An anonymous comment left on my immediate previous post on this whole Vitamin C brou-ha-ha reminded me of my marketing school days; that USP that we look for can be so strong that people buy into the USP blindly, forgetting that the very USP we buy a product for may actually be available elsewhere.
GSK positioned that blackcurrants contain more Vitamin C than oranges - this statement alone can be viewed and internalised from many angles. But only two fruits are in this equation; no problem there, and the claim is supported by a weigh-for-weight debate.
But did you realise that Vitamin C is also obtained from your good old spinach, broccoli as well as red and green peppers (yummy!).
A Harvard School of Public Health article I found says this:
Excellent food sources of vitamin C are citrus fruits or citrus juices, berries, green and red peppers, tomatoes, broccoli, and spinach.
Left: Harvard School of Public Health Longwood Campus (from Wikipedia)
The article says about 200 to 300mg of the vitamin a day should keep you up and about; the recommended daily allowance of Vitaminc C intake is 75mg (men) and 90mg (women); add 35mg if you're a tobacco fan. With the larger intake - which the article says can be easily achieved with a good diet and a multivitamin - you should be good. No need to go mega-dose.
Full text of this multi-vitamin source article here.
C Gets a D for Cold Management
I was right! For years I told my parents and wives and their parents and countless of other people that have pushed the Vitamin C down my throat at my first sniffle, that it doesn't work for me.
Vitamin C and my cold actually has an opposite effect; it worsens my sniffles! And HSPH more or less verifies my claims (hee hee!). From the same article:
Vitamin C's cold-fighting potential certainly hasn't panned out. Small trials suggest that the amount of vitamin C in a typical multivitamin taken at the start of a cold might ease symptoms, but there's no evidence that megadoses make a difference, or that they prevent colds. Studies of vitamin C and heart disease, cancer, and eye diseases such as cataract and macular degeneration also show no clear patterns.
If you are now drowning yourself in Vitamin C daily, which is flushed through your urine quite easily, what say you if you cut back to the 200 to 300mg range. Maybe put the savings into Lecithin E for cholesterol control?
The ABCs of Marketing
So the case for oranges is not just blackcurrant; its just that blackcurrant juice tastes far better than say red pepper juice or spinach juice. Excellent marketing actually.
Are you getting your USP because it is positioned that way? Or is that USP that you pay for available elsewhere, or even perhaps already on your dining table?
GSK positioned that blackcurrants contain more Vitamin C than oranges - this statement alone can be viewed and internalised from many angles. But only two fruits are in this equation; no problem there, and the claim is supported by a weigh-for-weight debate.
But did you realise that Vitamin C is also obtained from your good old spinach, broccoli as well as red and green peppers (yummy!).
A Harvard School of Public Health article I found says this:Excellent food sources of vitamin C are citrus fruits or citrus juices, berries, green and red peppers, tomatoes, broccoli, and spinach.
Left: Harvard School of Public Health Longwood Campus (from Wikipedia)
The article says about 200 to 300mg of the vitamin a day should keep you up and about; the recommended daily allowance of Vitaminc C intake is 75mg (men) and 90mg (women); add 35mg if you're a tobacco fan. With the larger intake - which the article says can be easily achieved with a good diet and a multivitamin - you should be good. No need to go mega-dose.
Full text of this multi-vitamin source article here.C Gets a D for Cold Management
I was right! For years I told my parents and wives and their parents and countless of other people that have pushed the Vitamin C down my throat at my first sniffle, that it doesn't work for me.
Vitamin C and my cold actually has an opposite effect; it worsens my sniffles! And HSPH more or less verifies my claims (hee hee!). From the same article:
Vitamin C's cold-fighting potential certainly hasn't panned out. Small trials suggest that the amount of vitamin C in a typical multivitamin taken at the start of a cold might ease symptoms, but there's no evidence that megadoses make a difference, or that they prevent colds. Studies of vitamin C and heart disease, cancer, and eye diseases such as cataract and macular degeneration also show no clear patterns.
If you are now drowning yourself in Vitamin C daily, which is flushed through your urine quite easily, what say you if you cut back to the 200 to 300mg range. Maybe put the savings into Lecithin E for cholesterol control?
The ABCs of Marketing
So the case for oranges is not just blackcurrant; its just that blackcurrant juice tastes far better than say red pepper juice or spinach juice. Excellent marketing actually.
Are you getting your USP because it is positioned that way? Or is that USP that you pay for available elsewhere, or even perhaps already on your dining table?
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