22 replies to this topic

[boily]

I've been taking vitamin C for about 7 years in the 1 to 3 gram a day range. My recent reading has got me very excited about increasing my amount to around the 10 gram a day mark.

What would be a good way of doing this?

What type and how much of each? Time released capsules? What time of day for different types? Take on an empty stomach? Best type?

Ascorbic Acid?
Calcium Ascorbate?
Magnesium Ascorbate?
Sodium Ascorbate?
Zinc Ascorbate?
Ascorbyl Palmitate?
Fruit?

I will continue to read all I can find, its all good news!

Would be great to hear from some of you guys who have this info sorted.

Also any experiences of benefits. Are the improvements noticable quickly?

Is it best to build up your dose gradually?

Experiment with different forms?

Thanks for any info!

Ben in Australia

[DukeNukem]

I take 5-10 grams of Calcium Ascorbate daily, plus one gram of Ascorbyl Palmitate. I add the Calcium Ascorbate to my green/white tea drinks, about 1.5 grams to each 16.9 ounce bottle, which I tend to drink one every 120 mins.

I haven't been sick since doing this starting two years ago, but who knows if this is a direct benefit.

[Pablo M]

I've been taking vitamin C  for about 7 years in the 1 to 3 gram a day range. My recent reading has got me very excited about increasing my amount to around the 10 gram a day mark.

I know! I'm excited about vitamin C every single day of my life!!!

What would be a good way of doing this?

What type and how much of each? Time released capsules? What time of day for different types? Take on an empty stomach? Best type?

Ascorbic Acid?
Calcium Ascorbate?
Magnesium Ascorbate?
Sodium Ascorbate?
Zinc Ascorbate?
Ascorbyl Palmitate?
Fruit?

I will continue to read all I can find, its all good news!

Would be great to hear from some of you guys who have this info sorted.

Also any experiences of benefits. Are the improvements noticable quickly?

Is it best to build up your dose gradually?

Experiment with different forms?

Thanks for any info!

Ben in Australia

Wow, lots of questions. First of all, since ascorbate is very similar structurally to glucose the body utilizes the same pumps to get it into cells. So, taking it with meals may mean that more will be absorbed, although glucose and ascorbate do compete for transport. I take it both with and without food.

As far as types go, ascorbic acid was the type preferred by Linus Pauling. The side effect of high doses of ascorbic acid is loose stools, which can escalate to diarrhea if lots of ascorbic acid is taken. Thus, taking mineral ascorbates may be better, as they are non-acidic and are less apt to cause gastrointestinal upset. Powder forms are considerably cheaper than capsules, although capsules are more convenient to carry with you. I use both. I also use time-release tablets made by Natural Factors. Calcium ascorbate is a decent form to use, although according to Tom Levy the extra calcium may be troublesome. I would recommend magnesium ascorbate as magnesium is known to be very nontoxic and beneficial.

I would recommend you read Ascorbate: the Science of Vitamin C by Drs. Hickey and Roberts (available at lulu.com/ascorbate). The half-life of vitamin C in high doses is reported to be arounf 30 minutes. Accordingly, I take it at least once every couple of hours.

I wish you well on your journey to better health with vitamin C!

[starr]

Pablo, just curious, since you're a vitamin C megadoser...how is your skin? Is it very elastic? I don't know how old you are but is your skin better than your peers? I think I remember you saying that you've been taking high doses of vitamin C for many years.

[Pablo M]

Pablo, just curious, since you're a vitamin C megadoser...how is your skin? Is it very elastic? I don't know how old you are but is your skin better than your peers? I think I remember you saying that you've been taking high doses of vitamin C for many years.

I'm fairly young so I can't say I have noticed any loss of skin elasticity.

[boily]

Thanks very much Pablo and dukenukem for your replies! Nice links Pablo, have read everything on all those sites. All my reading indicates a high dose of vitamin C is a very, very good idea!

