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From: mwg@petrus.UUCP (Mark Garrett)
Newsgroups: net.med,net.cooks
Subject: Re: How much Vitamin C is necessary.
Message-ID: <690@petrus.UUCP>
Date: Mon, 18-Nov-85 11:21:56 EST
Article-I.D.: petrus.690
Posted: Mon Nov 18 11:21:56 1985
Date-Received: Wed, 20-Nov-85 02:03:05 EST
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> 	This answers the question, "How much Vitamin C does the body need?"
> 250mg per day or 1-2g total is enough to make up for months of deficiency,
> hence the answer is considerably less than this.
> 				Craig Werner

I only saw Pauling speak on this once (on TV), but I remember him
responding to this objection by saying that perhaps the body needs
more vitamin C than is necessary to simply prevent scurvy.  When I
heard this, I tried to be open-minded about his theory.  It makes sense
that perhaps the body can perform certain things better with increasing
levels of vitamin C (to a point perhaps).  On the other hand, Pauling was
claiming all kinds of wild things this stuff could do, and I think some
skepticism should be in order.

I was reluctant to take huge amounts of C (ie more pills than breakfast),
but I did try 500 to 1000 mg a day for a whole winter, and found that I
didn't get any colds, even under severe pressure at school, when I would
usually get 4 or 5 in a season.  I think it worked for me.

Craig, have there been any conclusive or indicative results showing that
vitamin C is useful for more than prevention of scurvy?  Or do you think
there is really no benifit from doses beyond the RDA?

-Mark Garrett