Please Scroll Down to See Forums Below I have a friend that takes 20,000 mg of Vitamin C everyday. He said that he has never been sick, not even a cold or cough, since he's been taking the supplment. Is this dangerous. There's reasearch that shows high quantities of Vitamin C helps slow down HIV. I don't know where the documentation is anymore. Can someone tell me where I can get this in a powder form for the best price? Each scoop should contain 10,000 mg of Vitamin C.
20,000 mg of Vitamin C a day?
- Thread starter drbigz
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fogg88
New member
If you want to find out more about the theory behind insanely large doses of Vitamin-C, do a google search on Linus Pauling. He's the 'father of vitamin c', so to speak.
Pretty much, one of his main arguments for taking in such large doses was based on observations of animals. With the exception of humans, primates, and guinea pigs (interestingly enough), most animals can manufacture their own vitamin-c. We need to get it from the food we eat. While the RDA for a 150-lb man is 60mg, he argued that a goat weighing 150-lbs actually manufactured 13,000 mg per day. Thus, an animal that could produce enough to meet its needs was making 13 grams a day, so this must have been a beneficial amount.
Whether or not you want to buy into this logic is up to you. Myself, I beleive in taking a decent amount of C ( ~3gm/day), but have to question such large amounts. ...a couple more things to consider if you decide to go the hella'-dose route:
1) ease into it. if you start taking 20grams of C per day, right off the bat, you'll more than likely get some bad diarrhea.
2) while vitamin-C is an antioxidant, there is some research to suggest that super-high amounts actually function as a pro-oxidant.
3) If you start taking a lot, and want to stop, taper down. Your body actually gets used to higher amounts, and if you stop suddenly, you can actually get a scurvy-mimicing condition.
...this is just all my 2 cents worth. Do more research and draw your own conclusions.
Pretty much, one of his main arguments for taking in such large doses was based on observations of animals. With the exception of humans, primates, and guinea pigs (interestingly enough), most animals can manufacture their own vitamin-c. We need to get it from the food we eat. While the RDA for a 150-lb man is 60mg, he argued that a goat weighing 150-lbs actually manufactured 13,000 mg per day. Thus, an animal that could produce enough to meet its needs was making 13 grams a day, so this must have been a beneficial amount.
Whether or not you want to buy into this logic is up to you. Myself, I beleive in taking a decent amount of C ( ~3gm/day), but have to question such large amounts. ...a couple more things to consider if you decide to go the hella'-dose route:
1) ease into it. if you start taking 20grams of C per day, right off the bat, you'll more than likely get some bad diarrhea.
2) while vitamin-C is an antioxidant, there is some research to suggest that super-high amounts actually function as a pro-oxidant.
3) If you start taking a lot, and want to stop, taper down. Your body actually gets used to higher amounts, and if you stop suddenly, you can actually get a scurvy-mimicing condition.
...this is just all my 2 cents worth. Do more research and draw your own conclusions.
rjl296
New member
Linus Pauling did win 2 nobel prizes. Cheistry and Peace. His book was written in 1970, about the benefits of vit c . he had no training in nutrition, And all his research was on himsef and anecdotal. Not accurate, scientifically speaking. The body probably can not absorb more than 1 gram a day. Your friend has very expensive piss. When he does stop taking ultra doses, he MUST taper off, or succumb to a condition know as reverse scurvy
Triple J
New member
rjl296 said:Linus Pauling did win 2 nobel prizes. Cheistry and Peace. His book was written in 1970, about the benefits of vit c . he had no training in nutrition, And all his research was on himsef and anecdotal. Not accurate, scientifically speaking. The body probably can not absorb more than 1 gram a day. Your friend has very expensive piss. When he does stop taking ultra doses, he MUST taper off, or succumb to a condition know as reverse scurvy
You know when I drink fluids, I tend to piss that out, too. Maybe I should quit drinking water?
His book contains countless references to scientific data and studies. Also, there have been many observations of people in disease states fully metabolizing very large amounts of C, in the 50-100 gram range per day.
For most normal healthy people the body will easily accustom itself to higher amounts than 1 gram a day it taken in divided doses. The effective rate of utilization does decline as one increases the dose, and the optimal amount will vary from person to person. And one does need to taper off slowly.
I suggest to anyone taking very high doses, to take the highest quality C, which I believe to be pure L-ascorbic acid.
fogg88
New member
Triple J said:
...and you bring up a good point: The body is going to use whatever it needs at the moment and excrete the rest. Now, is that necessarily a bad thing and wasteful? It depends on how you look at it.
Myself, I look at it like insurance. Sure, I may be pissing away a lot of the C, but at least it'll always be there when my body needs it. Vitamin C acts as a co-enzyme in a lot of chemical reactions, especially with regards to growth and repair, so why not spring the few extra bucks a month to keep it in supply in the body?
fogg88
New member
drbigz said:
Most supplement stores/department stores/etc. will sell vitamin-c in powder form if you want to go that route. If you happen to have a Trader Joe's store around you, they've got good quality vitamins at a cheap price. I'd steer clear of the more expensive Ester-C though. It doesn't act any differently in the body than plain old C.
As far as taking three 1000mg pills, you might want to split those pills in half and take six 500mg pieces instead, spread out. Your body is going to use what it needs, and then quickly excrete the rest. So, spreading it out more like this will help to keep your blood levels up. Oh yeah, I'm sure you already know this, but always take your vit's with some sort of food, or at least a beverage containing carbs.
