Family Vitamin C Dosing Guide
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We here at Cellular Medicines suggest the following daily intakes of vitamin C based on our experience in dosing vitamin C. Note that the digestive system can absorb greater doses of vitamin C in liposomal form than vitamin C in regular, non-liposomal form; it may be difficult to reach the higher values below when taking regular non-liposomal vitamin C. Adult daily dose to maintain good health: 2.5 g (i.e., 2500 mg) Adult daily dose to see improvements in skin: 2.5 g Adult daily dose when ill: 5.0 g Adult daily dose for recovering from injury: 5.0 g Child (2-12 years) daily dose when ill: 1.0 g Child (13 years +) daily dose when ill: 2.5 g Pregnancy and breast-feeding do not affect the above recommendations. Infants and children use and respond to vitamin C exactly as adults do. They require smaller doses of vitamin C simply because they are smaller. It is important that you read this page entirely, particularly the sections on the practicalities and negative effects of taking vitamin C, if you are taking more than 2.5 g (2500 mg) of vitamin C daily or your child is taking more than 1.0 g (1000 mg) of vitamin C daily. The Institute of Medicine in the United States has set an upper limit for the daily intake of vitamin C as 2 g for adults simply and only because doses of 3 g of vitamin C can cause gastrointestinal discomfort and diarrhea. This is indeed true, but the setting of this value ignores that vitamin C can be absorbed by the digestive system in much larger doses when in liposomal and esterified forms, that larger amounts can be taken by spreading the intake out over the course of the day, and much larger amounts can be taken when ill or recovering from injury. We start our discussion on vitamin C dosing by making summary statements.
— The amount of vitamin C needed varies dramatically among people. — The amount needed by an individual varies dramatically on a daily basis depending on their health on that day. — An “overdose” or "toxic reaction" of vitamin C is no worse than a diarrhea-like bowel motion due to osmosis, a feeling of nausea in the case of an empty stomach, or a headache due to dehydration. — There is no known lethal or harmful dose of vitamin C. — The best approach is to take the minimum dose of vitamin C that provides the majority of the benefit. Increasing the dose of any vitamin affects the absorption and use of other vitamins and minerals. — There is a long history of scientific literature detailing the safety and efficacy of taking doses of vitamin C that are up to 100 times (oral) and 1000 times (intravenous) the Recommended Daily Allowance (RDA) of the Institute of Medicine. |
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Practicalities of DosingA person's requirement of vitamin C changes daily depending on their health and how much vitamin C they already have in their body. A person who is well may need a maintenance dose of a couple of grams (a couple of thousand milligrams) of vitamin C per day while the same person may have use for tens of grams (tens of thousands of milligrams) per day when fighting a virus. When taking vitamin C orally, a person will eventually reach bowel tolerance, whereby they will have a diarrhea-like bowel motion due to regular osmosis, where water is drawn into the bowels. This marks the limit of how much the body will absorb vitamin C via the intestines. However, reaching bowel tolerance does not mean that the body cannot use more vitamin C if only it could absorb it, and the aim for many people is to work out how to increase their intake of vitamin C without reaching bowel tolerance; e.g., by spreading out the intake of vitamin C over the course of a day. The advantage of taking liposomal vitamin C rather than a non-liposomal tablet or powder vitamin C is that liposomal vitamin C is encapsulated in lipids (fats) and can thus be absorbed in greater amounts via the lymphatic system. It has been claimed that the liposome structure in itself improves absorption, but this remains an open question worthy of further study. Bowel tolerance can change more than 10-fold with the body's need for vitamin C. Some people intentionally aim for bowel tolerance to get a flushing effect. Reaching bowel tolerance is technically not having diarrhea. Diarrhea is defined as a series of liquid bowel movements and can lead to dehydration that needs to be treated through rehydration with electrolytes or, in severe cases, an intravenous saline drip. In contrast, reaching bowel tolerance by taking vitamin C has no adverse health effect. The terms "overdosing on vitamin C" and "having a toxic reaction to vitamin C", as used in the medical literature, typically mean reaching bowel tolerance, feeling