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The Gift of Vitamin C

Laraine C. Abbey R.N., C.N.S.1

Introduction tremely safe, as attested to by extensive


The British government sponsored research1-4 much of which was documented
Foods Standards Agency warns that vita- by Hoffman LaRoche researchers Adrienne
min and mineral supplement users should Bendich and Lawrence Machlin and by
confine vitamin C intake to no more than voluminous documented LD-50 safety data
1,000 mg daily in order to assure a “safe testing. Furthermore, the safety is attested
upper level” and to avoid symptoms such to by the experience of a large group of
as intestinal gas and diarrhea. The impli- Orthomolecular health practitioners utiliz-
cation of this “upper limit for safety” warn- ing massive doses with each of their thou-
ing is that we could damage or poison sands` of patients. Safety Information Data
ourselves with anything above the stated Sheets conclude that vitamin C is very safe
“safe” dose. Nothing could be further from even in enormous doses in animal experi-
the truth! ments and that it is not mutagenic, or tera-
Their recommendations are arrived at togenic. (Toxic Substance Division Depart-
by eliminating any dosage at which any- ment of the Environment, Roche Products Ltd)
one ever reported, including anecdotally, The truth is vitamin C has the poten-
any problematic symptoms while they were tial to vastly improve all kinds of chronic
taking a vitamin or mineral. This is like health problems and could actually save
saying, if a person dies of a heart attack your life or the life of someone you love.
while wearing shoes, the heart attack was Access to this miraculous substance must
caused by the shoes! not be limited by false and misleading in-
I’m tired of being warned about the so- formation. Special interests subtly manipu-
called dangers of vitamins, while pharmaceu- late people to create irrational fears about
tical manufacturers and advertisers continue nutritional supplements. These same spe-
to encourage us to take medications to treat cial interests have been lulling the public
everything from bad moods, to acid indiges- into becoming irrationally comfortable tak-
tion, to sexual difficulties, despite long lists ing drug after drug to suppress the symp-
of serious possible side effects from these toms of all sorts of health problems.
same drugs. Have you ever wondered why I’d like humbly to add my voice in sup-
there is no government-sponsored agency port of the many vitamin C pioneers who
issuing warnings regarding our heavy cultural collectively have already proven both its
reliance on pharmaceuticals with their seri- safety and its efficacy in a wide range of
ous and well documented side effects? Why conditions and circumstances. During my
aren’t government sponsored groups study- 16 years of private practice as an orthomo-
ing the reasons our population suffers from lecular nurse-nutritionist, 3,000 mg of vi-
so many conditions requiring pharmaceuti- tamin C daily was the starting recommen-
cals? What credibility is there in the “Say No dation for my thousands of patients and for
to Drugs” campaign when everyone knows my 3-year-old son. In all those thousands
it’s really “say yes to drugs as long as they’re of people, I’m unaware of any noteworthy
produced by pharmaceutical companies?” negative reactions.
We are asked to be fearful of how we I think the medical under-use and pro-
might harm ourselves with vitamin C, motion of fear of vitamin C ranks along
when the reality is that vitamin C is ex- with the under-use and fear tactics previ-
1.P.O. Box 828, Pt. Pleasant, NJ 08742. e-mail: marevivo@
ously directed at folic acid. For years we
aol.com were warned not to use high doses of folic
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Journal of Orthomolecular Medicine Vol. 18, Nos. 3 & 4, 2003

