What do you think?
Rate this book
Healing Factor
An eminent biochemist discusses the importance of ascorbic acid in the human body and reviews scientific evidence concerning its importance in combatting specific physical and mental disorders. Glossary. Bibliogs
258 pages, Paperback
First published January 1, 1972
5 people are currently reading
51 people want to read
Ratings & Reviews
Friends & Following
Create a free account to discover what your friends think of this book!
Community Reviews
Displaying 1 - 5 of 5 reviews
August 9, 2016
This book is a vitamin C classic. I read it on the Vitamin C Foundation website and was so glad to see it was still available.
Irwin Stone explains in this book,
"Throughout the evolution of the vertebrates, including the mammals, Nature has used ascorbic acid to maintain physiological homeostasis. In simple nontechnical terms, this means that when stressful situations arose which disturbed the biochemical equilibrium of the animal, ascorbic acid was produced in increased quantities to get things running normal again. The amount of ascorbic acid produced is related to the severity of the stresses and if enough was produced soon enough, then the animal was able to survive the bad biochemical effects of the stresses. If, however, the enzyme system for producing ascorbic acid was overwhelmed or poisoned by the stresses and too little ascorbic acid was produced, then the animal succumbed. Man, unable to produce his own ascorbic acid, could not take advantage of this natural protective process. Instead stresses only further depleted his low stores of this vital metabolite. Now he can easily duplicate this time-tested defensive mechanism by reaching for the bottle of ascorbic acid and swallowing additional quantities whenever he is subjected to biochemical stresses. In duplicating this normal process for combating stresses, man has one great advantage over the other mammals -- he can get an unlimited supply of ascorbic acid without being dependent upon an enzyme system which may not produce enough, quickly enough. All man needs to know is how much to take.
One of the outstanding attributes of ascorbic acid is its lack of toxicity even when given in large doses over long periods of time. This has been recognized since the 1930s, and ascorbic acid can be rated as one of the least toxic substances known of comparable physiological activity. It can be administered in huge doses, intravenously, without registering any serious side effects."
Along with books such as [[ASIN:1411607244 Ascorbate: The Science of Vitamin C]] and [[ASIN:159120223X Vitamin C: The Real Story, the Remarkable and Controversial Healing Factor]] and [[ASIN:0977952029 Curing the Incurable: Vitamin C, Infectious Diseases, and Toxins]] and works by Cathcart, Pauling, Klenner, and others is very very interesting if not essential reading for anyone very interested in the topic and use of high-dose vitamin C. Learning about the history of vitamin C and reading lots of case studies in books like this one really helps you appreciate the potential of the substance and its safety.
If you can buy and read just one book on vitamin C though I'd recommend Primal Panacea (or as a second best[[ASIN:0977952029 Curing the Incurable: Vitamin C, Infectious Diseases, and Toxins]]) because only these newer books talk about the new liposomal form of vitamin C - which changes everything by giving a result similar to IV administration in an oral form. This book busts the following myths:
1. There are no studies on vitamin C
2. There is no proof that vitamin C works
3. Vitamin C is not safe
4. Vitamin C causes kidney stones
5. Our need for vitamin C is met by diet
6. Vitamin C just makes expensive urine
7. If vitamin C really worked we would all be using it
Vitamin C books which do not advise on liposomal vitamin C just cannot be considered complete. Dr Levy writes:
"Comparing the bioavailability of all other oral vitamin C delivery with your oral liposomal delivery is like comparing a squirt gun to a fire hose. Not only am I convinced that the efficacy of Lypo-Spheric(tm) Vitamin C far surpasses any traditional oral vitamin C supplement, but my recent personal experience with it suggests that it may sometimes be better than IV injection."
3 cheers for all the vitamin C pioneers!
Vitamin C has made such a difference to my life. Learning about it is essential for anyone looking to treat any disease or that is interested in feeling good and preventing disease.
Jodi Bassett, The Hummingbirds' Foundation for Myalgic Encephalomyelitis (HFME)
Irwin Stone explains in this book,
"Throughout the evolution of the vertebrates, including the mammals, Nature has used ascorbic acid to maintain physiological homeostasis. In simple nontechnical terms, this means that when stressful situations arose which disturbed the biochemical equilibrium of the animal, ascorbic acid was produced in increased quantities to get things running normal again. The amount of ascorbic acid produced is related to the severity of the stresses and if enough was produced soon enough, then the animal was able to survive the bad biochemical effects of the stresses. If, however, the enzyme system for producing ascorbic acid was overwhelmed or poisoned by the stresses and too little ascorbic acid was produced, then the animal succumbed. Man, unable to produce his own ascorbic acid, could not take advantage of this natural protective process. Instead stresses only further depleted his low stores of this vital metabolite. Now he can easily duplicate this time-tested defensive mechanism by reaching for the bottle of ascorbic acid and swallowing additional quantities whenever he is subjected to biochemical stresses. In duplicating this normal process for combating stresses, man has one great advantage over the other mammals -- he can get an unlimited supply of ascorbic acid without being dependent upon an enzyme system which may not produce enough, quickly enough. All man needs to know is how much to take.
One of the outstanding attributes of ascorbic acid is its lack of toxicity even when given in large doses over long periods of time. This has been recognized since the 1930s, and ascorbic acid can be rated as one of the least toxic substances known of comparable physiological activity. It can be administered in huge doses, intravenously, without registering any serious side effects."
