In light of my own recent experiences, and an interview I heard on ABC Radio National on the weekend (it was on The Science Show – http://www.abc.net.au/rn/scienceshow/default.htm if anyone’s interested), I thought I’d bring up the subject of Vitamin C supplementation for peak athletic performance.
I’ve felt that I just generally feel better when I take between 1 and 2 grams of Vitamin C a day, but because of the fact that humans need external sources of the stuff (i.e. we don’t synthesize it naturally for some reason, like animals do) I’m playing with the idea of taking up to 10 grams a day. I’m slowly building it up, and at the moment I’m at 4 grams a day. There’s a few sites on the internet that say 3-6 grams a day is what regular folk (i.e. non-athletes) should be taking. One such site is:
Even one of the greatest scientists of the 20th century, Linus Pauling, himself took 10 grams a day (not sure for how long though) and went on to campaign the benefits of Vitamin C until he died, at age 93.
So, after that long-ass introduction, I pose the question: What are all of your experiences with Vitamin C? What do you think about these proposed massive doses? :).
I view vitamin c (as well as a multi-vitamin) as very cheap insurance. It works out to pennies a day. It has many potential benefits that far out weigh any negatives.
Ok, I just remember Dwayne Grant telling me that when he took lots of it, not sure in terms of actually figures, but I’m guessing we’re not talking about 10g as mentioned in this thread, he felt tired etc for a couple of days, but then bounced back off it.
Common Vit C (ascorbic acid) at high dose can lead to kidney stone.
We use vit c aa 4-5 gr prebed with athletes, but only for few weeks.
Linus Pauling speaks about calcium ascorbate (Ester C), much “safe” formula at high doses.
i worked with a highly respected nutrionist a while ago and i asked her about vit c. She told me that you get what you need from your diet, the effect on the immune from mega doses is minimal and can be more harmful than positive even for athletes under ditress from training. She said to stick to the rdi and maybe a little bit more.
Dont know if this is right, its just what she told me.
Yes, I think the studies that have found the formation of kidney stones was from the consumption of ascorbic acid. I think the calcium/sodium ascorbates are much less risky. However, I found this article that reviewed various studies on Vitamin C (of any type) and kidney stones: