The Secret about Vitamin C
You Are Likely Not Getting Enough
With the exception of primates (excluding a few types of monkeys), guinea pigs and humans, most mammals manufacture their own Vitamin C. Humans do not produce Vitamin C as they lack the enzyme necessary for producing ascorbic acid in the liver from glucose.
For this reason, it is vital that we get a daily dose of Vitamin C.
Up until recently, humans consumed large quantities of Vitamin C via fruits and plants—a lot more than the low Recommended Daily Requirement of 60 mg. This low recommendation reflects the minimal amount of Vitamin C needed to prevent the onset of scurvy.
Alarming misinformation surrounding minimal intake amounts are exposed in the book ‘Ascorbate: The Science of Vitamin C’ by Dr. Steve Hickey and Dr. Hilary Roberts. They note that irrefutable flaws are due to what is known as the “Half-life” of Vitamin C.
Half-life is the scientific term that refers to the value of a substance as it decreases over time and the time at which the quantity becomes half its original value. Half-life is always taken into account for medications and is what determines the interval at which a medication should be taken to keep a constant amount in your system.
In other words, half-life means how long it takes until the substance is no longer effective in your body.
RDA of Vitamin C is NOT Enough!
In human beings, the half-life of Vitamin C is thirty minutes after ingestion.
Further, the research used to determine the RDA involved only extremely small sample groups which would normally be considered invalid for research studies.
Unfortunately, too many people are of the understanding that if they are getting the RDA of Vitamin C (or any other nutrient), they are getting sufficient nutrition for the health of their body.
This is absolutely not so as the RDA is extremely misleading.
The RDA also doesn’t take into account toxins from air pollution, stress, pharmaceutical and OTC drugs (including acetaminophen and NSAIDs such as aspirin and ibuprofen), smoking, or those with diabetes, heart conditions, cancer, or menopausal women, all of which trigger the need for substantially higher doses of Vitamin C.
Dr. Linus Pauling, a Nobel-prize winner in chemistry who spent decades researching Vitamin C, suggested that the human body requires around 2000 mg – 20,000 mg of Vitamin C daily—more in those with serious health concerns such as cancer.
Dr. Pauling himself took 25 grams (25,000 mg) of Vitamin C per day for many years without any problems, and continued working on his research until the day died, at the age of ninety-six!
Perhaps his research should get a bit more attention!
Although it has taken quite a bit of time, it appears that things are starting change. Research is now showing that, indeed, the human body requires far higher doses of Vitamin C than what was previously thought.
is a board-certified Chiropractic Physician and Life Coach who also holds a Bachelor of Science degree in Human Biology, and a minor in Medical Research. She is a life-long athlete who after curing herself 100% naturally from MS and anxiety, became an avid nutrition health researcher/promoter.
She has been featured in many Health magazines and has been a guest on radio talk shows in the USA, Canada, United Kingdom, and Australia. She is the author of Health Freedom Revolution: Exposing the Lies, Deceit and Greed of the Medical Profession, Founder of Online Holistic Health, and a contributing writer for other popular informative health website/blogs.
She is the host of Holistic Health Radio – where she discusses how she recovered her health as well as other hot health topics, and she is also co-founder of Crazy Meets Common Sense! – The Podcast that Makes Sense Out of the Crazy, to Help You Live a More Healthy, Fulfilling and Empowering Life!
December 2, 2016 @ 3:01 am
Much obliged for making the Natural Remedies article fascinating and instructive till the end! Continue rousing us and Live a longer Life .
December 3, 2016 @ 4:17 pm
when i start a vitamin c regimen, i bruise easily. why is that?
June 27, 2017 @ 7:34 pm
Did you know that ascorbic acid is actually synthetic vitamin C? What’s more, it is usually GMO vitamin C, which means it was derived from GMO corn.he Winter 2009 edition of Wise Traditions cites 3 studies which give pause about large doses of vitamin C. The first study (from the Jun 15, 2001 issue of Science) showed that “synthetic vitamin C may contribute to the formation of genotoxins that can lead to cancer”.
A second study presented to the American Heart Association showed a link between consumption of only 500mg of vitamin C per day and a greater propensity toward thickening of the arteries (Los Angeles Times, March 3, 2000).
Even more recently, athletes taking 1000mg of vitamin C per day showed reduced endurance capacity from interference with antioxidant enzymes (American Journal of Clinical Nutrition, Jan 2008).This information should give pause to anyone who is actively taking synthetic vitamin C supplements such as those Emergen-C packets that are available everywhere, from pharmacies and health food stores to even gas stations!
Supplements like these are NOT boosting immunity and are NOT good for you!Synthetic vitamins such as ascorbic acid act more like drugs in the body rather than whole food nutrients with all the available co-factors. Taking any synthetic vitamin can cause imbalances in the body and should be avoided.
