'd add a touch of Emer-C if needed to make it more pallatable for my kids, kwim?
It's got a rather strong taste, kind of salty slightly bitter but it depends on how much you add, a full glass is not bad at all.

I would just add a bit of juice and forget the Emergen-C. Or even better, mix up with some necessary bioflavonoids to go with the SA by adding NOW acerola cherry powder. And a whole foods sweetener or stevia.
 
#533 ·
Quote:

Originally Posted by JaneS View Post
Oy! Given that most people are magnesium deficient I would imagine that there are very few who could tolerate this dose although perhaps not effects lasting a week!


Have you tried making your own SA from baking soda and ascorbic acid powder? I think the ratio is 1 part BS to 2 parts AA right? That's gotta be somwhere's on this thread but I don't have time to look right now. Stir into liquid , drink when stops fizzing.
I'd already ordered more, it's the first time that they haven't shipped immediately, and I had to wait DAYS, but then my huge supply of SA arrived today, so all is good. Plus I never remember the ratio.

I'm worried about the flavor of the baking soda + AA, I don't want to make our supplement drink _too_ horrible. We've gotten into a rhythm, the kids don't complain about our 3x/day drinks (unless it's a complain-y day, but even then it's part of everything being wrong
).
 
#534 ·
Quote:

Originally Posted by TanyaLopez View Post
I'd already ordered more, it's the first time that they haven't shipped immediately, and I had to wait DAYS, but then my huge supply of SA arrived today, so all is good. Plus I never remember the ratio.

I'm worried about the flavor of the baking soda + AA, I don't want to make our supplement drink _too_ horrible. We've gotten into a rhythm, the kids don't complain about our 3x/day drinks (unless it's a complain-y day, but even then it's part of everything being wrong
).
May I ask what are your 3x a day drinks for your kids? Sorry if its been asked before and I never read it.
 
#535 ·
Quote:

Originally Posted by es1967 View Post
May I ask what are your 3x a day drinks for your kids? Sorry if its been asked before and I never read it.
It's pretty specific to our situation. My health problems were directly related to the mercury from my amalgam fillings, and both kids got enough mercury and other metals and chemicals that my body couldn't detoxify over the 2 decades that I had amalgam fillings that they have health and/or behavior issues because of it. Not everyone has issues from amalgam fillings like I do, my husband wasn't having problems due to his amalgams. It runs in my family but not his.

But so the vitamins and minerals in my kids' drinks are fairly typical of people taking a biomed approach to autism and related conditions. I did type out what we were using in the Chelating Mamas thread once, not sure which page...

http://mothering.com/discussions/sho...435848&page=30

It was before this, but this page is the one I link the most.
 
#538 ·
Hi, I am working on readin through the enormous thread but it is hard with my high needs toddler. I was wondering if anyone could help me. I was just reading on another thread that daily SA can be bad and it should only be used during illness.

I have been giving my DS ( 2 yrs old) daily SA (Hyland's Vit C) for about 6 months now. About 200-300 mg a day. I thought Vit C was safe. I had no idea it could be bad. What exactly might I have done? Have I hurt his body/health? What should I look for? What should I do? I have not given him any today. Do I just stop cold turkey? Should we see a doctor. I am worried!

UPDATE: Okay, I have managed to get through some of the thread and I think the problem is with the oxalate issue? So I think my DS is fine at this point? Sorry to panic. Just started worrying.
 
#539 ·
Hello....I thought I would post this here on this monster thread on SA, as I would be very interested in what you ladies think of this. A couple months back, when DS was 7 months...he is now 16 months....I came across the Vitamin C foundation. (I was trying to find all I could out about SA) They also have a community forum, so I posted a question asking about why SA over AA, dosing for my baby, daily dosing or just when ill, and I even brought the topic of oxilate problem up with them. The doctor that responds to these questions is Dr. Owen Fonoro, who I believe is an orthomolecular doctor. Anway, in a nutshell...and I will post a link to the actual convo at the end of this post....Dr. Fonoro said the following:

He said Ascorbic Acid is the preferred form of C because it is more absorbable than Sodium Ascorbate (which is totally opposite of everything I have learned here on the boards so far). He said that *verbatim* "it is immoral and should be criminal not to supplement children with vitamin C" (on a daily basis) and that as a rule of thumb, dosing should be 1 gram orally daily per year up to age 10. He advises not even skip a single dose, and that he gave his own son ascorbic acid all his life (6000 mg daily) and his son never once got sick until he went off to college.

I then asked about possible problems with oxilates (as someone in this thread ...I believe it was Ex Libris...could be wrong about that experienced problems due to daily vitamin C intake) and I wasn't happy about Dr. Fonoro's reply. He thought that the poster (Ex Libris) might have been a 'plant' of some sort just making up that story....I don't believe that AT ALL by the way.... and am confused as to why he would even say such a thing...

