Vitamin C supplementation removes lead from the body

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25.11.2024

If you spend a lot of time in traffic and are forced to sniff copious amounts of lead fumes, it might be an idea to take a supplement with one gram of vitamin C every day. In high doses, vitamin C removes lead from the body.

Vitamin C supplementation removes lead from the body

Study

In 1999, an American human study was published in the Journal of the American College of Nutrition, in which 75 heavy smoking men aged 20-30 years participated as subjects. Smoking is harmful to health in many different ways, one of which is that cigarette smoke releases all kinds of heavy metals into the body. Like lead.

In animal studies, vitamin C can protect lab rats against lead poisoning to some extent. Researchers from the University of Texas Medical Branch at Galveston wondered whether vitamin C also has the same effect in humans. [Anat Cell Biol. 2013 Dec;46(4):239-45.] [Toxicol Lett. 1990 Feb;50(2-3):337-48.]

The Americans divided the men into 3 groups. These groups received a daily tablet with 0, 250 or 1000 milligrams of vitamin C per day for 4 weeks.

Results
The concentration of lead in the blood remained high in the men who took 0 or 250 milligrams per day. However, in the 1000 milligram group, the lead concentration fell by 81 percent.

Click on the table below for a larger version.

The Americans characterize the concentration of lead in the blood of smokers as 'sub-clinical'. This means that the concentration is not so high that doctors wake up and intervene.

"This study demonstrates the effectiveness of ascorbic acid supplementation and shows it to be a convenient, inexpensive prophylactic treatment for subclinical chronic lead exposure," the researchers summarize.

Source:
Journal of the American College of Nutrition. 1999;18(2);166-70.

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Cup of tea inhibits uptake of mercury from fish 04.12.2009

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