8 Vitamin C Benefits (and Some Common Side Effects)

I do take Effexor xr and Klonopin. All my other blood work was okay except for vitamin deficiencies and epstein bar virus old antibodies that are high. Anyone know if 1000 mg of vitamin c is just too much for me? Thanks. It seems like there is people out there that have this side effect but it does not seem common when I google it.

• Mix together in a blender: 1 cup distilled or RO water, and 3 Tbls. sunflower lecithin (I avoid soy but it can also be used).
• Blend until dissolved.
• Mix together: 1/2 Cup water with 1 Tbls. powdered pure vitamin C and add to blender.
• Blend again.
• Pour into the sonic cleaner for 6 to 10, 3 minute rounds, (total of 18-30 minutes until no more or just a little foam remains on top) stirring with a straw or plastic spoon slowly to move the mixture around.
• The longer it is in the sonic cleaner, the more encapsulation will occur.
• Store in the refrigerator.
• (Some instructions include baking soda for a more alkaline solution. )

The next morning I awoke to a severely spinning room. I felt like I was riding a fast merry-go-round. I was seriously off-balance, needed assistance walking. I realized that yesterday's incident meant I breathed in toxic fumes. I immediately put myself on a juice/water fast (so my body could direct all resources to healing), drinking constantly throughout the day. Over an 8-hour period, I also took 1 Tbsp of Bentonite Clay (a detoxing agent) every two hours. I drank 8 drops or 50mg of Lugol's Iodine, again, in a full glass of water on an empty stomach—another detoxing agent. The profound dizziness led to dry retching. It must be true—what is written—about expelling toxins—that toxins stored in tissues are also stored with emotions attached. After the first four hours of utter misery, I suddenly became overwhelmed with feelings of dread, despair, fear, panic—a huge wave of feelings that just took me over, I simply couldn't stop them. My body started shaking. I deeply wailed and cried. After 5 minutes of dealing with these emotions, I got control of myself and calmed down. However, this emotional experience proved to be a turning point. From then on, I felt the worst was over. The worst dizziness stopped. I was no longer nauseous. If I did not bend over or turn suddenly, I was OK.

This morning, I've awakened to a low-grade tension headache over my entire head and worse behind my eyes and forehead. I am stronger, walking OK, but, don't feel sure of myself. I believe after another day of partial fasting, taking 1 dose of Bentonite Clay and my usual 50mg of Lugol's Iodine, I should be on the mend. We'll see what tomorrow brings.

I'm writing this to alert everyone that recent studies confirm that burning pine needles are toxic. Studies continue. My own experience using these pine needles in an enclosed kitchen is proof of their toxicity. Hence, regardless of what is written about Vitamin C in pine needles, I doubt that I'll be using them again for tea. I certainly won't be burning them in any outdoor fires.

By the way, this pine tree toxicity is another concern for forestry. As the burning of woods was considered a necessary recycling of life in nature (suggesting planned burnings by forestry officials to avoid uncontrolled forest fires), it's now understood that burning also sends toxic fumes into the air. Hence, be warned, if you are in an area when any burning takes place, I strongly suggest that you leave the area and not come back until smoldering stops and fumes are gone.

Also, I'm not sure what caused your heart attack but you may be interested in research done by a man named Dr Max Gerson and his daughter Charlette. They have both been curing cancer, and many other ailments for over 70 yrs, by nurishing the body with what the body needs in order to regenerate. It might be worth looking into.

Wishing you all the best of luck. ~T~

The timing for me to read about Vitamin C again couldn't have been any better. The day before your post I had had a fever of 102 and was feeling like total DEATH. I NEVER get fevers, not ever, so this was total trauma for me... Body aches, shivers, joint pain... even my skin hurt! It was awful.

I started drinking "Emergen-C" in bottled water at the rate of one an hour (maybe a bit more) and over that day I had 10 packets. Each packet has 1, 000mg of vitamin C. I was going to take it until I got diarrhea, but that never happened. What DID happen was that I GOT OUT OF BED THE NEXT DAY! It was truly amazing. I thought I was going to die, and the next day I am out of bed? I credit it all to the high dose of vitamin C that I ingested over those critical 10 hours. Apparently I never even reached my saturation point, as I never had diarrhea.... Theory says I could have taken even more of it!