nausea, or having a headache; hence, the terms "overdosing" and "toxicity" are overly dramatic. Negative Effects of Taking Large Amounts of Vitamin CVitamin C chelates magnesium and calcium out of the body. A magnesium supplement helps resolve muscle cramps, shakiness, or spasms that might occur when taking large doses of vitamin C. A normal diet typically has sufficient calcium so as not to require supplementation. Taking large quantities of vitamin C on a long-term basis can reduce copper levels. This has not been confirmed in scientific studies but is obvious to us here at Cellular Medicines. The solution is to take a copper supplement, especially if experiencing eye itchiness. Taking a large amount of vitamin C can be dehydrating and thus cause thirst and headaches. The obvious solution is to drink more water. Taking a large amount of vitamin C on an empty stomach can cause nausea. The obvious solution is to eat. There was speculation that taking large amounts of vitamin C can result in kidney stones, through the conversion of ascorbate to oxalate. However, reports of kidney stone formation associated with high intakes of vitamin C are limited to individuals with renal disease. Urinary oxalate excretion has been shown to remain within normal levels for daily intakes of 10 g (10,000 mg) vitamin C. Epidemiological studies do not support an association between excess ascorbic acid intake and kidney stone formation in apparently healthy individuals. In saying that, we here at Cellular Medicines believe that people with oxalate sensitivity (including those suffering auto-immune disorders) should consider limiting their supplementing of vitamin C to times of illness. Likewise, anyone who is intentionally oxalate dumping (i.e., trying to expel oxalate from the body) will want to limit their vitamin C intake to times of illness. It is possible that taking a large amount of vitamin C lowers levels of vitamin B12, although this has not been confirmed. Studies have shown that vitamin C intakes up to 4 g (4000 mg) per day do not induce vitamin B12 deficiency. Vitamin C does not induce excess iron absorption, with the exception that it is unknown if individuals with hereditary hemochromatosis are adversely affected by the long-term intake of large daily doses of vitamin C. Safety of Taking Large Amounts of Vitamin CA 1995 study found doses up to 10 g (10,000 mg) of vitamin C consumed daily for up to three years safe. The Institute of Medicine, which publishes the Dietary Reference Intake (which includes the Recommended Dietary Allowance, RDA), recommends a maximum upper intake of 2 g (2000 mg) vitamin C per day. This upper limit is adopted only because taking more than 3 g (3000 mg) can result in osmotic diarrhea and gastrointestinal discomfort, neither of which are harmful. Oddly, the Institute of Medicine's justification for the upper limit makes no mention that people can absorb far more vitamin C when ill or that the body can better absorb liposomal and esterified forms of vitamin C. Furthermore, the Dietary Reference Intake overlooks that far higher doses of vitamin C up to and above 100 g (100,000 mg) are safe when taken intravenously. The Dietary Reference Intake states that "in vivo data do not clearly show a causal relationship between excess vitamin C intake by apparently healthy individuals and other adverse effects (i.e., kidney stone formation, excess iron absorption, reduced vitamin B12 and copper levels, increased oxygen demand, systemic conditioning, pro-oxidant effects, dental enamel erosion, or allergic response) in adults and children. For many decades, Vitamin C has been safely administered intravenously at doses up to and above 100 grams, a dose much higher than a megadose taken orally (typically a few grams). Precautions are taken when administering vitamin C intravenously to patients with hemochromatosis, glucose-6-phosphate dehy-drogenase deficiency, and renal disorders (see the cancer section on our Protocols & Literature page for details of these precautions). Similar precautions may be warranted for patients taking tens of grams of vitamin C per day orally. Therefore, in summary, the main challenge in taking vitamin C orally is simply digesting and absorbing a large amount of vitamin C without reaching bowel tolerance, feeling nausea, or feeling dehydrated. |