I then asked him about the importance of taking bioflavanoids with vit C and his response was this "In short, there is no need to take it with Bioflavs since it is the ascorbate ion (Present in all forms of Acorbate) that is responsible for the fantastic 'C' effects."....in the convo, he gives a link to a paper he wrote explaining why there is no need for the bioflavanoids....(I have heard so many on this board state the need for bioflavs to keep things in balance....so this response also confused me.

So I just wanted to get some opinions on Dr. Fonoro's advice on vitamin C from the moms of the world, I hate to say it, but I trust mother's intuition more than I do any doctor or scientists.

Here is the link to the conversation with Dr. Fonoro at the Vitamin C Foundation:

http://www.vitamincfoundation.org/fo...+babies#p15902

Sorry this is so lengthy!
 
#540 ·
He doesn't have his facts straight. Oxalate issues are real and are a sign that there are other problems in the body. If you have a yeast issue you might have high oxalate issues too. Yeast is a source of oxalate. If you are supplementing with Vit C on top of that, you will have an even bigger oxalate issue. Take care of the yeast issue and the oxalate issue will go away. Vit. C alone typically doesn't cause oxalate issues but it can contribute to it.
 
#541 ·
Here's a little bit about it. Read the whole article for more information.

http://www.greatplainslaboratory.com...g/oxalates.asp

Quote:
Evaluate vitamin C intake. Vitamin C can break down to form oxalates. However, in adults, the amount of oxalate formed did not increase until the amount exceeded 4 g of vitamin C per day (27). A large study of more than 85,000 women found no relation betwen vitamin C intake and kidney stones (28). In addition, an evaluation of 100 children on the autistic spectrum at The Great Plains Laboratory revealed that there was nearly zero correlation between vitamin C and oxalates in the urine (Table 2). Megadoses (more than 100 mg/Kg body weight per day) of vitamin C were shown to markedly reduce autistic symptoms in a double blind placebo controlled study (29) so any restriction of vitamin C needs to be carefully weighed against its significant benefits.
 
#542 ·
Quote:

Originally Posted by New_Natural_Mom View Post
I have seen people say Emergen-C is bad, but it is easy for me, so I take it. Why is it bad? Aren't all the other things in it bioflavanoids?

If not, where can I get bioflavanoids?

I've not heard that EmergeC is bad, only that it is a costly way of getting your SA. But it works for us. DS loves the taste, so he makes up his own emerC water bottle each day, while DD's, who hate the taste, chew on Natural factors chewable C for kids, and i make up my own capsules of NOW powdered C.

April's recent info about how AA is better than SA has me boggled. I know this thread is mega, but I have read it all (over 5 days) and hope the discussion continues. Right now I'm off to read the swine flu forum.
 
#543 ·
Hi AprilM,
I haven't been on MDC for awhile now and thought I'd check in, and I have to say this gave me a good laugh. I continue to battle with oxalate accumulation from high dose SA and probably will for life. The poster who mentioned the oxalate-yeast connection is correct; I no doubt had some yeast issues since I'd taken two rounds of antibiotics in the years before taking SA, which made me susceptible to accumulation. But oxalate conversion from vitamin C happens in all of us, and the process by which our bodies deal with the excess oxalates is complicated.

Oxalates are toxins, and they build up over time, so you wouldn't know the extent to which you're accumulating them in your tissues until it's too late. I wish I'd known this sooner, but, I've learned to be much more careful about what I put into my body. Nature's balance is so easily upset.

If you want to know more about the science behind oxalates, I urge you and anyone else to join the Yahoo group Trying Low Oxalates or look at this website: http://lowoxalate.info/index.html. You'll find more about the oxalate/vitamin C connection in the archives of the yahoo group. Just do an advanced search for "vitamin C" and "Susan Owens" (she's the scientist/researcher who has made the study of oxalates her life's work).

Take care,
Kelly

Quote:

Originally Posted by AprilM View Post
I then asked about possible problems with oxilates (as someone in this thread ...I believe it was Ex Libris...could be wrong about that experienced problems due to daily vitamin C intake) and I wasn't happy about Dr. Fonoro's reply. He thought that the poster (Ex Libris) might have been a 'plant' of some sort just making up that story....I don't believe that AT ALL by the way.... and am confused as to why he would even say such a thing...
 
#545 ·
Quote:
Hi AprilM,
I haven't been on MDC for awhile now and thought I'd check in, and I have to say this gave me a good laugh. I continue to battle with oxalate accumulation from high dose SA and probably will for life. The poster who mentioned the oxalate-yeast connection is correct; I no doubt had some yeast issues since I'd taken two rounds of antibiotics in the years before taking SA, which made me susceptible to accumulation. But oxalate conversion from vitamin C happens in all of us, and the process by which our bodies deal with the excess oxalates is complicated.