I have some bulk calcium ascorbate and magnesium ascorbate on the way, and will experiment.

The last week I have raised my dose to 8 grams a day, with no bad effects. I'm using 50% ascorbic acid/50% sodium ascorbate. I've been crushing tablets and adding them to my protein shakes. Also adding to my green/white tea daily drinks as dukenukem does.

I'll be getting some Ascorbyl Palmitate as well.....

Seems as if the magnesium ascorbate is the pick of the ascorbates, also the most expensive.....

Its an exciting concept, taking high dose vitamin C, ahhhhh, just imagine never getting sick again..... sounds good! A great way to move you towards your goals at an accelerated rate, i.e. not missing a day due to some sickness!

Thanks again for the advice

Ben in Australia

[boily]

Nearly 2 weeks on 8 grams a day of vitamin C. No bad effects, feeling good! Still awaiting ascorbates in the mail....... Seemed to have avoided a nasty flu bug thats in the family, working hard physically.......

[shuffleup]

I've been crushing tablets and adding them to my protein shakes. Also adding to my green/white tea daily drinks as dukenukem does.

By crushing them up and drinking the tablets, are you concerned at all about erosion of tooth enamel?


"There is concern about tooth enamel erosion occurring from the acid content of chewable vitamin C."

http://www.umm.edu/a...rbicAcidcs.html

[boily]

By crushing them up and drinking the tablets, are you concerned at all about erosion of tooth enamel?


"There is concern about tooth enamel erosion occurring from the acid content of chewable vitamin C."

Thanks for the link. Good point! I was crushing them to avoid that very idea. Meaning just drink it down instead of chewing them up, and them brush teeth. Just yesterday I decided to just swallow them, as drinking it wasn't tasting too good. Orange tasting saccharin sodium isn't nice at all. Also swallowing them during the day, instead of dissolving them in with iced tea. I've just been popping a 500mg tablet every 45 mins or so during the day. Just a temporary measure until the tasteless ascorbate powders arrive....

[goku]

I was told by Dr. Weil (if anyone knows him, I'm assuming you all do) that the body will only absorb around 200-500 mg of vit c daily, irregardless of how much you sup. He said more will not hurt you at all, but he's read studies that corroborate this as a maximal amount of absorbtion. Hopefully bunk, but thought I'd share.

[boily]

Goku, found the page you are talking about. Thanks!

http://www.afpafitne...s/VitaminC3.htm

So much info on vitamin C...... the reading I've done indicates a high dose is very beneficial. There are many opinions, a google search finds 35 million pages in 0.08 seconds! I'm currently experimenting....

[syr_]

Vitamin C has many benefits. You may want to read also Bill Sardi ebook on it.

BTW, I take a good dose but far from the megadoses of 8-10g a day that someone takes. The form I take is Ester-C and I always take bioflavonoids with it.
1 gram every 3 hours circa (3-4g total) has assested my gut tolerance and seems enough.
Ester-C is a (expensive) proprietary blend of calcium and magnesium ascorbate and has a mild anti-histamine effect which is nothing but a benefit for me.

[guy1985]

Anyone has experience with eating high dosage of vit c causing constant farking? or am i adnormal?

[zoolander]

constant farking? holy crap batman

[Shepard]

http://www.urbandict...hp?term=farking

[John Doe]

Please also see this thread:

http://www.imminst.o...f=6&t=14065&hl=

Where I ask for info about the Pauling theory of Vitamin C and heart disease.

[shifter]

I thought taking too much of an antioxidant could turn it into a pro oxidant. If the body only absorbs 500mg per day (jury still out on that?) whats the other 9.5 grams doing on its trip to the loo? Otherwise can someone tell me the beneficial effects in taking such megadoses? What happens in the 5-10gram per day range that doesn't happen in the 1-2gram range?

[Shepard]

I thought taking too much of an antioxidant could turn it into a pro oxidant.

This isn't necessarily a bad thing. Not that this doesn't happen at basically any dosage, though.