If you are a fan of Linus Pauling who popularized the notion of huge doses of Vitamin C for the common cold in the 1970’s, consider this. GMO Vitamin C did not exist when Pauling was conducting his studies. GMO derived Vitamin C is what most people are unwittingly taking today!
What’s more, the studies indicating the danger of high doses of vitamin C over long periods of time had not been done yet. They were conducted long after Pauling died in 1994.
Under certain circumstances and for the very ill, high dose GMO ascorbic acid therapy can be beneficial. For example, my husband used IV ascorbic acid therapy immediately after each amalgam removal. This prevented any released mercury from getting stored in the tissues. Not doing this risks the development of autoimmune disease.
However, synthetic vitamin C especially when genetically modified shouldn’t be a regular feature in anyone’s diet or supplement regimen.
Whole Food Vitamin C is Naturally Low Dose
The best way to get vitamin C on a daily basis is from whole foods sources. This will provide you this critical nutrient at a low dosage that will do no harm over the long term. For example, the vitamin C we use in our home for the kids is a chewable, acerola cherry vitamin C. Each tablet only contains 30mg of real vitamin C with no additives or fillers.
When you get the whole foods version of vitamin C, you don’t need much at all. A truly natural vitamin C supplement with no added ascorbic acid is naturally low-dose and yet highly effective.What’s worse is that ascorbic acid is not just synthetic. Remember that it is also usually derived from genetically modified corn! More on that GMO vitamin C travesty fooling millions of consumers every single day in the linked article.
Another vitamin scam harming consumers concerns synthetic folate commercially known as folic acid.
The pushing of beta carotene as true vitamin A by food manufacturers and supplement companies is another nutritional falsehood scamming millions of consumers and worse, seriously harming their health.
Talk about adding insult to injury!
June 27, 2017 @ 8:03 pm
Hello, Michael! Wow! Thank you so much for your well thought out and very passionate comment! Love it!
First, I’d like to say that I agree with most of your comment 🙂
Second, I’d also like to say that I believe you missed the point of the article which was about the half-life of vitamin C. And this goes for natural or (even) synthetic alike. I’m sorry but so much of your wonderful comment was a bit ill-placed.
Third, Yep I am a big fan of Dr. Linus Pauling! Who, by the way…aside from all his accomplishments in the holistic arena, also lived to the wonderful age of 93 due to high dosages vitamin C! FYI…in those days when Dr. Puaking was taking high dose vitamin c, it was well before the introduction of GMO corn and Round-Up Ready Corn (all of which I am completely against).
Fourth, I couldn’t agree more with your “pushing beta-carotene” comment! Perhaps you’d like to check out this article, I think you will like it: https://www.onlineholistichealth.com/betacarotene-retinol/
Thanks again and keep up your good work against GMOs and GMO supplements! Like I said, I couldn’t agree more!
Wishing you the BEST of health!
July 7, 2017 @ 11:32 am
Vitamin C is one of the best sources for our immune systems. That’s a reason why people need to increase the amount of vitamin C in the daily diet. So, do you think that Dr. Pauling outlives most of us due to his diet with 25 mg of vitamin C per day?
July 7, 2017 @ 3:44 pm
Hello Juliano! He actually took as much as 25 GRAMS per day (I think you just had a typo)! I do believe that we should take a lot more than the RDI which is only 60 mg…especially if you are under stress. Basically, stress causes the release of stress hormones and depletes the adrenals of vitamin C (the adrenals are high in vitamin C and it is where stress hormones are stored). I personally take 5000 mg – 10,000 mg (5-10 grams) spread out throughout the day.
Hope that helps!
July 8, 2017 @ 2:22 am
Yep, I mean he took 25gr (sorry for that typo). In fact, people do not know the maximum dosage they should use per day. But according to MAYOCLINIC (please use google for more info), the upper limit of intake (UL) should avoid exceeding 2,000 milligrams daily in men or women more than 18 years old ( excepts some cases such as : high blood pressure patients, liver disease, …it could be around 3gr – 4gr per day. So, if his research being believable, should I give some advice for my readers to increase it? Thanks!
November 8, 2017 @ 12:23 am
see recently they have found out (scientists) that there is a certain glucose that make the synergistically make vitamin C…not as what had been thought of for many years that humans are the only mammal that cannot make vit.c…. as in your article…cheers Richard…
love your journey and persistence inspiring road to recovery….well done
June 16, 2018 @ 10:15 pm
To richard… I’d suggest you go to the vitamincfoundation,org to get your misinformation corrected. Animals — other than humans etc — as Dr Kmiec has stated — make their C from the glucose. That’s not new.