Excessive Vitamin C Consumption Does Not Cause Kidney Stones!

[Guest guest]

Your physician will probably never tell you about this so you must fend for

yourself. Read the research!

Gupta

<http://tinyurl.com/b6ghn> http://tinyurl.com/b6ghn

See also:

<http://www.newmediaexplorer.org/chris/2005/09/14/the_stonewalling_of_vitami

n_c.htm> The Stonewalling of Vitamin C

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<http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/entrez/query.fcgi?cmd=Retrieve & db=PubMed & list_u

ids=99218032 & dopt=Citation> Intake of vitamins B6 and C and the risk of

kidney stones in women

Curhan, G. C., Willett, W. C., Speizer, F. E., Stampfer, M. J.

J Am Soc Nephrol 10:4:840-845, Apr 1999

Abstract

Urinary oxalate is an important determinant of calcium oxalate kidney stone

formation. High doses of vitamin B6 may decrease oxalate production,

whereas vitamin C can be metabolized to oxalate. This study was conducted

to examine the association between the intakes of vitamins B6 and C and

risk of kidney stone formation in women. The relation between the intake of

vitamins B6 and C and the risk of symptomatic kidney stones were

prospectively studied in a cohort of 85,557 women with no history of kidney

stones. Semiquantitative food-frequency questionnaires were used to assess

vitamin consumption from both foods and supplements. A total of 1078

incident cases of kidney stones was documented during the 14-yr follow-up

period. A high intake of vitamin B6 was inversely associated with risk of

stone formation. After adjusting for other dietary factors, the relative

risk of incident stone formation for women in the highest category of B6

intake (> or =40 mg/d) compared with the lowest category (<3 mg/d) was 0.66

(95% confidence interval, 0.44 to 0.98). In contrast, vitamin C intake was

not associated with risk. The multivariate relative risk for women in the

highest category of vitamin C intake (> or =1500 mg/d) compared with the

lowest category (<250 mg/d) was 1.06 (95% confidence interval, 0.69 to

1.64). Large doses of vitamin B6 may reduce the risk of kidney stone

formation in women. Routine restriction of vitamin C to prevent stone

formation appears unwarranted.

Linus ing was a mentor of mine and a sponsor of the Center for Vitamins

and Cancer Research that I co-founded at the University of Colorado Medical

School in 1980. He was a great supporter of Vitamin C for all that ails

you. There are many recent research papers showing reduction in heart

disease, increased longevity, and so forth from taking more than 10 times

the government recommended amount of Vitamin C. One of the arguments

against taking large amount of Vitamin C was the risk of kidney stones.

That debate has been laid to rest by a large study showing no increase in

kidney stones from Vitamin C and a significant reduction in kidney stones

from increased Vitamin B6.

The above originally posted by

<http://www.jeffsutherland.org/complementary>Jeff Sutherland

Why Don't Massive Doses of Ascorbate Produce Kidney Stones?

Years ago when Linus ing wrote his book " Vitamin C and the Common

Cold " , the critics immediately labeled the taking of large doses of vitamin

C dangerous because it would produce calcium oxalate kidney stones. This

practice of telling people that vitamin C caused kidney stones continues

today by the critics of vitamin C despite the lack of clinical evidence of

kidney stones in people taking vitamin C

It was hypothesized that since a significant percentage of ascorbate was

metabolized into and excreted as oxalic acid that this oxalic acid should

combine with calcium in the urine and deposit as calcium oxalate kidney

stones. It is true that those of us who take large doses of ascorbate have

elevated oxalic acid in our urine but no kidney stones. With the millions

of people in the world taking vitamin C, if vitamin C caused kidney stones

there would have been a massive epidemic of kidney stones noticed by this

time. There has been none.

