When you hear Vitamin C, your first thought may be of a big glass of orange juice. This drink is just one of many sources of an essential nutrient. Vitamin C is a water-soluble vitamin that lives in the water inside your body. But you may not know how Vitamin C can help people with Lyme disease. Vitamin C IV therapy is an excellent option for people with Lyme disease.
Vitamins that are not water soluble are fat soluble or live in the fat inside your body. As an ascorbic acid, vitamin C is water soluble but does not get stored in the body. Your body won’t absorb more than it needs. Instead, it will get rid of the excess through urine.
Because the body doesn’t naturally make vitamin C, you must find ways to supply the body with the vitamin daily to get the dose needed for good health. Food, supplements, and intravenous (IV) therapies recommend good nutrition, including vitamin C. Doctors have approved vitamin C as an excellent treatment for Lyme disease.
What Is Lyme Disease?
Lyme disease is an infection in your bloodstream caused by the bacteria known as Borrelia burgdorferi. Deer ticks transmit this bacteria, which develops in three stages: early localized, early disseminated and late disseminated. As Lyme disease progresses through these stages, symptoms can worsen and become chronic.
Early symptoms mimic a cold or the flu, one reason Lyme disease is misdiagnosed. General practitioners often treat symptoms rather than the source of the problem. When left untreated, Lyme disease progresses and can affect the whole body.
Lyme Disease and the Body
Lyme bacteria can produce oxidants or molecules that damage other molecules within the body, causing inflammation and disease. When left untreated, Lyme bacteria multiply and spread throughout your body. Lyme disease causes inflammation in your joints, muscles, brain, and spinal cord.
Vitamin C Boosts the Immune System
The immune system is greatly affected by Lyme disease. When foreign substances or pathogens like the Borrelia bacteria enter the bloodstream, the body’s natural immune system goes into action. It creates inflammation and sends it to find the bacteria and flush them from your system. The problem is that Lyme bacteria are competent. They know how to go undetected by inflammation. They can build biofilms or shields around themselves.
They can also go dormant and hide in the tissues and cells of blood vessels. Your immune system is affected because it continually signals a need for inflammation but can’t find the pathogen. Your body then stays in a state of inflammation. Vitamin C boosts many immune system functions, including the white blood cells that fight infections. It also stimulates the production of neurotransmitters and collagen. It also reduces oxidative stress.
Vitamin C Prevents Oxidative Stress
The body consists of oxygen molecules, some of which may become free radicals or unstable atoms. When this happens, damage to the cells occurs. If more free radicals exist than your body can fight off, you may experience oxidative stress linked to Lyme disease and other conditions. To combat this, antioxidants are needed since they prevent the formation of free radicals.
Vitamin C is an antioxidant that can help reduce damage from free radicals. It also helps your body absorb iron and promote healing. Adding the super antioxidant glutathione to your vitamin C regimen is like a tag-team fighting free radicals. The body naturally produces glutathione, but you can become deficient. Fortunately, you can take glutathione supplements or get it intravenously.
Vitamin C Promotes Collagen Production
Collagen is a protein in the body. It is essential for repairing and healing damages caused by toxins and lifestyle choices. There are sixteen types of collagens, but only three are most prevalent. Type one helps build tendons, skin, bones, and ligaments. Type two collagen helps make cartilage, and type three helps create muscles and blood vessels.
Borrelia burgdorferi feeds on collagen, causing damage to cells and preventing repair and healing. Vitamin C is one of the best ways to combat this. Studies show the numerous benefits of vitamin C, including collagen production, reduced oxidative stress, and sped recovery.
Vitamin C Fights Cold and Flu Symptoms
Numerous studies exist on the effectiveness of vitamin C in preventing or reducing cold and flu symptoms. Findings have been inconsistent, but most state it cannot prevent someone from catching a cold or the flu. Vitamin C reduces the severity and longevity of cold and flu symptoms, which include:
- Runny nose
- Watery or itchy eyes
- Fever, chills, sweats
- Sore muscles
- Coughing
- Congestion
- Headaches
More importantly, vitamin C can boost your immune system, helping it do its job in fighting infections. Vitamin C improves specific symptoms associated with the cold and flu. It reduces the amount of histamine the body produces, reducing symptoms such as runny nose, watery eyes, sneezing, etc.
Vitamin C is proven to help with respiratory infections, which can help relieve coughing and congestion symptoms to improve breathing. Respiratory infections can cause a sore throat. Using vitamin C to alleviate diseases may also ease a sore throat. In addition, because vitamin C is an antioxidant and anti-inflammatory, it can aid in reducing soreness in the muscles.
Vitamin C Injections
Oral supplements must pass through the digestive system before entering the bloodstream. Taking vitamin C allows more of the nutrient to enter your bloodstream. As it is digested, it loses some of its potency. Vitamin C injections promote higher absorption rates, giving your immune system extra support.
How to Get Vitamin C IV Therapy
Because you have Lyme disease, you should always work with Lyme-literate doctors. They are specialists who spend extra time learning about Lyme disease and the latest, most effective treatments. Suggestions for finding the right Lyme-literate doctor include:
- Search outside and inside the United States to find the best doctor.
- Check reviews online, and don’t be afraid to ask for references.
- Compare doctors’ credentials, including education, training, research, and activity in national and international associations.
- Call and ask questions about the equipment and procedures.
Don’t wait to start the process if you are ready to explore vitamin C IV therapy. Call a Lyme-literate doctor today.