acid despite growing evidence that neural to bowel tolerance,10,11 I was reinforced to
tube defects might result from insufficient utilize “bowel tolerance” doses of vitamin
folate intake. How sad for the thousands of C in the hopes of clearing my current res-
children born with spina bifida which resulted piratory problems.
from fear of recommending a few pennies per Years earlier after my first exposure to
day of non-toxic folic acid. How hollow is the the writings of Klenner, Stone, McCormick,
phrase, “above all, do no harm” when the Cathcart, Pauling, et al., I recovered from
harm is seen in those occupying thousands influenza, from which I was very sick,
of wheel chairs around the country. Are we within about a day and half during which
destined to keep repeating mistakes? time I consumed (by mouth) 120,000 mg
I’d like to share my professional and or 120 g of Vitamin C per 24-hour period.
personal experience with vitamin C, includ- I had no problem from that dose ex-
ing the use of large doses both orally and cept that when my flu symptoms disap-
intravenously, as well as looking at some peared faster than my tapering of the vita-
history regarding the clinical use of high min C dosage, I experienced gas and
dose vitamin C. diarrhea, a small price to pay for getting
rid of the flu. The gas and diarrhea is tran-
Personal Experience sitory and is the basis for the papers by
In January, 2003, I developed a sinus Cathcart: “The Method of Determining
and upper respiratory infection that Proper Doses of Vitamin C for the Treatment
wouldn’t clear up despite four rounds of of Diseased by Titrating to Bowel Toler-
different antibiotics to which I was devel- ance”10 and “Vitamin C, Titrating to Bowel
oping reactions such as progressively wors- Tolerance, Anascorbemia, and Acute Induced
ening headaches. I’d been prone to such Scurvy.”11 The gas and diarrhea produced by
infections, having had bronchitis one to oral vitamin C are not toxicity symptoms, and
three times per year for many years. How- do not occur when vitamin C is given
ever, I was becoming increasingly resistant parenterally. Intravenous doses as high as
to antibiotics and was fearful that I was 700 mg/kg/24 hours have been administered
running out of effective treatment for these with no problems and great benefit.7,8
recurring infections. Cathcart writes the he has “safely pre-
Around the same time, I learned of a scribed doses of ascorbic acid up to 200 or
young girl who had apparently developed more grams per 24 hours to over 20,000
viral encephalitis that turned her into a patients during a 23 year period” in his
vegetative cripple after her acute febrile practice.12
symptoms resolved. My illness and that lit-
tle girl’s deterioration reminded me of the Evidence of Safety and Efficacy
work of one of the now deceased vitamin Klenner stated, “Ascorbic acid is the
C pioneer, Dr. Fred Klenner, a Duke Univer- safest and the most valuable substance
sity graduate and practicing physician from available to the physician. Many head-
Reidsville, North Carolina. Klenner was the aches and many heartaches will be
first physician to use massive doses of vita- avoided with its proper use.”5 I’d like to
min C to cure many serious and life threat- echo Klenner and add that it is also one
ening conditions including viral encephali- of the least expensive substances.
tis, polio, meningitis, and poisonings.5-8 Commenting on the safety of vitamin
After rereading Klenner’s and C and particularly the sodium ascorbate form
McCormick’s9 published work, followed by that he used intravenously Klenner: “I’ve used
some of Robert Cathcart’s papers,10-12 par- over 200,000 ampules, 50,000 vials and
ticularly his papers on titrating vitamin C millions of 500 mg tablets of vitamin C and