I have always believed in Vitamin C.... But had "only" been taking about one pack of the Emergen-c a day lately. What I took away from reading the book you suggested by Irwin Stone is that if humans were still able to produce their own vitamin C as almost every other mammal does (with exception of the apes and guinea pigs of course) that we would be producing between 3-5 grams a day! I now intend to take at least three grams of C (in divided doses) a day to keep my body saturated!

So much information on all of the benefits of C in his book.... Just a fascinating read. It was very nice of his family to allow it to be put online for free.

Much gratitude to them, and to you for suggesting it!

Linus Pauling, of Vit. C fame, wrote a forward to a 1982 book, The Healing Factor, by Irwin Stone. Older books often hold outstanding information. I found this book free, online, in its entirety.

What we call Vit. C is actually more of a neccesary nutrient / elemental co-factor / enzyme process. It has its own precursor to the formation of Vit. C, which actually then takes place within the body.

This originating substance is what they are calling the healing factor. This vital enzyme is called L-gulonolactone oxidase, and it converts glucose into Vit. C within the body.

We lack the gene, or it has mutated, that allows us to simply produce Vit. C all by itself, as most animals do. So, we need the outside food sources to set this process in motion. And it is not merely something with a minumum daily requirement... Enough to keep us from the edge of death by scurvy... But a great deal more is required in order to actually restore us to health. Virtually the whole world is on the bare edge of scurvy!

I was shocked to read the symptoms of scurvy, and compare them with my own presenting probems. By my reading I have determined, based on all my symptoms, that I have been suffering wih a chronic, medium-grade, scurvy.

The deep bone ache and numbness in my legs, the bloodshot dry eyes, blood in stools, broken blood vessels causing red hands and neck, poor circulation, and the list went on and on.

I had been to top level neurologists at Kaiser, only to find that their initial diagnosis of peripheral neuropathy was proven wrong. That was all they could say.

I simply could not believe how much better I feel already, just 24 hours into a four-day high-dose run, to redress my longstanding, and deep, Vit. C deficiency. Smashing success! Healing miracles!

A word to the wise is sufficient. Blessings. --T.

My doctor is F R Klenner. He died in 1984 and his vitamin therapy is used today around the world. You will find his papers on the internet. He has been given the AMA's highest recommendation, by blackballing his name and work for over 60 years. If you do not take at least 5 grams of ascorbic acid a day, you are in trouble or will be. Even a 140lb goat makes 5 grams a day in its liver and up to 60 grams a day when sick or injured. Goats also do no not ingest processed foods, sugars, oils and junk food and neither do I.

Is aspartic acid the same as aspartame?

• No, aspartame is a chemically formed sugar substitute that bonds L-phenylalanine to aspartic acid. On the other hand, the aspartic acid which we use in Emergen-C, is an amino acid readily found in foods such as fish, legumes, dairy, whole grains, eggs, meats, nuts, and seeds. We use this pure L-Aspartic Acid which has the same structure as that found in foods.

  I just wanted to throw this out for discussion. The claim above makes it sound like there is nothing to fear from the form of L-Aspartic acid they use, but I'd be interested in hearing more perspectives on this, as I do take Emergen-C. Thanks!

We found a site called doctoryourself. Com, and followed his advice about taking vitamin C, and she is cured after only about 3 weeks. Thank you for the opportunity to comment. Be blessed in your efforts to aid in healthy remedies.

The reason for the diarrhea is from poor absorbtion. Excess vitamin C creates an osmotic gradient that pulls water into the intestines resulting in diarrhea and the associated cramps.

Vitamin C is very safe, the LD50 for it roughly translates to 850 grams (just under 1 kilogram or roughly 1 pound) for an average person.

All animals (except for guinea pigs, bats, and primates) produce their own vitamin C. Humans and primates utilize uric acid for a reducing agent/antioxidant in lieu of it. So perhaps less is needed, but looking at the amount of vitamin C produced naturally by animals it would translate to 1400mg per day for an average person. This is recognized for guinea pigs whose commercially prepared food contains that amount (scaled down for size of course). Yet for us humans the recommended daily allowance is only 75-90mg, 15 times less than what other animals naturally produce. The recommended dosage will prevent scurvy, but you're unlikely to thrive on that small amount.

