Mastering Nutrition Vitamin C, Whole Food Vs. Synthetic: Does It Matter?
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Nov 16, 2023 Debunking the myth of special tyrosinase complex in plant vitamin C, examining differences between whole food and synthetic vitamin C, exploring distinctions between vitamin K and C in plants, discussing absorption rates, highlighting benefits of flavonoids and vitamin C, importance of vitamin C and its concentrations in plants, effects on tyrosinase enzyme and cerebral plasmid, benefits of whole food vitamin C over synthetic ascorbic acid.
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Whole Food C Is Not A Different Molecule
- Whole food vitamin C is preferable because foods provide many nutrients but is not structurally different from ascorbic acid.
- Claims that plant vitamin C exists as a special tyrosinase-bound 'complex' are incorrect and biologically implausible.
Flavonoids vs. Ascorbic Acid: Different Roles
- Flavonoids have low absorption and act largely through hormesis rather than being direct vitamin C cofactors.
- By contrast, ascorbic acid is highly absorbed (70–90% at moderate doses) and serves essential enzymatic roles.
Vitamin C Acts As A Soluble Redox Cofactor
- Ascorbic acid functions as a soluble redox factor and cofactor for many plant enzymes, not as a prosthetic enzyme-bound complex.
- Vitamin C is ubiquitous in plant tissues and correlates with photosynthetic activity, not with tyrosinase binding.