VITAMIN C:HOW MUCH IS ENOUGH?

November 30, 2008

" How Much Is Too Much?

Dr. Cathcart believes the ideal intake for any individual is

the highest level they can tolerate without loose bowels. On the

basis of his experience with 11,000 patients over 14 years this bowel

tolerance level may be 10 to 15 grams in a healthy person, 30 to 60

grams in a person with a cold, and over 199 grams per day in a person

with a serious infectious illness. During an infectious illness the

best clinical results have been achieved by maintaining high vitamin

C levels in the blood through 3 or more grams every four hours.

Fortunately, vitamin C is one of the least toxic substances known to

man. Four studies gave 10 grams of vitamin C to over 3000 patients

without a single reported incidence of toxicity. Other than the

bowels there has not been one single case of toxicity resulting from

taking vitamin C supplements, despite unfounded reports of potential

risk for kidney stones, raising blood uric acid levels, or 'rebound'

scurvy. It is unlikely that any vitamin has been tested to such an

extent for toxicity and it is safe to assume that supplemental levels

of at least 10 grams a day, or up to bowel tolerance, are completely safe. "

(again this may need to be sodium ascorbate form)

http://www.vitamincfoundation.org/mega_1_1.html#HOLFORD

VITAMIN C:

HOW MUCH IS ENOUGH?

By Holford

Most Animals Produce The Equivalent Of 3 to 15 Grams of Vitamin C Every Day

Vitamin C isn't a vitamin at all. It isn't a necessary component of

diet, at least for all mammals with the exception of guinea pigs,

fruit eating bats, the red vented bulbul bird and primates - which

includes us. All other species make their own.

This they do by converting glucuronic acid derived from glucose into

ascorbic acid (C6H8O6). Three enzymes are required to make this

conversion. One of these enzymes, or part of the enzyme system, is

missing in primates. Irwin Stone proposed, in 1965, that a negative

mutation may have occurred in these species so as to lose the ability

to produce vitamin C. In primates this is thought to have occurred in

the region of 25 million years ago.

Mutations can and frequently do occur in nature. Only those that put

a species at advantage at the time tend to become dominant.

Unfortunately, reversing such mutations is highly unlikely to occur.

Unlike other vitamins, vitamin C is required in large amounts which

could only be supplied by a tropical diet high in fruit and other

vegetation. if sufficient vitamin C could be obtained from such a

diet the quantity of glucose normally used to synthesize vitamin C

could be channeled towards energy production. This could conceivably

have been an advantage for primates or other species.

This advantage may have come at a price. Dr. Jungblut, an early

pioneer of vitamin C therapy in the 1930's, discovered that only us

primates and guinea pigs were susceptible to scurvy as well as

anaphylactic shock, pulmonary tuberculosis, diptheritic intoxication,

a poliomyelitis-like viral infection and a viral form of leukemia.

None of the vitamin C synthesizing laboratory animals had

susceptibility to these diseases. This is perhaps one of the first

observations that led to the idea that susceptibility to viral

infections could be a consequence of vitamin C deficiency. Could

humanity's history of disease - endemic infections, plagues and more

recently cancer and heart disease - be the result of our inability to

produce vitamin C and our inability to obtain it from the food we eat?

Vitamin C produced per day by different animal species

(equivalent for 70 Kg Man)

Goat 2,280 - 13,300 mg

Rat 2,737 - 13,902 mg

Rabbit 1,547 - 15,820 mg

Cow 1,099 - 1,281 mg

Mouse 2,352 - 19,250 mg

Sheep 1,736 mg

Cat 336 - 2,800 mg

More than 50% of People Require Over 2,500 mg to Reach Maximum Absorption

Vitamin C is One of the Least Toxic Substances Known to Man The fact

that almost all species continue to make vitamin C suggests that the

amount of vitamin C generally available from diet is not enough for

optimum nutrition except in exceptional circumstances such as a

tropical environment. The chart above shows the average amount

produced by each animal, adjusted to an equivalent body weight for

Man. Under normal circumstances the daily amount produced, adjusted

for comparison to a 70 kg man, is somewhere between 3,000 mg and

15,000 mg, with an average of 5,400 mg.

