Well, the facts are that vitamin C is actually a group of nutrients that work together synergistically. Real vitamin C is found in whole foods like camu camu berries or oranges contains not only ascorbic acid, but rutin, bioflavonoids, factors K, J and P, tyrosinase and more. Ascorbic acid is actually just the outer ring that acts as a protective shell for the C complex, kind of like the peel of a lemon is the protective outer covering of a lemon!

Research has shown that natural vitamin C is far more potent at lower dosages than synthetic C. Many people who have stopped using mega doses of synthetic C and now use just 100 to 200 mgs of a natural whole food based Quantum C Complex product have reported greater immune boosting results. This C Complex contains camu camu and acerola berries, which are some of the richest sources of natural C.

Synthetic C vitamin is made in a lab and is just ascorbic acid. In fact, perhaps there's a reason why you can find lots of internet sites that say that synthetic C is identical to the natural kind. Around 99 percent of all vitamin C products on the marketplace today are synthetic, often made from genetically modified corn sugar. So that's what most people are selling. But don't forget, synthetic C only contains one component of the real, natural C complex.

A Hungarian biochemist, Dr. Albert Szent-Gyorgi, was the one to originally identify C, and his research clearly showed the benefits of using natural vitamin C instead of the synthetic one. Much of the research showing the health benefits of C was conducted using whole foods high in the C complex, NOT synthetic C.

In fact, did you know that two of the main producers of vitamin C today are Merck and the China Pharmacuetical Group of the People's Republic of China? Do you think that's right that your vitamin comes from a company that makes drugs? Well, perhaps if it's synthetic that's appropriate, since studies have shown that the body treats synthetic vitamins in a similar way that it does drugs.

The synthetic version of C is not only NOT the same thing as the natural C complex, but taking synthetic ascorbic acid can actually make the body more acidic over time, because the body must use its calcium stores to neutralize the acid. So over time, synthetic vitamin C products may actually have a negative effect on your body. Make sure you don't get a synthetic product with a little bit of acerola or rose hips added in. If it's still mostly synthetic C, it will have much the same effect. Either just eat the whole food or find a potent whole food C complex.