Ask The Herbalist: Vitamin C

Is megadosing Vitamin C safe?

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[Alina674]

Hi, I don't take supplements but I do drink the juice of 1 large lemon in the morning with water & maybe a little organic acv & grade b maple syrup before my breakfast. Do you think I am taking in too much vitamin c? I do this for a few days in a row then I stop, wait a week or 2, then start the process again. thanks

[Hveragerthi]

No, that is not that much vitamin C. Lemons are a great source of vitamin C if eaten right off the tree. But once picked the vitamin C starts breaking down. The longer the lemon sits before being used the less vitamin C it will contain. So I would not rely on lemons as a sole source of vitamin C. And vitamin C is best taken throughout the day since vitamin C does not store in the body. Therefore you need to keep supplying it.

[Hveragerthi]

No, that is not megadosing. First of all the RDA is the minimum amount required in which the body needs to function. Secondly, synthetic vitamin C is so unstable that only a portion will still be vitamin C by the time it is ingested and even less will survive to be absorbed as vitamin C. Therefore, when someone takes "2000mg" of synthetic vitamin C this does not mean they are actually getting 2000mg of vitamin C nor will they absorb this much.

[surrealmachine]

Hi, just wondering, isn't 500mg of vitamin C taken 3 to 4 times a day considered megadosing? The RDA is 90mg a day. I'm certainly not arguing, in fact that is about what I take. I also take rather high levels of niacin (about 1000mg) also broken into small doses daily since neither of these stay in the body very long. I've been doing this for almost 30 years. I'm 60 years old, rarely get sick and everyone thinks I'm in my early 40's. Honestly, it seems to have worked so well, I'm afraid to quit

[Hveragerthi]

The RDA is the absolute minimum level required to maintain health, not the amount a person should get ideally on a daily basis. So 500mg several times a day is not really megadosing, especially when you consider the fact that a lot of what you get in a bottle of synthetic vitamin C is no longer vitamin C. Synthetic C is very unstable and breaks down readily with light, heat or moisture in to oxalic acid. Even sitting around for a while in a cool dark place will lead to deterioration.

[CHUNIOR05]

why does it seem hard to stay healthy?? goshh -___-

[Alina674]

@Hveragerthi Ok, thanks. I have lots of citrus trees that I am growing in the backyard: navel & valencia orange, clementine & murcott mandarin, lemons, limes, grapefruits.  I guess I will be meeting my vitamin c quota for the day soon. thanks for the tips!

One more thing, I've noticed the more vit C/herbs I add to my diet the better my oral health is: less plaque, whiter, & gums are very strong, says the dental hygienist & dentist. But, the things THEY were giving me only gave me problems.

[krosser2123]

@surrealmachine what form of Niacin do you take, i.e. niacinamide? And do you get flushing effects from it? How big are you doses of it?