Vitamin C is important for growth and repair of tissues as well as fighting off damage to cells from free radicals. It is possible to get too much of a good thing, however. Some people who take high doses of vitamin C to treat disease end up suffering from gastrointestinal side effects. One way to prevent these problems is to add minerals to the vitamin C, a process that buffers the acidity and makes the vitamin better tolerated.
Buffering
Ordinarily, vitamin C dissolves in the stomach where it becomes acidic in nature. It's also easily absorbed and excreted by the kidneys as your body gets rid of what it doesn't use. However, if you have malabsorption and certain chronic diseases or are fighting off infections, your doctor may recommend vitamin C supplements in higher doses than the recommended daily allowance of 2,000 millligrams per day. These higher amounts can cause nausea, heartburn, vomiting, abdominal cramps and diarrhea due to the acidity of the vitamin. Adding other ingredients to buffer the vitamin C not only helps prevent or minimize such side effects, it allows the vitamin C to be absorbed more slowly and stay longer in your bloodstream, prolonging its beneficial effects.
Buffering Ingredients
Buffered versions of vitamin C add minerals including calcium, magnesium, potassium, zinc, molybdenum, chromium, manganese or sodium. The most common are calcium, magnesium and potassium, although sometimes the minerals are found in various combinations. The mixtures of minerals plus vitamin C in buffering formulas are known as mineral ascorbates. There are two types of mineral ascorbates; the first is a fully-reacted type found in tablets and caplets where the ascorbate reaction has already occurred, and the other is a powder that must be mixed with water so the reaction occurs.
Other Benefits of Buffered Vitamin C
Natural killer cells, a type of white blood cell important to your immune system to help protect against tumors and viruses, can be decreased significantly when you're exposed to toxic chemicals. A team of researchers in California studied the effects of buffered vitamin C in patients exposed to toxic chemicals in a study published in 1997 in the journal "Immunopharmacolgy and Immunotoxicology." Their results showed that buffered vitamin C supplements enhanced natural killer cell activity up to 10-fold in 78 percent of patients.
Considerations
Since buffered vitamin C is slowly digested and well-absorbed, this means the dose of the added minerals used in the buffered formula can be increased in your body. If you are on a low-salt diet, look for buffered formulas that don't contain sodium. If you are on a potassium-sparing diuretic or have kidney failure, avoid products with potassium ascorbate. Even if taking buffered vitamin C prevents stomach problems, high doses of the vitamin can cause other issues including headache, insomnia and kidney stones. Too much vitamin C also increases the absorption of iron in your body and may lead to false-negative results in fecal blood tests.
References
- MayoClinic.com: Is It Possible To Take Too Much Vitamin C?
- Linus Pauling Institute: The Bioavailability of Different Forms of Vitamin C
- Immunopharmacology & Immunotoxicology: Enhancement of Natural Killer Cell Activity and T and B Cell Function by Buffered Vitamin C in Patients Exposed to Toxic Chemicals
- Drugs.com: Vitamin C Side Effects
- Drugs.com: Ascorbic Acid
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