I tried to discover what I was taking that could be making this worse. It suddenly came to me that something I take, every day (because it is good for me, so I thought) is 1000mg of Vitamin C. I know too much can give you diarrhoea, but it never occured to me this could be too much.

Anyway I have stopped taking it and all those gripey pains have gone. This of course won't apply to everyone but if you are taking it as a supplement it could be the answer.

Thanks for your interest.

Regards, Alan

Not sure if EC will allow to post this portion but I get mine from purebulk.com and it is delivered to my house in Brazil. They ship right away and do an excellent job shipping it quickly. Good luck.

I was only able to obtain Effervescent vit C, and my palette told me that it contained saccharin. Eventually, I got around to reading - with the aid of a magnifying glass - the ingrediants list, and was horrified to find that under the subheading of 'Sweetener' was listed, Saccharin, Sorbitol, and ASPARTAME - an acknowleged nuro-toxine, and dangerous to PD sufferes, among others.

The supplier, I trusted, and was Holland & Barett. However, they are not alone in selling this product - several other outlets also sell the 'contaminated' effervescent Vit C - listing the same 3 sweeteners, but in different orders (highest content is first, etc.)

Now starts the epic search of the net for another product - I have already been offered "Sugar Free" (Aspartame loaded) products from reputable suppliers.

Wish me luck, and Thanks, Ted

Alan.

My mother's side of the family had always reacted this way to sodium and I am the same. My only choice has been to reduce the baking soda, and use it with the ACV just some of the time. I probably only add it 2 or 3 times a week now. The rest of the time I take the ACV with just water.

I've noticed that although Ted suggests adding baking soda to ACV, EarthClinic does not recommend it as many report issues from the baking soda. Hope this helps you.

Linda :-)

Remember to buy non-GMO foods and especially supplements, you will be very surprised that there are a great deal of GMOs in nutritional supplements. The suppliers have no shame, it is up to you to call and put pressure on these companies. If it means you won't buy from them because of GMOs then they will quickly get the message. I call all my supplement and food companies and let them know and guess what, they are listening to little old me. Why because it means dollars, we having buying power.

Support the Right To Know labeling going on in California and soon in other states too.

I have been taking 1/2 teaspoon Vit C Ascorbic Acid with 1/4 teaspoon Baking Soda with a few oz of pineapple juice 2 times per day. After a few days I woke up with really sharp pain in my bladder area, and then following day pain in my leftside kidney. Can Vitamin C cause kidney stones? Is this too much Vit C?

However!!! 'multi-colored pills'??? I suggest that he was seeing pharmaceuticals. Those are the most 'colored' pills. Most of my vitamins are white or tannish. People often flush pills (Rx meds) down the toilet!

Just my thoughts. Great thread!!

And to any women reading this... I tried hydrogen peroxide, acidophilus, folic acid etc to no avail.

Truly, I stuck half a 1000mg vitamin c tablet in my vagina and by the next day the classic bv odor and sticky discharge was gone. (rinsed the vitamin in hot water first to get off any lubricating coating).

If you've tried everything else, try this.

Good luck!

My main reason of writing this, is what I read on the negative effects of high doses of vit. c on the following minerals:

CALCIUM, NICKEL, COPPER, ZINC, MANGANESE.

It is true that Vitamin C is a chelator of metals so the best way to counter this effect is to take Fulvic/Humic acid drops seperately every day with the vitamin C. This contains about 60 essential body macro- and micro- minerals and makes these minerals highly bioavailable. I haven't got enough room to describe the many further huge benefits of Fulvic/Humic acid, so here is a link that covers it all:

Properties of Fulvic Acid

Also I wish to know if I can take the following: Silymarin, Methylsulfonylmethane, Selenium, Magnesium, Calcium Citrate, Potessium Iodide during treatment with BHT, and what can be regarded as the needed daily dosage, considering the daily usage of 8grams of vit.c..."

