Everyone knows Vitamin C, as it is contained in many foods and is also produced by many companies as a supplement. However, not many people know what it is made up of.
Most scientists know this, but public and most doctors usually have no idea about this. Chemically speaking, the main component of Vitamin C, which is called ascorbic acid, has two separate forms. These are "L"-Ascorbic Acid and D-Ascorbic Acid. The L component of Vitamin C is the active part, and this is the one that has health benefits. The D-component of Vitamin C, research shows, is useless and is gotten rid of by the body. When you eat Vitamin C, you only benefit from the "L" side of ascorbic acid. Despite the beliefs of many people, Vitamin C is not a stable thing, and the L and D components can change when moisture or water is added.
Natural Vitamin D
E.g. in a fruit, the Vitamin C primarily occurs as the L component. However, when you extract the juice, after a few days, some of the "L" side changes to D. The same will happen with a frozen fruit concentrate, when melted and with water added, or when Vitamin C is added by manufacturers to drinks.
Is There A Difference Between Natural And Artificial Vitamin C?
Most vitamin C supplements are ascorbic acid, calcium ascorbate, magnesium ascorbate or potassium ascorbate. Chemically synthesized supplements are not natural vitamin C. And these synthetic molecules copy only one of the numerous ingredients found in natural vitamin C. In the 1930s, Dr. Szent-Gyorgyi, the scientist who isolated the molecule ascorbic acid, stated that the best results occurred when people consumed vitamin C in its natural food form.
But actually, ascorbic acid is only the antioxidant factor of a whole nutritional complex that contains many different factors that we call the Vitamin C Complex. The full vitamin C complex also contains the P factors, which make the vessels stronger and more durable and handle the "pink toothbrush" symptom. Vitamin K helps in blood clotting.
Another part of the C complex, the J factor increases the oxygen carrying ability of the blood, helps oxidize toxins and get rid of them. Additionally, the C complex also contains enzymes. The main one is tyrosinase, which is organic copper enzyme, an adrenal activator.