Vitamin C is a water-soluble vitamin of which your body uses what it needs and flushes the rest out in urine. It is an important antioxidant that helps boost your immune system, aids in collagen production, maintains teeth and bones and is necessary in wound healing. Vitamin C has various affects on the stomach, both good and bad.
Stomach Cancer Protectant
Patients infected with Helicobacter pylori, or H. pylori, have low amounts of vitamin C in their gastric juices, or stomach digestive fluids. H pylori, a bacterium, is harmless in most cases, but can cause peptic ulcer disease or gastric cancer. Reduced vitamin C levels in stomach digestive juices may lower the protective effect and increase your risk of developing stomach cancer, according to a review published in the February 2002 issue of "GUT." Taking high doses of vitamin C, 10 times or greater the concentration normally found in the stomach, reduces H. pylori growth and can eradicate the bacterium totally from your stomach. Vitamin C may be an important factor in preventing gastric cancer, notes the review.
Stomach Protectant
Taking extra vitamin C may help protect your stomach against aspirin and other nonsteroidal anti-inflammatory drugs, or NSAIDs. In fact, high doses of vitamin C can help keep the active ingredient in these medications in your system longer, extending their anti-inflammatory effects, according to a review published in the December 2004 issue of the "British Journal of Clinical Pharmacology." (Reference 3) Aspirin and other NSAIDs cause stomach upset and damage by inhibiting gastroprotective prostaglandins. Taking extra vitamin C stops this destructive effect and helps protect the stomach against free radicals. If you are taking any anti-inflammatory drugs or other prescription medication, talk with your doctor before taking extra vitamin C supplements.
Stomach Irritant
Taking high amounts of vitamin C in doses over 2,000mg per day can cause gastrointestinal problems such as gas, diarrhea and upset stomach. If the ascorbic acid in vitamin C supplements upsets your stomach, buffered forms of vitamin C are available along with esterified vitamin C. These are easier on the stomach and can be used if you are prone to heartburn, notes the University of Maryland Medical Center.
Precautions
Vitamin C has many health benefits, but it can have potential side effects if you are taking medications. If you are taking any medications, talk with your doctor before adding vitamin C to your diet. People with corn allergies should check the label before taking vitamin C supplements, as most commercial vitamin C is made from corn. Vitamin C also increases the amount of iron you absorb from other foods. If you have hemochromatosis, a condition where your body stores too much iron, you should not take any vitamin C supplements.
References
- University of Maryland Medical Center: Vitamin C (Ascorbic acid)
- "Biochemical Journal": The Diuretic Action of Vitamin C; Mohammed Abdo Abbasy; February 1937
- "British Journal of Clinical Pharmacology"; Current Approaches to Prevent NSAID-Induced Gastropathy; J. Becker, et al.; December 2004
- "GUT"; Effect of physiological concentrations of vitamin C on gastric cancer cells and Helicobacter pylori; Z.W. Zhang, et al.; February 2002
- "American Journal of Gastroenterology"; Helicobacter pylori: from the benign to the malignant; M.P. Williams and R.E. Pounder; November 1999
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