The acerola cherry provides around 30 times as much vitamin C as a lemon. Although also a stone fruit like our own domestic cherry, botanically they have nothing in common. The tree or bush on which the acerola cherry grows can reach a height of up to five metres and is found in the dry forests of South and Central America, Brazil and Jamaica.

Now, we are certainly not the first to offer acerola as a natural vitamin C product. The new and innovative feature of our product is its delayed-action effect. In fact, retardation of natural vitamin C. Up to now there were only synthetic (artificial) produced vitamin c products with delayed-action effects. But what does it mean – retard?

The term “Retard” comes from the Latin (retardere) and means “to delay”. In relation to our product, this means that after consumption, the vitamin C is not released into the body all at once, but gradually and over a period of time. This is important because, generally speaking, the human body uses up the vitamin C that it takes in immediately, i.e. it does not store it in deposits of some kind. Therefore, in order to ensure that our body is kept provided with a regular and constant supply of vitamin C, we should normally consume vitamin C several times a day (and really also during the night). But who is able to do that? So we saw this as a challenge of developing a product that is able to provide people with an even and delayed supply of the vitamin by simple and convenient means.

Development of the product took some 3 years. One of the reasons for this long period of work and research was that we no longer wanted to use the conventional, but now old-fashioned “shellac method” for releasing the vitamin C gradually over time. As you may well be aware, shellac is a resinous substance that is obtained from gum lac and has a wide variety of applications, including, for instance, use in polishes and lacquers. The lac itself, however, is obtained from the secretions of the lac insect – a fact which in our opinion is rather less than appetising! Nevertheless, for most vitamin C products with delayed-action effect, shellac is still used today as the means of achieving controlled release.

This was something we wished to spare you. Therefore, working with scientists from all over the world, including a number of professors at the famous Semmelweiss University, we looked for a new, innovative method to provide you with a modern form of continuously release. In the course of our trials, cellulose produced the best results. Natural cellulose is the main component of the walls of plant cells, and as such, is the commonest organic compound on earth.

Our Acerola-C-Retard Tablets are made by pressing a special form of cellulose. The result is a so-called cellulose matrix in which the fresh acerola powder is, as it were, embedded. The tablet is then coated again with a soluble layer of cellulose. This makes it easier to swallow, and also further slightly extends the delayed release of the vitamin C.

The real delayed-action effect, however, is caused solely by the matrix with the special cellulose. In contrast to a normal tablet, this is not completely dissolved and absorbed straight away in the gastro-intestinal tract; instead, it is dissolved slowly and gradually, i.e. bit by bit. For in contrast to ruminants, i.e. animals that chew their cud, humans are not able to break down cellulose. In the human intestine, cellulose swells only slowly and gradually, like roughage. And it is precisely this effect that enables our Acerola-C-Retard Tablets to release their load of essential vitamin C over an extended period of time.

But how does this work exactly? By using the principle that in nature, everything always tries to reach equilibrium. One Acerola-C-Retard Tablet contains no less than 100 mg of pure, completely natural vitamin C. So compared to the vitamin C content of the body, this figure is very high. When you swallow an Acerola-C-Retard Tablet, it enters your gastro-intestinal tract. As already mentioned, the vitamin C content of the tablet is very high. In the surrounding medium, e.g. the gastric or intestinal juices, on the other hand, the vitamin C concentration is very low. Nature now seeks to achieve an equilibrium. In other words, your body makes every effort to ensure that the concentration of vitamin C contained in the tablet and embedded in the cellulose and the level of vitamin C in the environment of the tablet (i.e. your body) become the same.This slow, passive process of exchange and distribution, which takes place as if by magic and ensures the even distribution of vitamin C in your body, is known as diffusion. Diffusion (from the Latin word diffundere = to pour out, scatter, spread) is an altogether slow, continuous process in which the mixing of various unevenly distributed substances is achieved without any external action – i.e. through molecular movement only – until the distribution of the substances within the system is the same everywhere. A bit complicated – isn’t it?!