Along with books such as [[ASIN:1411607244 Ascorbate: The Science of Vitamin C]] and [[ASIN:159120223X Vitamin C: The Real Story, the Remarkable and Controversial Healing Factor]] and [[ASIN:0977952029 Curing the Incurable: Vitamin C, Infectious Diseases, and Toxins]] and works by Cathcart, Pauling, Klenner, and others is very very interesting if not essential reading for anyone very interested in the topic and use of high-dose vitamin C. Learning about the history of vitamin C and reading lots of case studies in books like this one really helps you appreciate the potential of the substance and its safety.
If you can buy and read just one book on vitamin C though I'd recommend Primal Panacea (or as a second best[[ASIN:0977952029 Curing the Incurable: Vitamin C, Infectious Diseases, and Toxins]]) because only these newer books talk about the new liposomal form of vitamin C - which changes everything by giving a result similar to IV administration in an oral form. This book busts the following myths:
1. There are no studies on vitamin C
2. There is no proof that vitamin C works
3. Vitamin C is not safe
4. Vitamin C causes kidney stones
5. Our need for vitamin C is met by diet
6. Vitamin C just makes expensive urine
7. If vitamin C really worked we would all be using it
Vitamin C books which do not advise on liposomal vitamin C just cannot be considered complete. Dr Levy writes:
"Comparing the bioavailability of all other oral vitamin C delivery with your oral liposomal delivery is like comparing a squirt gun to a fire hose. Not only am I convinced that the efficacy of Lypo-Spheric(tm) Vitamin C far surpasses any traditional oral vitamin C supplement, but my recent personal experience with it suggests that it may sometimes be better than IV injection."
3 cheers for all the vitamin C pioneers!
Vitamin C has made such a difference to my life. Learning about it is essential for anyone looking to treat any disease or that is interested in feeling good and preventing disease.
Jodi Bassett, The Hummingbirds' Foundation for Myalgic Encephalomyelitis (HFME)
April 11, 2021
I read this book on a web page—
http://vitamincfoundation.org/stone/i...
http://vitamincfoundation.org/stone/i...
October 7, 2017
all family members are on vitamin C for the rest of our lives after reading this book!
January 23, 2014
First reviewed at http://www.fragrantuniverse.com/the-h...
From the very first pages, which are really the Foreward pages written by Dr. Linus Pauling and the Hungarian Dr. Albert Szent-Gyorgyi, convinced me that I invested my money in the right place. Both my vitamin C heroes praised this book highly and recommended it as a valuable reading.
It took me two afternoons to go through the book and it left me hungry for more! Not because it was not a great book or because it wouldn’t have the required information. Oh it did and more than I expected. However it gave mentions to so many studies and other works of value, that I now simply have to track them down as well!
The Healing Factor goes over the history of mankind, from the old times when the early humans were still making their own ascorbic acid (Vitamin C) in their liver, just like any other animal out there (that are still making their own). We somehow lost this ability over the millenia, along with some kinds of birds and the well known guinea pig.
Next the author goes over various ailments that were cured using vitamin C, starting from viral and bacterial infections, cancer, the heart, arthritis and rheumatism, aging, allergies, asthma, upper pulmonary infections, eyes, ulcers, kidneys (and no, vitamin C does not cause kidney stones, contrary to popular medical belief), diabetes, wound healing and so many more.
Irwin Stone does not merely talk about these various health problems, but offers a plethora of research material that we can simply hunt down should we want to do so. Everything that he writes states his case brilliantly. When finished with this book, you can’t but start to marvel at the fact that something so cheap, so readily available is such a strong health promoter, and start wondering why the medical establishment hasn’t embraced it yet as a choice for healing so many people instead of letting them spend thousands after thousands in expensive and highly toxic pills, procedures, chemotherapy and whatnot…
If anything this book has reinforced my belief that vitamin C, the simple, cheap and readily available ascorbic acid, is something that I don’t want to miss out on taking even a single day.
From the very first pages, which are really the Foreward pages written by Dr. Linus Pauling and the Hungarian Dr. Albert Szent-Gyorgyi, convinced me that I invested my money in the right place. Both my vitamin C heroes praised this book highly and recommended it as a valuable reading.
It took me two afternoons to go through the book and it left me hungry for more! Not because it was not a great book or because it wouldn’t have the required information. Oh it did and more than I expected. However it gave mentions to so many studies and other works of value, that I now simply have to track them down as well!
The Healing Factor goes over the history of mankind, from the old times when the early humans were still making their own ascorbic acid (Vitamin C) in their liver, just like any other animal out there (that are still making their own). We somehow lost this ability over the millenia, along with some kinds of birds and the well known guinea pig.
Next the author goes over various ailments that were cured using vitamin C, starting from viral and bacterial infections, cancer, the heart, arthritis and rheumatism, aging, allergies, asthma, upper pulmonary infections, eyes, ulcers, kidneys (and no, vitamin C does not cause kidney stones, contrary to popular medical belief), diabetes, wound healing and so many more.
Irwin Stone does not merely talk about these various health problems, but offers a plethora of research material that we can simply hunt down should we want to do so. Everything that he writes states his case brilliantly. When finished with this book, you can’t but start to marvel at the fact that something so cheap, so readily available is such a strong health promoter, and start wondering why the medical establishment hasn’t embraced it yet as a choice for healing so many people instead of letting them spend thousands after thousands in expensive and highly toxic pills, procedures, chemotherapy and whatnot…
If anything this book has reinforced my belief that vitamin C, the simple, cheap and readily available ascorbic acid, is something that I don’t want to miss out on taking even a single day.
Want to read
August 7, 2014I registered a book at BookCrossing.com!
http://www.BookCrossing.com/journal/12828771
http://www.BookCrossing.com/journal/12828771
Displaying 1 - 5 of 5 reviews