It has been undisputedly demonstrated over time that vitamin C is one of the most well-established and powerful immune boosting, anti-oxidant, anti-viral, anti-aging and detoxing nutrients known to man. Given our current COVID-19 reality, getting enough of this powerhouse of immunity is deemed essential by most experts. Our bodies can’t make it and since virtually all cells in the body depend on it, we simply have to source it from food or via supplementation.
Food sources of vitamin C are the most bio-available, so do continue to eat your broccoli, berries, citrus, peppers, kiwifruit and parsley.
However to get enough to protect us from the onslaught of modern day living, supplementation is necessary. It is generally agreed that 1000-2000 mg/day should afford you the general health benefits of vitamin C.
Looking at regular vitamin C supplements
With regular water soluble vitamin C, as in ascorbic acid or ascorbate powders or capsules, absorption rates aren’t exactly great. The body can only absorb 200mg vitamin C at a time in the digestive tract. Natural absorption of vitamin C above 200mg decreases sharply with increasing doses by as much as 50%. What happens with the rest? You pee it out, therefore placing extra load on the kidneys. Taking larger doses at a time can lead to side-effects such as gas, cramping, diarrhea and some even claim, the formation of kidneys stones. This means that with regular vitamin C, which also does not stay in the system more than 6 hours, one is limited to small dosages.
So, if you’ve Googled vitamin C supplements at all recently, you may have noticed a new kid on the block popping up in your feed: liposomal vitamin C. Actually it’s not so new, it has just become newly trendy of late. As such, several companies have released liposomal vitamin C products with a list of claims such as enhanced absorption and no side effects.
But is it really better than the regular C supplements we are familiar with?
What is different about liposomal Vitamin C?
Without doubt Liposomal Vitamin C has been scientifically proven to deliver more Vitamin C into your body than traditional Vitamin C supplements. This is achieved by wrapping the Vitamin C inside ‘Liposomes’.
So what are liposomes?
Liposomes are tiny, nano-sized bubbles that mimic the body’s own cell membranes. The same phospholipids that makeup cell membranes also make up the outer shell of liposomes. The inner and outer walls of the liposome are made up of phospholipids, the most common being phosphatidylcholine, to create a sphere around an aqueous component, such as dissolved vitamin C. Because the liposomes’ outer shells imitate our cell membranes, liposomes can “fuse” with certain cells upon contact, delivering the liposome’s content to the cell.
Liposomes have been used as an effective method of drug and nutrient delivery since the 1960s. Liposomal agents also bypass a large portion of the gastrointestinal (GI) tract and only get absorbed into the blood stream when they get to the small intestine.
What are the advantages of this method of delivery?
This novel delivery system of encapsulating vitamin C in a protective membrane has several advantages:
- Prevents vitamin C from being destroyed by the digestive enzymes and acid found in the digestive tract and stomach respectively.Delivers the Vitamin C directly into the cells without oxidation or degradation and without consuming energy.
- provides accelerated intestinal absorption,
- ensures protection of the gut from potentially irritating agents,
- ensures 90-100% bioavailability therefore 350% more efficient than regular vitamin C
- enables mega or large doses without any side effects or risk of overdosing.
- More affordable and cost effective per mg than water soluble vitamin C due to superior bioavailability and absorption rate
- Recommended for those with a greater need for vitamin C such as older adults and smokers
- Increases skin firmness and reduces fine lines and wrinkles better than regular vitamin C because liposomes are the best way to deliver vitamin C into the skin cells, where it is needed to produce collagen and elastin.
- Liposomal vitamin C is often promoted as an oral alternative to getting an intravenous (IV) dosage of vitamin C.
- one study observed that liposomal vitamin C was nearly as effective as IV vitamin C at preventing tissue damage during reperfusion.
- patients with eg Corona Virus or other serious illnesses requiring Vitamin C therapy treatment and not recommend ordinary VitC as a immune support therapy.
- Neutralising spike protein.