That means that each single vitamin C molecule in our tablets oscillates backwards and forwards. This could be pictured like people having a “schunkel” party, i.e. linking arms and swaying from side to side to the rhythm of the music. And just as they often bump against their neighbours, so do the vitamin C molecules in our tablets. Each vitamin C molecule oscillates backwards and forwards and excites another vitamin C molecule to do the same. When all the vitamin C molecules are moving, the schunkel party really is in fill swing. But there’s more, because the schunkel movement now turns into a conga. This leaves the tablet and proceeds through the whole “ballroom” (i.e. your body).

This means that when all the vitamin C molecules are in motion, they push and shove each other to where there were no or only a few vitamin C molecules before. In this way, more and more vitamin C molecules are forced out of the tablet. The molecules then wander through the whole body until they are present everywhere – i.e. when the vitamin C concentration is in equilibrium throughout the body.

And incidentally, our acerola C molecules stay in “party mood” for a very long time. They can dance the conga through the body for up to 12 hours. In other words, the vitamin C of our Acerola-C-Retard Tablets is released for up to 12 hours. So with only 2 of our vitamin C tablets, you can supply your body with high-quality natural vitamin C for a full 24 hours, i.e. right round the clock.

And speaking of natural: While many of our competitors continue to offer only synthetically produced vitamin C with delayed-action effect – because it is easier and cheaper to make – we have decided in favour of Mother Nature. And for a very good reason: The bio-availability of natural vitamin C, i.e. its utilisation by the body, is generally significantly greater than that of synthetically produced vitamin C. Additionally, and again in contrast to synthetically manufactured vitamin C, the acerola cherry contains a whole range of other natural substances, including many important bioflavonoids, which further reinforce the effects of natural vitamin C. It is estimated that the bioflavonoids are able to amplify the effect of the vitamin C from acerola cherries by up to 20 times.

Your organism will be grateful – for vitamin C is seen today by most nutritional scientists as an absolute master-of-all-trades in the truest sense of the word. In its natural composition, it is a genuine miracle of Mother Nature, with an astounding ability to meet an almost unmeasurable variety of needs of our body (for more on this, see our article “Vitamin C – The Health Vitamin”).

For this reason, we recommend you to take one capsule of our product every morning and every evening so that you can be sure of your body being kept constantly supplied with the quantity of vitamin C it needs

Vitamin C – The Health Vitamin

Vitamin C is probably the best-known vitamin of all. Virtually every adult has heard of it. Nevertheless, it is frequently underestimated. When most people think of ascorbic acid (vitamin C), their most immediate thought is that they should consume it at certain times of year. But that is all that the majority of people know about what vitamin is capable of and what tasks it performs. It should therefore be clearly stated at this point: Vitamin C and the broad range of effects it has are hugely underestimated on the part of most people. Only a few people are aware of the following facts, for instance:

Without vitamin C, human life is not possible It is involved in some 15,000 metabolistic processes It is involved in the production of neurotransmitters Vitamin C is important for the production of collagen for the body’s connective tissue and the bones, tendons and skin, and for the stability of the walls of the blood vessels It plays an active role in the fat metabolism as it is involved in the formation of carnitine It fosters the absorption of iron by the body and so on…and so on…and so on…

Vitamin C is among the substances that literally organise our health. In general, it is a prerequisite for the functioning of the natural immune system, and it supports the heart muscle, the metabolism, cellular respiration and the hormone system.

But vitamin C is also a kind of restorative for the soul, as some scientists believe that it arouses feelings of happiness by slowing the energy drop in the cells. It contributes to people’s vitality, flexibility and physical and mental powers.

Animals living in the wild are able to produce the essential vitamin C that they need in their own bodies. Only humans, apes and a number of other exotic creatures have lost this ability through a change to their genes. So we are dependent on external sources. However, many experts believe that through the worldwide transport, storage, industrial processing, direct exposure to oxygen, washing and cooking that vitamin C sources undergo, about 90 percent of the original vitamin is lost. Thus, it is estimated that Stone Age people had an intake of vitamin C that was about 40 times higher than our consumption today. The consequence can be that the body is not supplied with the quantity of vitamin C that Mother Nature decided that it should be, and this in turn cannot be good for our health: It is therefore all the more important to pay attention to how much vitamin C we do actually take in today through our daily nutrition.