I have taken Silymarin, MSM, Selenium and Magnesium Citrate all at the same time, usually at meals, without any side-effects or problems. I don't take potassium iodide -- I take lugols iodine or aqueous iodine because I think it is more beneficial overall than KI(which is also useful). The various glands and organs of the body absorb Iodine in different ways. Potassium Iodide and Iodine are different substances with different properties. It is absorbed, for instance, as only iodide by the thyroid. But the breasts and prostate can only absorb the iodine form. And in other areas of the body, both the iodide and iodine forms are happily absorbed. So, in my opinion, to get the full benefit to the body, lugol's (which contains both potassium iodide and iodine) is the best form to take because it covers all the necessary ground. I also understand that some people are quite sensitive to lugols iodine, so instead, Nascent Iodine or Atomidine (as Edgar Cayce recommended) is perhaps more useful and kinder to the body, but is also more expensive.

Regarding Calcium Citrate, I agree with Ted -- the western diet is over-fortified with calcium now, so no need to take any calcium at all -- more important to take magnesium to get rid of the excess calcium in your body. This is a bit tricky though -- and will depend on how much calcium you actually ingest, how old you are and how much processed food you are eating.

I usually take between 1 - 3 grams of vitamin c per day plus I eat fruits. Linus Pauling, a Nobel Prize winning chemist, took 10 -- 20 GRAMS of Vit C a day usually in ascorbate form and he lived till 93 y o. He also researched Vit C and discovered that most mammals like cows, goats, dogs, cats etc self-manufacture their own Vit C in fairly large amounts but that humans, bats and guinea pigs have to get their vitamin c from an external food source because they cannot self-manufacture vit c. In his own research, he also mentions that a small goat produces 12 GRAMS of vitamn c a day from their liver. And in times of stress, the little goat is capable of producing up to 18 grams of vit c. A goat is also way smaller than a human being. So how does this large daily dose for a small goat stack up against the recommended RDA dose of 75 MILLIgrams a day ? This means that the goat's daily Vit C intake is exactly 160 times higher than the human RDA for vitamin c.

I have read much research on BHT. Dr Denham Harman, the discoverer of the anti-oxidant nature of vitamins, regarded BHT as a super-anti-oxidant because, in his famous experiment in 1962, he found that BHT added to mice diets, when measured against a placebo control group, worked to extend the average lifespan of the mice taking BHT by 45%. See the research here:

http://www.ajcn.org/content/25/8/839.full.pdf

Other options for you and daily dosages for most of the above, are given in a recent reply post of mine here:

https://www.earthclinic.com/remedies/remedy-combinations.html#BHOOO

Just to finally add that that Hep C will not become resistant to these remedies because:

* Both aspirin/lysine as well as BHT act to dissolve the lipid outer viral envelope of the Hep C virus which allows the immune system to attack and destroy the now de-cloaked virus. Thus there is no time for the virus to adjust to this protocol.

* The Berkson Triple Anti-Oxidant Protocol works to attack the Hep C virus by anti-oxidant action while at the same time helping to repair liver damage and is a successful therapy involving regular oral intake of Alpha Lipoic Acid, Selenium and Milk Thistle.

* Chanca Piedra(1000 mgs taken at mealtimes) acts to both protect liver hepatocytes(worker liver cells) and to inhibit the Reverse Transcriptase enzyme in the Hep B & Hep C virus, thus completely preventing the virus from replicating, mutating and becoming resistant to the action of Chanca Piedra.

Hello, physicist Gary Wade, I read your recommendation on the treatment of lipid coated viruses with BHT.. , and I was interested, because I wish to use it to treat a highly resistant and difficult to treat hcv. As a result, I am reading other articles. One article said that vit. C should be taken with some sodium bicarbonate to reduce its acidity; some other article opposes this view, saying that sodium bicarbonate reduces the absorption of vit. C, but in your recommendation, you were silent in this. As a result, I am not taking the issue of NaHCO3 seriously.

My main reason of writing this, is what I read on the negative effects of high doses of vit. c on the following minerals:

CALCIUM, NICKEL, COPPER, ZINC, MANGANESE.

