What Are the Effects of Vitamin C on the Liver?

Vitamin C has a structure similar to glucose and is a polyhydroxy compound. Two adjacent enol hydroxyl groups at the 2nd and 3rd positions in the molecule are easily dissociated to release H ⁺ . Therefore, it has acid properties. Called ascorbic acid. Vitamin C has a strong reducing ability and can be easily oxidized to dehydrovitamin C, but the reaction is reversible, and ascorbic acid and dehydroascorbic acid have the same physiological function. Lonic acid, the reaction is irreversible and completely loses its physiological efficacy. ^[1]

The molecular structure of vitamin C is not as complicated as we thought. Intuitively, the molecular structure of vitamin C is mainly composed of a five-membered lactone ring and its side chain (Figure 1). Since vitamin C is an open-chain threose-2,3,4,5,6-pentahydroxy-2-hexenoic acid (Figure 2), a molecule of water is removed from the carboxyl group at the 1-position and the hydroxyl group at the 4-position. Condensed into a ring, therefore, the chemical name of vitamin C is: threose-2,3,4,5,6-pentahydroxy-2-hexenoic acid-4-lactone. In the molecular structure of vitamin C, a hydroxyl group is attached to each of the 2, 3, 4, 5, and 6 positions, a double bond is sandwiched between the 2, 3 positions, and a dehydrated lactone structure is provided at the 1, 4- position. Because of the dienol structure in the molecular structure of vitamin C (Figure 3), the entire molecule appears acidic. Therefore, vitamin C is also called ascorbic acid.

Vitamin C in food is mainly found in fresh vegetables and fruits, which cannot be synthesized by the human body. New dates, jujubes, oranges, hawthorns, lemons, kiwis, sea buckthorns and prickly pears are rich in vitamin C; green leafy vegetables, green peppers, tomatoes and Chinese cabbage are higher in vegetables. ^[3]

Vitamin C absorption

According to the absorption rate, vitamin C is more effectively ingested, preferably three times a day, immediately after a meal, and this can also prevent side effects caused by high doses of vitamin C. However, it should be used with caution in patients with peptic ulcers, so as not to irritate the ulcer surface and cause ulcer deterioration, bleeding or perforation.

Method name

Determination of Vitamin C-Redox Titration

Application range

This method uses titration to determine the content of vitamin C.

This method is suitable for vitamin C.

Method principle

Test product plus freshly boiled cold water and dilute

Vitamin C is indeed a good thing, but I don't know when it will start. Many people have an added effect in the eyes of vitamin C-preventing colds. As long as you eat enough, you can even treat colds or flu. And many people really do what they do, and they are convinced. Therefore, a variety of vitamin C supplements have been spawned on the market, such as vitamin C tablets and vitamin C effervescent tablets. If eating vitamin C can prevent the flu, it can't be more convenient, but do they really have this effect? What are the benefits of vitamin C? Can vitamin C prevent or treat the flu? ^[9]

In the 1970s, Nobel laureate and chemist Linus Pauling published a book called Vitamin C and General Cold. This book introduces that vitamin C can promote immune protein synthesis, increase the activity of the body's functional enzymes, increase the number of lymphocytes, and increase the phagocytic activity of neutrophils. In this way, the concept of vitamin C can prevent colds. However, in 1975, Thomas Chalmers analyzed the possible role of vitamin C in colds, and found that vitamin C had no obvious effect in treating colds. Although some people later questioned that the vitamin C dose in this study was too low, only 0.025-0.05 g / day, a small dose of vitamin C may be an important reason for the study to not obtain a positive result. In some subsequent studies, some people have concluded that vitamin C can treat colds ^[9] .

But it is worth mentioning that a meta-analysis published in 2018 summed up 45 studies and concluded that vitamin C cannot prevent colds. Therefore, for now, there is no real hammer that can prove that vitamin C prevents and treats colds. Since vitamin C cannot prevent the common cold, let alone prevent the flu. In addition, taking a large amount of vitamin C may cause abdominal pain, rash, induced gout, and even cause thrombosis, urinary stones, and kidney damage. In general, most people can get enough vitamin C from their daily diet without having to take extra vitamin C supplements.

Therefore, vitamin C is not directly related to influenza, and more effective measures must be taken to prevent influenza ^[9] .