Vitamin C and blood PH?

Question

How does vitamin C effect ph mechanisms of the LUNGS? I swear my teacher is on crack for asking us questions our book doesnt provide any discussion of. :(

Answer 1

First of all, ascorbic acid, or vitamin C,has no effect whatsoever in the Ph of lungs,,,,thats for sure.
On the other hand, the amount of vitamin C needed to lower (the pH of blood increasing its acidity) will have to bypass the normal buffering mechanisms of the body, like plasma proteins, phosphates, plasma bicarbonate, buffering systems like free amonia, and aminoacids, and countless other mechanisms....and the acidity of a five carbon organic acid that dissociates only with one proton (one carboxyl) is really too low .................
If your teacher really wants to know the amounts of vitamin C required to cause acidosis (metabolic acidosis that is), tell her you need about ONE GRAM PER KILOGRAM of weight, something unattanable and unthinkable to carry on......(that would be like 75 grams for an averahe light weight adult)
In vite her to explain why yes, and why not....
Make a teacher of your teacher....many pupils are just too afraid to ask,,,,dont be one of them...

Answer 2

There are a few aspects to this. First and foremost, the body can't absorb more than 600 mg of elemental Calcium at any given point in time... if you take more than that, it may be deposited elsewhere (in the kidneys where it can contribute to stones or maybe in the arteries, both of which are becoming more common than they used to be). Also, kidney stones can be made of of excess minerals of a few different types (not just Calcium). It's not a guarantee that you'll get stones from taking too much Calcium just like it's not a guarantee you'll crash if you drive drunk... but why take the risk? It's best to take up to 500 mg of a good source of Calcium along with some of the nutrients that help the absorption of it (Magnesium, Vitamin D, Vitamin K, etc) and to take that dose 2-3 times a day. The RDA for Calcium is 1,000 mg (although some need more if they have bone problems) so you'll need to spread those nutrients throughout the day for optimal absorption. To reiterate, that doesn't mean you should stop taking all of them... just don't take too much at once. If you stop taking any Calcium, your body will leech what it needs from your bones (making them worse over time) so that can be just as bad as getting too much. It's moderation in all things, really. As a side note, I'm not sure why you started taking more Calcium because it's getting cold out... the temperature wouldn't play a big role in how much Calcium you'd take (as the main purpose of that is for bone health), but a separate Vitamin C pill wouldn't hurt to help your immune system and get the antioxidant support. Good luck and I hope I helped!

Answer 3

That's a good one. The ph mechanism of the lungs is to exhale out the carbon dioxide CO2 (acid) and breath in oxygen. What an interesting question and I'm curious to know myself.

Oh, wait...vitamin C increases collagen production and strengthens the blood vessels, so therefore it would stand to reason that vitamin C effects ph mechanisms of the lungs by strengthening the collagen and vascular structure of the lung, this would include the permeability of the aveolar membrane which allows CO2 and O2 to cross back and forth from the aveoli to the blood stream. And of course this process is what maintains the blood PH.

Okay, let me know if this was it :))

God YHWH bless

Answer 4

Vitamin C is an option that can have benefits for those whose faulty pH accompanies a severe disease state where low immunity is a factor. Increased amount of Vitamin C intake improves immunity and this helps blood pH control

Answer 5

Not at all. In theory, you might hyperventilate to compensate for the acidemia associated with massive doses (blowing off carbon dioxide pushes you towards alkalosis, and is a routine compensatory mechanism against acidosis), but that would be nuts.