This article said that high doses of vit. C reduces these minerals in the body. In case of calcium, this mineral becomes removed from the bones, causing them to be brittle and easy to break.

Please, I request Physicist Gary Wade and Bill Thompson to address this issue, which is troubling. Please, any other person who has the answer can also address the issue. I will delay my treatment with BHT until I read people's opinions on the issue I have raised, because vit. c is a major component of Physicist Gary Wade's course of treatment with BHT.

Also, I wish to know if I can take the following: Silymarin, Methylsulfonylmethane, Selenium, Magnesium, Calcium Citrate, Potessium Iodide during treatment with BHT, and what can be regarded as the needed daily dosage, considering the daily usage of 8grams of vit.c.

Also, in a difficult case as the hcv that I have, can I add Oil of Oregano to my treatment? Will there be drug interaction that will be harmful to me or that will reduce the effect of the BHT?

I thank you all that will contribute your knowledge to give informed answers to these concerns.

May GOD bless you all.

It is virtually imposible to remove the shipping poisons from citrus which is naturally oily and disolves the hydrocarbon based poisons deep into the peel.

How about the new "grease' sprayed on apples-instant prolonged headaches. Be careful, watch everything you eat.

-----------------------------------

by Daniel P. Kray, Senior Editor
Published June 22, 2011

We like Vitamin C for a lot of things, from prevention to post-infection treatment. That's why we're concerned about the popularity of certain hyped Vitamin C products. A natural cold and flu remedy would be great, but what sort of extra baggage is hitching a ride on these packs of Vitamin C supplements? Turns out, a pair of unnecessary ingredients, aspartic acid (or asparagine) and sucralose, are often tagging along. You may have to look into the fine print of the ingredients list, but you'll be surprised at how often they show up.

L-aspartic acid is one of our non-essential amino acids. The body makes it, so we don't need to get it from our diets. We definitely need it for energy creation, nerve function, and a host of other bodily activities. But like most good things, too much can be bad. In excess, aspartic acid becomes an excitotoxin, revving the neurons and nervous system up so high that nerve damage can be a result. In effect, excitotoxins cause our neurons to die from excitement!

In fact, if the facts behind Aspartame make you uncomfortable, aspartic acid is a large part (40%) of the reason. In our bodies, this artificial sweetener breaks down into phenylalanine, methanol, and aspartic acid. Methanol is just plain toxic, but the overdose of amino acids can likewise do great harm. Sucralose (Splenda) is of course much the same thing as Aspartame-an artificial sweetener. This one mostly passes out of the body without being metabolized, but some 15-20% does not pass out of the body immediately. Since sucralose is an organochloride (an organic chlorine compound), many of us are justifiably concerned about the possibility of introducing free chlorine molecules into our bloodstream and tissues. Makes you nostalgic for good old belly-expanding glucose!

Since the liver can produce aspartic acid whenever bodily levels are low, we never experience true aspartic acid deficiencies, so there is no need to get it through supplements. Easy then, we won't take aspartic acid supplements. That is, unless we don't know it's there in our other supplements! Now, weight lifting supplements often contain aspartic acid along with a medley of the other amino acids, so there is an issue there. However, for the Earth Clinic community we're more concerned about products like Ester-C (the brand) and Emergen-C, both of which add aspartic acid to their Vitamin C supplements. Just check out the Other Ingredients on the fine print on this ingredients list to see for yourself.

Products advertised as energy boosters frequently contain aspartic acid, as do whey powder products. Airborne and Super C Vitamin C products do not seem to use aspartic acid (please do not read that as a general endorsement); however, Airborne and Super C do contain sucralose as a sweetener, as do FRS Healthy Energy products.

Additionally, you're likely to find aspartic acid in these products:

• Various collagen formulas
• _____ Liquid Aminos
• Many potassium-magnesium supplements
• Many folic acid tablets
• Many lipoic acid supplements
• Many Nature's Plus products
• Some Solgar vitamin supplements
• Some Nutritech supplements

Now, plenty of foods naturally contain aspartic acid as well, and the body is happy to find it there. It is nature-made, not man-made (unlike sucralose). We don't want to alarm anyone, just let you know what you're potentially putting in your body. Toxic levels of this amino acid are definitely possible, so take a look at your supplement labels and make the best choice for your own health.