I started using vitamin C in massive doses in-patients in 1969. By the time

I read that ascorbate should cause kidney stones, I had clinical evidence

that it did not cause kidney stones, so I continued prescribing massive

doses to patients. To this day I estimate that I have put 25,000 patients

on massive doses of vitamin C and none have developed kidney stones. Two

patients who had dropped their doses to 500 mg a day developed calcium

oxalate kidney stones. I raised their doses back up to the more massive

doses and added magnesium and B6 to their program and no more kidney

stones. I think that the low doses had no effect and they, by coincidence,

developed the kidney stones because they were not taking enough vitamin C.

The question remains, however, why do not people taking large doses of

ascorbate develop kidney stones. I had in 1985 hypothesized that one of the

reasons that we did not develop kidney stones was that the ascorbate

excreted in the urine sterilizes the urine and

" <http://www.orthomed.com/nonrate.htm#OXALATE KIDNEY>should prevent many of

the niduses of infection around which oxalate stones frequently form. "

(Cathcart, RF. Vitamin C: the Nontoxic, Nonrate-Limited, Antioxidant Free

Radical Scavenger. Medical Hypotheses, 18:61-77, 1985.)

In an article in <http://www.sciencenews.org/sn_arc98/8_1_98/bob2.htm>

ScienceNewsOnline, August 1, 1998, the Bacteria in the Stone it is said

that Extra-tiny microorganisms may lead to kidney stones and other

diseases. Tiny nanobacteria, as small as the larger viruses, live in urine

and, by precipitating calcium and other minerals around themselves, induce

the formation of kidney stones. It seems that the large doses of ascorbate

by causing the excretion of ascorbate in the urine probably kills the

nanobacteria and prevents the formation of stones.

In addition, the massive doses of ascorbate assist the immune system to

kill bacteria within the body but have the ability to kill bacteria by some

mechanism, which does not seem to involve the immune system. These bacteria

and L-forms of bacteria hide out in cells especially when antibiotics are

used and explain some of the resistance acquired by bacteria against

antibiotics. I have yet to see bacteria that can become resistant to

massive doses of ascorbate in combination with first and second-generation

antibiotics. Admittedly in a private practice, I do not see the most

resistant bacteria but this combination has been impressive and deserves to

be tried against the most resistant bacteria. It may solve the impending

problem of increasingly resistant bacteria.

See also the med center study indicating that even moderate doses of C

prevent kidney stones.

<http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/entrez/query.fcgi?cmd=Retrieve & db=PubMed & list_u

ids=8618271 & dopt=Abstract> A prospective study of the intake of vitamins C

and B6, and the risk of kidney stones in men.

Curhan GC, Willett WC, Rimm EB, Stampfer MJ.

Department of Epidemiology, Harvard School of Public Health, Boston,

Massachusetts 02115, USA.

PURPOSE: The association between the intake of vitamins C and B6, and

kidney stone formation was examined. MATERIALS AND METHODS: We conducted a

prospective study of the relationship between the intake of vitamins C and

B6 and the risk of symptomatic kidney stones in a cohort of 45,251 men 40

to 75 years old with no history of kidney calculi. Vitamin intake from

foods and supplements was assessed using a semiquantitative food frequency

questionnaire completed in 1986. RESULTS: During 6 years of followup 751

incident cases of kidney stones were documented. Neither vitamin C nor

vitamin B6 intake was significantly associated with the risk of stone

formation. For vitamin C the age-adjusted relative risk for men consuming

1,500 mg. daily or more compared to less than 250 mg. daily was 0.78 (95%

confidence interval 0.54 to 1.11). For vitamin B6 the age-adjusted relative

risk for men consuming 40 mg. daily or more compared to less than 3 mg.

daily was 0.91 (95% confidence interval 0.64 to 1.31). After adjusting for

other potential stone risk factors the relative risks did not change

significantly. CONCLUSIONS: These data do not support an association

between a high daily intake of vitamin C or vitamin B6 and the risk of

stone formation, even when consumed in large doses.

PMID: 8618271 [PubMed - indexed for MEDLINE]

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