Vitamin C reduces the frequency of common colds

“Dr. Pauling would’ve laughed out loud at either dose!”

That was the response from HSI Panelist Allan Spreen, M.D., to the study I told you about in the e-Alert “Gesundheit” (9/13/05). Researchers tested 50 mg and 500 mg of C daily on more than 240 subjects for five years. The results: Vitamin C (at the 500 mg level) significantly reduced the frequency of common colds, but had no effect on the duration or severity of colds.

Dr. Spreen’s point: It’s all about the dosage.

When I asked him to elaborate, he wrote: “I’m actually impressed that such statistically significant results were obtained with a dose as low as 500 milligrams. With high enough doses you can slam a cold (or most any other viral or bacterial attack) dead in its tracks.

“That said, the issue becomes just what constitutes a ‘high enough’ dose. When the body is stressed by such illnesses the need for ascorbate doesn’t go upit goes way, WAY, WA-A-A-A-Y up. This has been shown time and again by Pauling, Cameron, Szent-Gyorgyi, Cathcart, Klenner, Riordan, Wright, and others, enough times that it’s rather suspicious that conventional medical researchers seem to miss the real action so completely. Animals our size that synthesize their own vitamin C (we don’t – we’re genetic mutants), produce dozens of grams (we’re talking tens of thousands of milligramsa bit more aggressive than a mere 500!) when stressed by viral or bacterial challenge.

“The response of the body to vitamin C, once an illness has taken hold, is called a ‘threshold’ response, meaning very little happens until a high enough dose is reachedthen everything happens – the fever subsides, the organisms are killed, and the patient feels better. That dose can be 100,000 milligrams or more for serious challenges, and sometimes even needs to be given intravenously.

“However, the oral route is more interesting. Too much vitamin C by mouth in a healthy (ie, ‘non-sick’) person causes gas and then loose stools, proceeding to overt diarrhea. This can happen with as little as 5,000-8,000 milligrams. However, a serious cold or flu IN THE SAME PERSON can then permit the victim to ingest 20,000 mg, 40,000 mg, or even more with no stool loosening, meaning they have not yet reached the bowel limit for that illness. It’s actually a way to evaluate (in my opinion) just how bad the acute stress of the current illness is.

“Yes, you can shorten the length and severity of a cold AFTER you get one, but you have to take enough vitamin C to do the job. This can be up to several grams (1,000-4,000 milligrams) per HOUR.

“Dr. Pauling took 17,000 milligrams of vitamin C daily, when he was NOT sick (though he didn’t discover the idea until his later years). I guess it finally killed himat 93.”

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