The following Earth Clinic reader contributions (and a note from Ted) should help you make the decision that is right for you.

Vitamin C and Excitotoxins

Catherine from Seattle, WA writes: "I was fighting a sinus infection last week after landing in California and went to a Whole Foods to get some Vitamin C. I decided to get Emergen-C to add to water because it had a really tempting fruity flavor. Immediately after taking my first packet (which was delicious), I felt a weird sensation in my head and then I got really edgy (as in bad mood edgy). I read the ingredients on the box and sure enough, the vitamin C used in this brand is Aspartic acid, an excitotoxin. The Emergen-C also contained "natural flavors", aka MSG. I waited 24 hours and tried again to see if I would have the same side effects. Again, within a minute of drinking the packet, I got the same sensation in my head. My question is, are you doing more good or harm to the body when you take this form of vitamin c?!!"

Ted from Bangkok, Thailand replies: "Aspartic acid is a well known excitotoxin and so is monosodium glutamate or MSG. In the long run it's going to destroy the immune system through a neurodegenerative disorder. Once the excitotoxin is destroyed the immune system is down. Now in a pharmaceutical formulation adding this results in the need to take that since you get sicker and so you might feel some relief, the long term is it's going to make a person sicker, which result in greater sales for product with excitotoxins added. Now imagine a child who is a borderline autism, ADHD, these can result in many other neurodegenerative disorders and metabolic acidosis. As for me decades ago I took accidentally soft drinks with aspartame resulting in deafness, but also a permanent partial macular degeneration of the eyes. So the systematic destruction is almost wholesale if given long term use. Luckily Emergen C is not sold in Thailand, although some friends of mine have given me this, I don't take it. I prefer to buy bulk vitamin C and mix them myself. There are other excitotoxins, but aspartic acid, aspartame, monosodium glutamate, and glutamic acid are the most well known...

Therefore most effervescent products sometimes they are not labeled so I ended up calling the factory sometimes. One easy way to measure excitotoxin poisoning is that the urinary pH suddenly become very acid, such as pH 5.5 or lower and even taking more baking soda barely raise the pH long enough to be satisfactory. Such as it can't raise the pH for the entire day. It also takes weeks for the pH to be near normal after taking b complex and baking soda for a week or two. A long term taking of this can also resulted in higher urinary sugar and damaged pancreas, besides damaging the brain. One of the worse advertisement I have seen is Michael J. Fox supporting Diet Pepsi, which contains aspartame, and he himself has Parkinson's disease, which will make such conditions much worse. The remedy is not to take aspartame for Parkinson's disease or to undergo stem cells, since it's not yet legal at the moment and stem cell research has been blocked for at least 8 years. Methylene blue taken at 2 drops at 0.1% concentration might reverse some of the effects of excitotoxins as it is one of my remedies for Parkinson's disease also.

Taking excitotoxins is a long term damage that may lead to degenerative disorders, metabolic acidosis, and lowered immune system. Therefore I would avoid them as best as I can.

Ted"

Supplements Brought on Rage

Wes from Webster, TX writes: "I'm 220 and work out almost everyday. I started taking 2000mg of vitamin C. Ester C tablets. A few days later I noticed I was very easily enraged. I did this for about 4 weeks and decided it wasn't worth it. I recently started taking and animal pack vitamin package. After taking for several days I noticed the same effect. Read the ingredient 2000 mg Vitamin C. So I stopped taking it. Is there anyway to counteract the aggressiveness. IE some other vitamin."

Christine replies: "This afternoon, I visited your site and noted a comment by a reader who said that Ester C made him enraged. It's not the Vitamin C, it's the aspartic acid in the Ester C product. I verified this with an aspartame activist. Aspartic acid is an excitotoxin, a poison that kills brain cells. Yep, it's the same stuff as in aspartame. All of the studies done on Vitamin C were done with sodium ascorbate, which is a type of chemically buffered Vitamin C. It's best to take it as a powder in water, because you can get gastritis if you take too many pills."

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