Oxalates are toxins, and they build up over time, so you wouldn't know the extent to which you're accumulating them in your tissues until it's too late. I wish I'd known this sooner, but, I've learned to be much more careful about what I put into my body. Nature's balance is so easily upset.

If you want to know more about the science behind oxalates, I urge you and anyone else to join the Yahoo group Trying Low Oxalates or look at this website: http://lowoxalate.info/index.html. You'll find more about the oxalate/vitamin C connection in the archives of the yahoo group. Just do an advanced search for "vitamin C" and "Susan Owens" (she's the scientist/researcher who has made the study of oxalates her life's work).

Take care,
Kelly
Hi Kelly,
Thanks for the link and the info. I didn't mean to offend you by posting that, like I said in my original post, I didn't agree with the 'plant' comment, and I never once doubted that you were telling the truth. I am sorry that you have to deal with this oxylate issue.

If you don't mind me asking, what were your first symptoms? And how did the doctors finally figure out that the problem was from SA?

April
 
#546 ·
WOW! this is a monster of a thread. don't have time to read all of the posts but I did get to some. It appears that people are gravitating towards SA becasue it provides a buffer which makes perfect sense.
I took the emergen-c packets for many years until I discovered a product by "solaray" in capsule form that was derived from amla fruit (i believe highest vit.c containing fruit) it was great until I was no longer able to find the product.
A couple of years ago I found "Truly Natural Vitamin C" by Health Force and since I already love their vitamineral green food supplement I knew that it too was a superior product.

http://www.healthforce.com/index.php...mart&Itemid=65

it is totally derived from food, acerola cherry ( i believe is 2nd in highest vit.c containg food) it is in powder form and as easy to take as any other powdered vit.c
this is the difference I notice: when taking emergen-c I would have to take a good many 1,000 mg. packs a day to reach bowel intolerance which equals many grams a day, with the healthforce product dosage is 1.5 tsp. just to get 250 mg. so I am taking many teaspoons during the day, HOWEVER, I do feel that my body absorbs more of it. I get to bowel intolerance (if thats the goal, or just before) with less.

for anyone looking for a buffered natural vit.c that is easy to take I HIGHLY reccomend this. It does not taste that bad either kind of like a mellow choke cherry taste.
 
#549 ·
I used to use the NOW brand but have discovered that their SA is derived from genetically modified corn! So No thanks! I have switched to Nutribiotic brand that is allergy friendly (my son is no dairy, no gluten, no soy etc...) I confirmed that it is not GM sourced.
 
#550 ·
Quote:
Originally Posted by Marnica View Post

I used to use the NOW brand but have discovered that their SA is derived from genetically modified corn! So No thanks! I have switched to Nutribiotic brand that is allergy friendly (my son is no dairy, no gluten, no soy etc...) I confirmed that it is not GM sourced.
holy carp! i guess i won't be using them again! jeesh!
yikes2.gif
 
#551 ·
Quote:
Originally Posted by Momtezuma Tuatara View Post

Quote:

Originally Posted by Breathe
Hullo -- reviving this thread now that we're in the midst of cold and flu season (at least on this side of the world!).

I just skimmed the whole thread and can't find a recommended dosage for little peeps. I have a 32 lb 4 yo and a 24 lb 15 mos old (so close in weight, but not sure if the ages are important). How much S.A. should they be getting?
It depends on the child. I start at 250 mg per kg of body weight.

1 kg = 2.2 pounds. so your 32 lb one, is 14.5 kgs, x 250 mgs = 3,636 mgs over waking hours.

24 lbs divided by 2.2= 9.9 x 250 = 2,475 mgs over waking hours. Obviously I don't worry about exact numbers. 1,000 mgs = 1/4 level tsp. so I eyeball it from there.

If that doesn't bring results, I up the dose.

Our youngest needs almost double the dose the oldest needs.

Quote:
and don't you think Vit C is a great natural antihistimine? Ped here is rx'ing daily Claritin for ds1's likely dust mite allergies, which then lead to frequent (okay, let's say CONSTANT) colds and viruses.

Am hoping MT is still around and reading . . .
For my husband it certainly is. He was able to drop all antihistamine medication once he got onto a decent dose of vitamin c.
OMG! OMG! Seriously? Seriously. My children have about a billion food allergies, and several environmental allergies. When they take Emergen C (1000mg) they have basically no reaction. Are you telling me that maybe "allergy", for my kids, is just a Vit C deficiency, like 40x less than what they should be having in a day? My mind is blown. Now I've got 20 more pages to read and hopefully people expand more.
 
This is an older thread, you may not receive a response, and could be reviving an old thread. Please consider creating a new thread.
Top