David Liu - www.foodconsumer.org
06/09/2009
A new study suggests that pregnant women need to have sufficient intake of vitamin C or L-ascorbic acid to prevent their fetuses from becoming victims of brain impairment that is associated with memory and learning capability later in their childhood.
The study was conducted in guinea pigs, which are just like humans in that they cannot produce vitamin C by themselves and need to obtain vitamin C through their diet, and revealed that new-born guinea pigs with moderate vitamin C deficiency had a markedly worse memory than those given sufficient vitamin C.
Jens Lykkesfeldt at LIFE – Faculty of Life Sciences at University of Copenhagen and colleagues suggest that vitamin C deficiency in pregnant and breastfeeding women may also result in impairment of the mental development of their new-born babies because humans are among a few mammals that need to obtain vitamin C through their diet.
The study published in the latest issue of the American Journal of Clinical Nutrition shows that guinea pigs with moderate vitamin C deficiency had 30 percent less hippocampal neurones and significantly worse spatial memory than those given a normal diet.
Research has already found the neonatal brain is particularly vulnerable to even a slightly reduced level of vitamin C. Compared to other issues, the neurons of the brain are found high in vitamin C meaning that the nutrient may play a role in brain or mental activities.
Previous studies also found mouse fetuses that were not able to transport vitamin C ended up developing severe brain damage, which resembles the ones found in premature babies and linked to learning and cognitive disability later in life.
Additionally, vitamin C boosts the immune system and in high doses it kills cancer cells while posing no harm to healthy cells.
The researchers are now investigating how early in pregnancy vitamin C deficiency affects the embryonic development of guinea pigs and whether the damage may be reversed after birth.
The recommended dietary allowance for vitamin C is fairly low, 90 mg per day for adult men, 75 mg per day for adult women and 80 mg for pregnant women age 18 or younger, 85 mg for pregnant women age 19 or older, 115 mg per day for breastfeeding women age 18 or younger and 120 mg per day for breastfeeding women age 19 or older.
The Linus Pauling Institute recommends a vitamin C intake of at least 400 mg per day, which is the amount found to fully saturate plasma and circulation cells with vitamin C in young healthy nonsmokers.
Foods high in vitamin C include fruits and vegetables such as orange, grapefruit, strawberries, tomato, sweet red pepper, broccoli, and potatoes. Five servings of fruits and vegetables may provide 200 mg of vitamin C, but most multivitamin supplements provide only 60 mg of it.
High doses of vitamin C seem safe even though some people worry that high intake of the nutrient may raise the risk kidney stones. Large studies suggest that using 1,500 mg of vitamin C daily would not increase the risk of kidney stone formation compared to those taking less than 150 mg daily.
