With COVID in the news and promising research on High Dose Vitamin C, Patients have been asking lately what the big difference is between our AIM “Multi-Vitamin” IVs and AIM “Anti-Viral” IV’s, and which one might be better during this pandemic.
The main difference is the amount of Vitamin C. This really is the important difference between the two. It might sound confusing, but Vitamin C actually acts as both an antioxidant and a pro-oxidant1.
In smaller amounts, Vitamin C acts as more of an antioxidant. I know we have all heard about “antioxidants”, but few of us really know what that means other than “they are good”. Antioxidants stop oxidation which is a chemical reaction that produces free radicals and sets off a chain of reactions that can damage cells. Vitamin C “scavenges” oxidants and negates them therefore preventing what would have otherwise been damaging to our DNA, lipids, and proteins2.
In higher amounts, vitamin C acts as a pro-oxidant. Pro-oxidants are then just the opposite and instead of stopping oxidation, they promote free radical chemical reactions that cause damage to cells. So why would we want to create damage to the cells? The oxidant damage that is done can be to viruses by promoting our immune systems production of interferon-α,β3 which then kills off the virus.
Therefore, our “Multi-Vitamin” IV is an anti-oxidant IV that I usually describe to people as more immune boosting when they are not sick. Our “Anti-Viral” IV is a pro-oxidant and is more immune boosting when they are feeling sick.
If you have any questions or are wondering which IV is the best option for you, feel free to reach out to your AIM and your doctor can review your case with you and present an individualized plan just for you. For those people interested in even higher dose Vitamin C, that is a more involved process that we can also administer.
We are recommending that people strongly consider IV therapy, specifically the Multi-Vitamin IV, monthly to support and strengthen your immune system. While there is no vaccine for COVID19 yet, boosting your immune system will leave you feeling great naturally, and with some peace of mind during this crisis.
References:
- Chakraborthy A, Ramani P, Sherlin HJ, Premkumar P, Natesan A. Antioxidant and pro-oxidant activity of Vitamin C in oral environment. Indian J Dent Res 2014; 25:299-504
- Carr, Anitra, and Balz Frei. “Does Vitamin C Act as a pro‐Oxidant under Physiological Conditions?” The FASEB Journal, vol. 13, no. 9, 1999, pp. 1007–1024. PubMed, doi:10.1096/fasebj.13.9.1007.
- Kim, Yejin et al. “Vitamin C Is an Essential Factor on the Anti-viral Immune Responses through the Production of Interferon-α/β at the Initial Stage of Influenza A Virus (H3N2) Infection.” Immune networkvol. 13,2 (2013): 70-4. doi:10.4110/in.2013.13.2.70