Efficacy of Taking Large Amounts of Vitamin CAt dietary-level intakes of vitamin C (up to a few hundred milligrams daily), vitamin C has dozens of known functions in the body and is known to reduce incidences of cancer, cardiovascular disease, diabetes, cataracts and age-related macular degeneration, and possibly neurode-generative diseases, such as Alzheimer’s and Parkinson’s. Similarly, vitamin C is well established as being crucial to the immune system, reducing oxidative stress, and producing collagen. However, despite the vast number of studies showing the efficacy and effectiveness of vitamin C in reducing the incidence of the above diseases, there are also many studies providing contradictory results. The inconsistency of findings are not surprising to those who regularly take high doses of vitamin C. We simply would not expect to see dramatic effects of taking vitamin C at the low doses used in the studies. Vitamin C levels far higher than those achieved with dietary intake are needed to ensure lower risk of disease. Indeed, the efficacy and effectiveness of taking oral doses above 2 g (2000 mg) of vitamin C have been less researched for a number of reasons, with perhaps the most likely reason being that most researchers are unaware of the possibility of oral dosing above 2 g. Another hurdle to research at oral doses above 2 g is that vitamin C is ideologically seen by many as part of a balanced diet and not as a therapeutic medicine. Doctors experienced in treating patients with Vitamin C often report that they have colleagues who would rather see their patients die than try administering vitamin C despite its guaranteed safety. A further hurdle is that doctors who offer vitamin C treatment have already witnessed its effectiveness, meaning it is unethical for them to deny vitamin C treatment to a fraction of their patients in a trial, or for them to be ignorant of which of their patients are receiving vitamin C treatment, or for them not to tailor the vitamin C treatment to the individual. It is therefore difficult, if not impossible, to conduct randomized double-blind studies. Indeed, the importance that the medical community places on randomized double-blind studies has been strongly criticized for these reasons. A further hurdle is that there is no financial incentive for drug companies to conduct trials using vitamin C. There is an urgent need to learn what vitamin C levels can be achieved in blood plasma, leukocytes (white blood cells), and tissues with high doses of liposomal vitamin C. There is an urgent need to study the effects of taking more than 10 g of vitamin C per day, in terms of immunity, athletic performance, skin health and appearance, reduced mental and physical stress, and fighting infection and disease. Here, at Cellular Medicines, we live the effects of taking large amounts of vitamin C. We know the effects of taking more than 2 g daily in terms of protecting family from disease, how long and hard we can train at the gym, and how we look in the mirror. We do not expect to run optimally on a hundred micrograms or so of vitamin C. That is why we created a liposomal vitamin C that can be taken in good amounts. Confusion Arising from the RDAThe Recommended Daily Allowance (RDA) is a value published by the Institute of Medicine in the United States. The RDA for vitamin C was last set in the year 2000, which means that the current recommendations are not based on research conducted in the past two decades. The Institute of Medicine set their RDA for vitamin C as 90 mg/day for men and 75 mg for women, which are values far lower than the doses (of at least 2000 mg per day) discussed on this site. Despite vitamin C playing dozens of known roles in the body, many of which the Institute of Medicine themselves describe in detail in their publication Dietary Reference Intake, the institute based their RDA only on the amount needed to achieve good levels of vitamin C in the neutrophils (a type of white blood cell) of healthy people with little excretion of vitamin C in urine. Indeed, the Institute of Medicine states that "Knowledge of vitamin C intakes needed to fulfill specific functional roles of ascorbate will allow more accurate and precise determinations of the individual and average population requirements of the vitamin." Let's look at just two examples of how the RDA was set while overlooking the efficacy of taking higher doses of vitamin C. First, a 1991 study found that ocular levels of vitamin C were much higher among older adults who consumed 2000 mg/day of vitamin C as compared with those who consumed 148 mg/day, showing that doses higher than the RDA are absorbed and distributed in tissue. Second, vitamin C appears to both prevent and treat respiratory and systemic infections by enhancing various immune cell functions. Here, the prevention of infection requires dietary vitamin C intakes that provide at least adequate plasma levels (i.e., 100–200 mg of vitamin C per day) to optimize cell and tissue levels, while the treatment of established infections requires higher (gram-level) doses to compensate for increased metabolic demand. Again, the body is using vitamin C at levels that the RDA considers beyond the ability of the body to use. |