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The Gift of Vitamin C

the only complication I’ve ever seen is cramps were less than three percent”.
diarrhea and gas.” “Infants born under massive ascorbic
“I remember a patient with a malig- acid therapy were all robust. Not a single
nancy taking 10,000 grams of sodium ascor- case required resuscitation. We experi-
bate over six months [or 57,000 mg daily] enced no feeding problems.”
and his blood sodium was low at one point.” Klenner also remarked that he recom-
These are direct quotes taken from my mends 1,000 mg of vitamin C for every year
audiocassette tape of Klenner at a talk that of age up to 10,000 mg. He added, “10 grams
he gave at the 20th Annual Symposium of is the lowest amount adults should take for
the International College of Applied Nutri- normal use.”
tion (ICAAN) in Los Angeles. In 1949 Klenner wrote that the single
So what exactly did Klenner do with most important determinant of positive re-
all those ampules, vials, and pills? sults from vitamin C is the size of the dose
Using megadose vitamin C he treated and the frequency of its administration.
viral encephalitis (remember the young girl) Cathcart has clearly echoed this state-
comparing his results with other published ment in his extensive work with massive
work: “Their results [without vitamin C]: dose vitamin C. Klenner says that out of
Some recovered, some died and still others thousands of virus colds treated, vitamin
lived as ‘vegetative mental cripples. All of C always works if you go high enough.
our patients recovered.” Pauling on colds: “My recommenda-
“In the poliomyelitis epidemic in North tion is not 1 gram a day, or 2 grams a day
Carolina in 1948, sixty (60) cases of this of vitamin C but at the first sign of a cold,
disease came under our care.” The treat- take a gram of vitamin C or 2 grams and
ment employed was vitamin C in massive then an hour later, if the symptoms still ex-
doses. It was given like any other antibi- ist – if you’re still sneezing, or your nose is
otic every two to four hours. The initial running or feel shiver, take another 1 or 2
dose was 1,000 to 2,000 mg, depending on grams of vitamin C. Keep doing that until
age. Children up to four years received the you forget because the symptoms have gone
injections intramuscularly.” “All patients away and this will stop a cold in almost every
were clinically well after 72 hours.” person who follows the regimen.”13
“One single injection of ascorbic acid Pauling’s comment on vitamin toxic-
calculated at 500 mg/kg of body weight will ity: “…conventional medical practice relies
reverse heat stroke.” heavily on drugs, all of which essentially are
“Observations made on over 300 con- toxic substances. It’s hard for me to think
secutive obstetrical cases using supplemen- of an example of a drug that is like the vi-
tal ascorbic acid, by mouth, convinced me tamins in having nearly zero toxicity” (as-
that failure to use this agent in sufficient pirin’s LD-50 is quite low and contrast this
amounts in pregnancy borders on malprac- with vitamin C in which the LD-50 is vir-
tice. The lowest amount of Ascorbic acid tually unattainable since it is so high)
used was 4 grams and the highest amount “What they did not do was to ask this
15 grams each day”. question: here is a substance which has no
Klenner continues: “Labor was shorter known toxicity… Is there a possibility that
and less painful. There were no postpartum very large doses of vitamin C and the B vita-
hemorrhages. No patient required cath- mins and vitamin A, beta carotene and vi-
eterization. No toxic manifestations were tamin E, would have much additional value
demonstrated in this series. There was no in improving the health of the people?”
cardiac stress even though 22 patients of “I looked in the medical and nutri-
the series had rheumatic hearts. Leg tional literature to find out how much vi-

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Journal of Orthomolecular Medicine Vol. 18, Nos. 3 & 4, 2003