Just how important for us vitamin C really is was impressively demonstrated by the sad experiences of the seafarers in the 15th century. With the worldwide voyages of discovery across the world’s oceans, people not only discovered new lands, but also the limits of the human body.

But while the seafarers suffered from the complete depletion of the vitamin C reserves in their bodies, there are many health risks today that are “only” associated with a vitamin C deficiency. It is an interesting fact that these health risks with which we are familiar for ourselves cannot normally be found among animals living in the wild. But as we already mentioned, animals are able to produce their own vitamin C.

There are an enormous number of nutritional studies throughout the world into the fantastic abilities of vitamin C in all areas of all kinds. Thus, for example, it was found in no fewer than 10 vitamin C studies involving altogether 80,000 participants that vitamin C can positively support the natural eyesight in old age. But there are also many other nutritional studies that provide almost unbelievable reports on other positive health effects of additional intake of vitamin C. We could present the results of some of these studies in detail, but it would unfortunately burst the bounds of this little article. However, even the small number of points that we have mentioned clearly illustrates what overwhelming importance vitamin C has in general for the health of our bodies and our wellbeing as a whole. It is not for nothing that the man who discovered ascorbic acid, Dr. Albert von Szent-Györgyi, was awarded the 1937 Nobel Prize for his work on and understanding of vitamin C. Also the twice Nobel Prize winner Linus Pauling swore by vitamin C throughout his life. It is said that not one day went by on which he forgot to take his personal dose of vitamin C.

A few years ago, in light of the extensive new knowledge concerning vitamin C, the German Nutritional Society, for example, significantly increased its recommended daily intake of vitamin C. But there are also many scientists who believe that even this increased recommended daily dose is still too low.

Another fact that it is important to remember is that humans cannot store vitamin C in their bodies. Therefore, continuous intake spread over the day is strongly recommended. Consequently, you should eat foods such as fruit that are rich in vitamin C in large quantities and as often as possible. If, for whatever reason, you are not able to do so, however, this is no problem thanks to our Acerola-Retard-Vitamin C, as it is released over a period of 12 hours. And it is a good thing that it is, for we evidently need this all-purpose natural substance in the same degree as we do fresh water or the oxygen in the air that we breathe.

We especially advise smokers to take additional doses of vitamin C beyond the normal recommended dose of 2 tablets per days. The reason for this is that a nutritional study in Canada came to the conclusion that, on average, smokers have 25 percent less vitamin C at their disposal than non-smokers. And according to the same study, people who smoke more than one packet of cigarettes per day have, on average, a vitamin C blood serum level that is even 40 percent lower than it should be. Naturally, the best thing would be to give up smoking altogether, but those who do not wish to or are not able to should at least pay attention to their increased need for vitamin C.

Equally, however, and without us being aware of it, every pharmaceutical drug that we take, including the contraceptive pill or an ordinary headache tablet, generally also robs the body of the vitamin C it needs. So also in this regard, you should pay increased attention to your daily vitamin C supply.

The same also applies when we are always in a hurry or constantly find ourselves in stress situations. It is known from animals, for example, that in situations of this kind they synthesise (produce) 3 times the quantity of vitamin C that they do in normal circumstances. We also recommend those groups of people who find themselves in unusual situations of any other kind in their lives to ensure an additional daily intake of vitamin C. And we also advise an extra dose of vitamin C to support the wellbeing of the urinary tract and the general feeling of physical wellbeing during the cold winter months.

Our recommendation is, therefore: Make Acerola-C-Retard your daily companion. This substance is of such general and fundamental importance for our health that it is hard to imagine any aspects of our lives that cannot be positively supported by vitamin C.

Our recommendation for use (2 tablets daily) contains: 200 mg pure vitamin C from the acerola cherry.