Authors: Alexander J Audette; Francesco Anello; Richard Russell Johnson
Date of Publication: 20 December 2020
Source: ISOM, Volume 36, Number 1, 2021
Abstract
Traditional indigenous diets contained liberal amounts of parts of animals such as internal organs, glands and other tissues in addition to edible insects and foraged wild vegetables. As a consequence, carbohydrate loads in traditional indigenous diets were much lower than modern diets of today. Ascorbic acid is a small molecule that utilizes similar transporters as glucose to enter cells in its oxidized form. It has been observed that hypoglycemia can occur as a side effect of intravenous infusions of vitamin C. Conversely, when glucose levels are elevated, absorption of ascorbic acid is decreased due to competition with glucose, which necessitates an increased need in those consuming a modern industrial diet to increase their consumption of ascorbic acid in order to satisfy tissue requirements for the vitamin. In traditional indigenous diets, which would be very similar to ketogenic diets today, lower amounts of ascorbic acid are required due to that lack of competition from lower blood glucose levels. This paper examines the superiority of the forgotten traditional diets and how instituting elements of them into our modern diet can aid therapeutic outcomes where high dose intravenous Vitamin C is used as a treatment.
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