tamin C a person should take in order to provides 5,000 mg per teaspoon while a
be in the best health, perhaps to control non-acidic form of vitamin C, sodium
diseases other than scurvy. I couldn’t find ascorbate, provides 4,448 mg of vitamin C
anything”. For 25 years Pauling looked for per teaspoon. Other forms of C powder are
the answer to “how much of these very rendered non-acidic by buffering with cal-
powerful and important substances should cium, magnesium, zinc, and potassium.
we take to be in the best of health?” Typically, the latter provide about 2,600 mg
I believe Cathcart has supplied the of vitamin C, 350 mg of calcium, 350 mg of
answer to the optimal oral dose of vitamin magnesium, 100 mg of potassium, and 6 mg
C : the bowel tolerance level. He noted that of zinc per teaspoon. Fifteen hundred
“the sicker a patient was, the more ascor- (1,500) mg tablets are available and con-
bic acid he would tolerate by mouth before venient for certain times.
diarrhea was produced. At least 80% of For individuals who wish to utilize
adult patients will tolerate 10-15 g of ascor- high dose vitamin C therapy, I recommend
bic acid fine crystals in one half cup of having all of the above on hand, as this
water in four divided doses per 24 hours makes the achievement of sufficiently high
without having diarrhea.”10 intake both easy and palatable. For exam-
For my respiratory infection in Janu- ple, sodium ascorbate is very palatable in
ary, 2003 I began my self-treatment by low sodium V-8 juice, tomato juice and in
gradually increasing my dosage of Vitamin milk or soy drinks or shakes. The ascor-
C from my usual 1,000-3,000 mg per day up bic acid form works very well in all kinds
to 3,000–4,000 mg per dose, initially taking of fruit juice (apple, orange, grapefruit,
it about four times daily (around 16,000 mg grape, pineapple), as well as tomato or V-
per day). This failed to produce diarrhea so 8. When you’re trying to use very high
I began to increase both the dosage and the doses your palate may get very tired of
frequency, finally getting up to between the same flavors. Some individuals may
60,000 and 120,000 mg per day or approxi- find they have difficulty with one form
mately 7,500 to 15,000 mg eight times daily or another as a result of the acidity of
(every three hours around the clock). These ascorbic acid or the “saltiness” of the
numbers are not typographical errors. I am sodium ascorbate. (Note that Klenner
talking about 60 to 120 g taken by mouth states that the sodium ion does not act
daily. I noticed that as soon as I reached the the same as in sodium chloride, in that
diarrhea point, my respiratory symptoms it does not raise the blood pressure, nor
seemed to be gone and so too were my does it raise blood sodium levels).
fibromyalgia symptoms that I’d had for a I don’t recommend taking more than
couple of years and for which I had often 2 or 3 teaspoons of calcium/magnesium
taken various anti-inflammatory drugs. I buffered vitamin C per day as more will
also noticed that my gradually increasing bring in too much of these minerals, but
need for sleep was drastically reduced, while taking some in this form is of benefit. For
my energy level increased. the same reason, Klenner advised not to use
Some individuals, unfamiliar with such calcium ascorbate in infusions as the pa-
dosages, will be frightened by these numbers tient would be getting too many calcium
fearing death or bodily harm. Others may ions, although he added one gram of cal-
become overwhelmed imagining the insan- cium gluconate to 50 gram ascorbate infu-
ity of swallowing of 120 pills of 1,000 mg sions in 500 cc of normal saline or dextrose
per day. The mechanical problems are easily in water decanted to accommodate the
overcome by the use of vitamin C in vitamin C. Klenner stated this mixture
powdered form. Pure ascorbic acid powder could then be infused in one hour at 120

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The Gift of Vitamin C

drops per minute. The vitamin C chelates fibromyalgia symptoms, virtually eliminat-
calcium ions that could result in tetany if ing the need for Vioxx. The vitamin C did
rapidly infused without calcium. not cure the fibromyalgia. In order to sus-
Another convenient idea for the oral tain the benefit, I must remain on very high
dosing is to put enough of the vitamin C dose vitamin C. Since I’ve also noticed a
for multiple doses in a container of water, great improvement in my energy, and a
milk or juice, so you can drink one dose sharp reduction in my previously increas-
each hour or two. Every 5 to 6 oz of liquid ing need for sleep, I’m happy to continue
can take two teaspoons of vitamin C with very high dose vitamin C for this mys-
(10,000 mg); 20-24 oz could contain 40,000 terious syndrome.
mg (8 teaspoons of ascorbic acid powder). As a result of feeling so improved from
This way you can drink a little hourly. The an opti-dose, I sometimes forget to keep up
sicker you are, or the more serious your the frequency and then the symptoms re-
health problem, the more frequently you turn as my reminder. I’ve also found that
should take your doses. there was a somewhat narrow window in
Be sure to write down how much vita- which vitamin C could be used in this way
min C was put in whatever volume of water, to treat infections. If the dose was too low:
juice, or milk in order to keep track of the no results, if the dose was too high:
dosage and the response so you can adjust diarrhea. Like in the story of the Three
it according to the reduction of symptoms Bears, it had to be “just right.”
and for the minimizing of diarrhea. If your To fully recover, I had to remain on a
symptoms haven’t reduced in intensity and minimum of 60,000 mg daily for about two
you haven’t been getting diarrhea, you’re months before I was able to gradually ta-
not taking the optimal amount for your per down the doses without getting a re-
body at that moment. Be sure to consume occurrence of bronchitis and sinusitis
plenty of liquid by also drinking water in symptoms.
addition to vitamin C drink. The key to success for me in treating
When you consume your optimal dose, my infection seemed to be keeping the dose
you will notice a marked improvement in of the vitamin high enough while my body
your symptoms. After awhile, I realized that gradually healed itself. Stopping the vita-
if I took a dose of vitamin C and didn’t min suddenly at the first sign of improve-
notice a sharp reduction of symptoms, it ment simply didn’t work. I found it is nec-
meant I’d under-dosed. I’ve subsequently essary to remain at the same dose that
discovered vitamin C can be used to reduce improved or eliminated symptoms until
or eliminate many different kinds of symp- that new lower dose causes diarrhea. I
toms when you get the dose up high enough could then drop the dose successfully and
and keep it just below the diarrhea point. remain at the new level at which symptoms
In addition to my current respiratory were controlled without diarrhea.
illness I had been suffering for the previ- Cathcart refers to this as “the burn” or
ous two years with what was ultimately the rate at which the body is using vitamin
diagnosed as fibromyalgia. I had experi- C. Generally, the greater “the burn,” the
mented with every and any nutrient that I sicker the person, although some individu-
thought might impact upon this with little als may exhibit what appears to be vitamin
result. Much to my chagrin, I wound up tak- C intolerance at comparatively low intakes
ing Vioxx on a somewhat regular basis. as a result of gastro-intestinal or metabolic
When using the massive doses of vitamin C problems and may try to gradually raise
for the respiratory problem, I note that their bowel tolerance by using vitamin C
there had been a marked reduction of my at low but gradually increasing doses. This