[boily]

What happens in the 5-10gram per day range that doesn't happen in the 1-2gram range?

Its been about 4 months now for me on 6 to 10 grams a day. No farking, or runs to the bathroom. Not a single day of sickness, where I would get sick on a 1-3 gram dose. Will continue and see what happens. I'm still calling it an experiment, luckily not an expensive one....

[xanadu]

I think shifter has a very good question. If you can't absorb all of that, why take it? It is just going to get in the way, seems like. I'm not a megadoser myself. I take 1gm a day in divided doses plus whats in the multi.

[stephenszpak]

I take it as ascorbic acid. Generally 6000mg (6 grams) before bed. I take
the tablets and crush them into powder. Then swallow with water.
It works as a laxative.
If it didn't, I'd just take 500mg or whatever.

-Stephen

[shadowrun]

I was just reading an article on Hyaluronic Acid (HA) -
I'm concerned because the article states that vitamin C degrades the amount of (HA) in the body

I have been reading up on Vitamin C after seeing this post and I wanted to increase my intake from 800 mg to 2 G a day

I really don't want to lower any (HA) in my body as it appears to be key to maintaining healthy skin

I have posted the pertinent segments of the article below - This is the link to the full article http://www.ctds.info/hyaluronic_acid_2.html#vitaminc


Hyaluronic acid has been nicknamed by the press as the "key to the fountain of youth" because it has been noted that at least some people who ingest a lot of it in their diets tend to live to ripe old ages. ABC News had a show on a village in Japan and hyaluronic acid entitled, "The Village of Long Life: Could Hyaluronic Acid Be an Anti-Aging Remedy?". (It should be noted that the people in the ABC news show were thought to get high amounts of HA from starchy root vegetables their natural diets. They were not taking supplements.)


...Question: I've read a lot of articles about the benefits of large quantities of vitamin C. Your hyaluronic acid section mentions that ascorbic acid (vitamin C) might be bad for hyaluronic acid. Is vitamin C good to take or not?


Answer: I personally have not had good experiences with taking large supplemental doses of any single nutrient. Every nutrient in the human body has a multitude of co-factors that need to be consumed in balanced amounts for good health, so taking a single supplement may solve one deficiency and then create more problems by triggering co-factor deficiencies.


Vitamin C is a nutrient your body needs in the right amounts. If you don't consume any vitamin C, sooner or later you will develop scurvy, like sailors used to who went on long sea voyages. (British sailors were named "Limies" because of the limes they would take on their voyages to prevent scurvy.) Yet, too much vitamin C, as with too much of any nutrient, can be toxic. Large doses of vitamin C may lower other nutrient levels including vitamin B12, copper and selenium blood levels


I do note a study in my hyaluronic acid section that found that ascorbic acid can degrade hyaluronic acid. But this isn't necessarily bad, in fact for some people, this maybe good thing. While insufficient defective hyaluronic acid isn't ideal, too much HA may not be so great either. High levels of hyaluonic acid have been linked to different types of of cancers, including breast cancer, in a variety of different studies. Interestingly, vitamin C is often mentioned as being beneficial for breast and other cancers.
Think of it this way: Your body needs a variety of ingredients in the right proportions to function, just like you need a variety of ingredients to make a cake. If you are making a cake and you are short on eggs, it's okay to add more eggs, up to a certain amount. If you are not short on eggs, then just adding more eggs is going to ruin your cake. If you are short on flour but not eggs, but you keep adding more eggs but no extra flour, you are really going to end up with a mess.


It's the same basic principle with your body, only on a larger and much more complex scale. Some people might have defective collagen because they are short on vitamin C.
For those people, getting extra vitamin C in their diets would probably be good. But taking massive doses of vitamin C, especially if a person isn't deficient in vitamin C to begin with, probably isn't a good thing.

[Shepard]

They didn't even mention Vitamin C lowering DHEA levels. That's just bad reporting.