Interesting... yes, not such issues with bruising, etc. while NOT on GW. Maybe I need to have my Vit C levels checked anyway just to be safe. Thanks for pointing that out.
Vit C levels arent something can can really be checked because its not cut and dry as say not having enough calories etc.
I normally wouldnt want to hijack a thread like this but it is your thread and I think there is a rampant misunderstanding about the role nutrients play in our health.
When I tell someone they have a nutritional deficiency they often scoff because they eat well etc but its not that simple and here is why.
We all think of nutrients simply as sources of energy (ie calories) but their roll is much more diverse.
Aside from nutrients being burned as fuel, A nutrient can be used a s building block or a component of a chemical process. Hormones for example are made up of fats. Fats can be burned as energy but also are needed for cell membranes etc.
Beyond being used for fuel or building blocks however nutrients can sacrifice their integrity to donate electrons to various tissues in the body.
We often hear the term "free radical" but what is it? To understand this we need to look at the basic makeup of our bodies and thats an atom or a clump of atoms that form a molecule. These entities strive to have a given amount of electrons and when they are missing electrons they can actually steal electrons from surrounding tissue. Many pathogens, bacteria and toxins are also electron deficient and its their stealing of electrons within our bodies that wreak havoc.
vitamin C is a major element used in not only the creation of collagen based tissue but its also a very powerful electron donator. Someone may consume say 10 grams of vit C a day, which may seem like a lot but then all of a sudden you catch the flu or are exposed to excessive amounts of toxins in drinking water, a bacterial infection or what have you. When this occurs your body rapidly gets depleted of vitamin C because its being used as an electron donor for the immune system so the toxins/virus/pathogens can be handled.
Most animals create their own vitamin C, mice for example create about 275mg per kg of bodyweight. If you were to correlate that to a a man, a 176lb man (if they had the ability to create vit C) would make about 22,000mg per day. Thats a FAR cry beyond what anyone who isnt intentionally taking large doses gets.
Then you add in the fact that contracting the flu can easily result in your body utilizing 100 grams or more per day while infection is active and you can see that that just one quick bout of getting sick can greatly deplete any vit C stores your body may have built up. While in this significantly deficient state(even if short lived) can deplete stores which can cause vit C dependent tissues to become weakened.