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Journal of Orthomolecular Medicine Vol. 18, Nos. 3 & 4, 2003

method may eliminate their vitamin C in- such patients. Contraindications include
tolerance as the vitamin gradually aids in kidney failure, dialysis patients, and some
the correction of their metabolic lesions. forms of iron overload. There is a very rare
Some individuals may be more tolerant of genetic abnormality common to certain
one form of the vitamin than another, such ethnic groups, red cell glucose-6-phosphate
as the non-acidic sodium ascorbate. dehydrogenase (G6PD) deficiency that can
A few comments and precautions result in hemolysis of red blood cells fol-
when first experimenting with high dose lowing high dose intravenous vitamin C.
vitamin C: Riordan recommends testing for this ab-
1. Use pure pharmaceutical grade vi- normality prior to starting infusions with
tamin C without additives. There are many vitamin C. To my knowledge, none of the
good products. other massive dose IV vitamin C pioneers
2. Start high dose vitamin C gradually had ever reported this problem.
to give your system time to adjust and see 6. For further information on cancer and
how you will react. In an unhealthy gut, very vitamin C, I refer the reader to Riordan’s
high doses of oral vitamin C taken suddenly papers detailed on his website at
may produce a large amount of gas and can www.brightspot.org and Dr. Abram Hoffer’s
occasionally result in severe gas pains. Low- work at: www.islandnet.com/~hoffer/ or
ering the dose and gradually raising it again www.doctoryourself.com. Riordan is probably
should solve the problem. Be sure to con- the world expert in treatment of cancer pa-
sume plenty of fluids prior to, and during, tients with very high dose vitamin C.13
the use of vitamin C to avoid dehydration.
3. I suggest that when the vitamin is used Conclusion
intravenously it’s best not to add other nutri- Will vitamin C in very high doses kill
ents with their preservatives to the IV until you? No. MSDS (Material Safety Data
you’ve tried very high dose vitamin C by itself. Sheets) and thousands upon thousands of
Mild adverse symptoms like lightheadedness patients attest to this (I’m still here, writ-
or nausea are sometimes reported when vita- ing this article).
min C is combined with mixtures of other Will it cause permanent diarrhea or toxic
nutrients that contain preservatives. Accord- damage to the bowel? No. All bowel symp-
ing to Klenner and Cathcart, this does not toms produced by vitamin C will disappear
occur with straight 100% sodium ascorbate by lowering the dose or discontinuing it.
preservative-free infusions. Will it cause kidney stones? No. It will
4. Both oral and IV vitamin C offer ex- raise oxalic acid levels in certain susceptible
tremely exciting potential in the treatment people but it does not precipitate into stone
of cancer patients. Hugh Riordan’s website formation. Rats given 20,000 mg of vitamin C
offers a must read summary of his experi- per kg, exhibited increased oxalate produc-
ence using IV ascorbic acid with cancer tion but it had no effect on calcification. The
patients. He concludes that: “Tumor cells rats were healthy and vigorous. Riordan also
are more susceptible to the effects of high- notes that two groups of researchers have
dose, ascorbate-induced peroxidation demonstrated that giving vitamin B6 and
products because of a relative catalase de- magnesium in sufficient quantity to oxalic
ficiency”, and that “concentrations of acid stone formers will reduce oxalic acid ex-
ascorbate high enough to kill tumor cells cretion and generally prevent the formation
likely can be achieved in humans.”14 of such stones in that subset of people.14
5. While Riordan acknowledges that Will it cause blindness, deafness, and
side effects are rare, he notes that there are rotting of teeth? No, but government agen-
some precautions to be applied in treating cies spurred by special interests seem to be