Species of monkeys, such as the squirrel monkey, require an

equivalent of 2,000 mg a day to maintain health and up to 1000 mg a

day to maintain blood levels found in the wild. Animals produce

variable amounts depending on their circumstances. Under conditions

of stress or infection synthesis can easily quadruple. Some primates

appear to require up to 2,800 mg a day equivalent to survive the

long-term stresses of captivity, while guinea pigs require 3,000 mg

per day to recover from anesthesia.

What about us? While a mere 60 mg a day can prevent scurvy, the

deficiency disease first identified by Dr. Lind in 1753, it

would be illogical to assume that this is the optimal dose. A survey

of doctors in the US found that those who were healthiest consumed at

least 250 mg of vitamin C per day. A recent survey has shown that a

person's vitamin status is a good predictor of their mortality risk.

High blood vitamin C levels indicate a low risk for cardiovascular

disease and certain types of cancer and other immune based diseases.

Optimal intakes to reduce risk of such conditions would appear to be

at least 500 mg per day.

Expensive Urine?

But aren't you simply making expensive urine when you take large

amounts of supplements? Dr. Colgan investigated this often

made rebuttal. He investigated how much vitamin C we use by giving

increasing daily doses and measuring excretion. " Only a quarter of

our subjects reached their vitamin C maximum at 1,500 mg a day. More

than half required over 2,500 mg a day to reach a level where their

bodies could use no more. Four subjects did not reach their maximum

at 5,000 mg. " Increasing vitamin C intake from 50 mg to 500 mg tends

to double serum vitamin C levels. Increasing intake to 5,000 mg a day

will double serum levels again. Expensive urine? Vitamin C protects

the bowel, kidneys and bladder on the way out. As Dr. Colgan

points out the average victim of bowel or bladder cancer spends

$26,000 for treatment - mostly to no avail.

While it is valid to infer from this brief history of evolution, a

comparison with other species, and average excretion rates that

optimal vitamin C levels are probably above 1,000 mg with plenty of

room for individual variation,what about 'hard evidence'? What levels

are required to ensure maximum function of enzymes and body systems

dependent on vitamin C? A quick review of some of vitamin C's

hundreds of biochemical roles will help us here. Vitamin C is

required for the synthesis of collagen. Our intercellular glue that

keeps skin, lungs, arteries, the digestive tract and all organs

intact. It is a potent anti-oxidant protecting against free radicals,

pollution, carcinogens, heavy metals, and other toxins. It is

strongly anti-viral and mildly anti-bacterial. Energy cannot be made

in any cell, brain or muscle without adequate vitamin C. The adrenal

glands have a high concentration of vitamin C which is essential for

stress hormone synthesis. Vitamin C is so central in so many chemical

reactions in the body that,without it, life is simply not possible.

Are Western Killer Diseases Symptoms of a Vitamin C Deficiency?

The immune system depends on having healthy immune cells and

associate molecules such as antibodies. Vitamin C is essential for

both. Antibody production increases on supplementing 1 gram of

vitamin C. It is also needed for interferon, complement, and

prostaglandin production, and is essential for the proper function of

immune cells such as lymphocytes and leukocytes. A recent study

showed, in the test tube, that vitamin C can even inactivate the HIV virus.

Thanks to the work of Linus ing and coworkers we know that 10

grams of vitamin C doubles the life expectancy of cancer patients,

and, in some cases effects a complete cure. Its role is even more

pivotal in cardiovascular disease, which is now being postulated as

the long-term consequence of vitamin C deficiency. Just about every

marker of cardiovascular disease, arterial damage, high blood

cholesterol levels, low HDL levels, high levels of oxidized

cholesterol, thick blood are all improved by adequate vitamin C

intake at levels up to 10 grams a day. Vitamin C increases resistance

to stress, lessens allergic reactions, helps arthritic conditions,

slows down the aging process and improves energy production.

Beneficial effects of vitamin C in human trials tend to increase with

the amount given up to, and above, 10 grams per day. On the basis of

research into vitamin C's effect on disease states it would appear

that an intake of somewhere between 1 and 10 grams may be optimal

simply for maintaining optimal function of the immune, endocrine and

cardiovascular system.

How Much Is Too Much?