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The Gift of Vitamin C

trying to figure out how to make it so! Slan- 13. From an interview with Linus Pauling ex-
der does not need high intelligence. cerpted from www.DrLam.com: “This [was] his
last interview before death at the age of 93. Dr.
I have found the writings of these cou- Pauling attributed the last 18 years of his life
rageous vitamin C pioneers extremely ex- to vitamin C supplementation. He is called the
citing and very comforting. Hopefully, Father of Vitamin C.” 1995.
these words will encourage you to experi- 14. Riordan HD: Intravenous ascorbate as a chemo-
ment with high-dose vitamin C for your- therapeutic and biologic response modifying
self, your family and your patients, and agent. Bio-Communications Research Institute,
1997: www.brightspot.org.
will fortify you to stand up to any further
or future attacks upon this miraculous
substance, vitamin C.

References
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Bendich A, Singh V, Machlin L. Vitamin Intake
and Health; A Scientific Review. Marcel Dekker,
NY. 1991; 103-161.
2. River JM: Safety of high level vitamin C Inges-
tion” in eds. Burns JJ, Rivers JM, Machlin LJ:
Third Conference on Vitamin C. Annals NY
Acad Sci, 1987; 498: 445-454.
3. Hathcock JN: Safety of vitamin and mineral sup-
plements. In eds. Bendich A, Butterworth CE:
Micronutrients in Health and Disease Preven-
tion. Marcel Dekker, NY. 1991; 439-450.
4. Bendich A: Safety Issues Regarding the Use of
Vitamin Supplements in eds. Sauberlich HE,
Machlin LJ: Beyond Deficiency: New Views on
the Function and Health Effects of Vitamins.
Annals NY Acad Sci, 1992; 669: 300-311.
5. Klenner FR: Viral Encephalitis As A Sequel Of
The Pneumonias, Tri-State Med J, 1960; 2.
6. Klenner FR: The treatment of poliomyelitis and
other virus diseases with vitamin C. South Med
Surg, 1949; 209: 7.
7. Klenner FR: Significance of high daily intake
of ascorbic acid in preventive medicine. J Int
Acad Prev Med: 1974; 1: 45-49.
8. Klenner FR: Observations on the dose and ad-
ministration of ascorbic acid when employed
beyond the range of a vitamin in human pa-
thology. J Appl. Nutr, 1971; 23: 61-88.
9. McCormick WJ: Ascorbic acid (Vitamin C) as
a chemotherapeutic agent. Arch Pediatr, 1952;
Vol 69/4: 151-155.
10. Cathcart R: The method of determining proper
doses of vitamin C for the treatment of disease
by titration to bowel tolerance. J Orthomol
Psychiat, 1981; 10/2: 125-132.
11.Cathcart R: Vitamin C, titration to bowel tol-
erance, anascorbemia, and acute induced
scurvy. Med Hypoth, 1981; 7: 1359-1376.
12.Cathcart R: The third face of vitamin C.
J Orthomol Med, 1993; 7/4: 197-200.

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