3 Ways to Determine Your Daily Dose of Vitamin C

Because we here at Alkaline for Life use L-ascorbate, the biologically active form of vitamin C used in the body, we will refer to vitamin C as ascorbate throughout this blog. *WARNING: The following procedures are only to be done using Alkalini-C. Do not use other vitamin C products. 

 

For more information on the forms of vitamin C, see our blog Ascorbate vs Ascorbic Acid: Is There a Difference?

Good: Average Therapeutic Dose

Take 3,000 to 4,500 mg of ascorbate a day in doses throughout the day. Over decades of clinical practice, I and many others have found that the average healthy person easily tolerates, and notably benefits from, 3,000 to 4,500 mg (3 to 4.5 g) of ascorbate a day. See our blog Low-Dose vs. High-Dose Vitamin C: Why 500 mg Is Not Enough! to learn why we suggest high-dose vitamin C

(Dr. Pauling died at age 93 when the average lifespan for a Caucasian male born in 1901 was only 47years.)

Better: Ascorbate to Bowel Tolerance

Take ½ to 1 teaspoon of the L-ascorbate powder in at least 4 oz of liquid and drink this amount several times a day. When you reach sufficient levels of ascorbate in your body, the bowel will become energized and begin to signal you through rumbling and gas that you're going to have some bowel activity. Taking ascorbate to just before you get a loose stool is called “titrating to bowel tolerance.”

This method is again quite simple. It was developed by the physician who treated 20,000 people with high-dose oral vitamin C, Dr. Robert Cathcart. He found this to be a good way to determine just how much vitamin C a person could use. As he reported in 1981, “. . . maximum relief of symptoms, . . . could be obtained by the oral doses just below the point causing diarrhea.” (For more information, see our blog 9,000 Cases of Healing with High-Dose Vitamin C.)

Dr. Cathcart reported that at least 80% of adult patients could tolerate 10,000 to 15,000 mg (10 to 15 g) of ascorbate in divided doses. He went on to say that the most astonishing find was that almost all patients could absorb far greater amounts of ascorbate without having diarrhea when they were ill. For example, he writes that with a normal cold one could tolerate 15,000 mg (15 g) of ascorbic acid, 30,000 to 60,000 mg (30 to 60 g) for a severe cold, 100,000 to 250,000 (100 to 250 g) for influenza, and 150,000 to 200,000 mg (150 to 200 g) for viral pneumonia. (Remember 1 gram = 1,000 mg.)

A Sample of Dr. Cathcart’s Table of Usual Bowel Tolerance Doses

CONDITION	GRAMS ASCORBIC ACID PER 24 HOURS	NUMBER OF DOSES PER 24 HOURS
normal, well	4 – 15	4
mild cold	30 – 60	6 – 10
severe cold	60 – 100	8 – 15
influenza	100 – 150	8 – 15

As you will see in the next procedure, there have been recent advancements on Cathcart’s dosing technique, demonstrating that dosing to bowel tolerance is still used by many.

Best: Vitamin C Cleanse and Calibration

Vitamin C cleanse and calibration is the best way to find the maximum ascorbate dose needed for optimum regeneration. This dosing procedure is more complicated than the others and is best done under the supervision of a health professional with experience in vitamin C calibration. For more information on its benefits, see our article “Vitamin C Cleanse and Calibration.”

This method was developed by renowned ascorbate authority, Dr. Russell Jaffe. With this procedure, you challenge yourself to see just how much ascorbate your body can tolerate by surpassing the bowel tolerance dose. First, you must take doses of ascorbate throughout the day until you exceed bowel tolerance. These doses must be counted and measured. After a specific amount of ascorbate is taken, a colonic cleanse occurs indicating that one has exceeded their daily ascorbate need. This cleanse detoxifies the body. The doses taken are then added up, allowing the individual to see how much ascorbate their body needs. You then proceed to take 75% daily of the dose that caused the cleanse until the next desired cleanse. 

It is not desirable to do a flush-dose daily because one would have loose stool every day. It is best to do the flush every few weeks in order to keep calibrating ascorbate dose to your ever-changing ascorbate need.

Our printable detailed instructions.

Why Use Our Alkalini-C

It’s important to clarify that the aforementioned dosing procedure involves the use of our fully-buffered, fully-reduced L-ascorbate powder, called Alkalini-C. We insist on using our Alkalini-C for the following reasons:

• Our product uses L-ascorbate, the biologically active form of vitamin C used by the body.
• Our ascorbate is not oxidized; it is fully reduced and ready to donate electrons.
• Our ascorbate is buffered with key alkalizing minerals for better absorption and utilization.
• Our Alkalini-C is designed to be taken in large, therapeutic doses.

Over three decades working as a clinical nutritionist, Dr. Brown has found the fully active ascorbate to be the very best repair and healing agent. She often comments that if sent to a desert island with the choice of only one nutrient, she would choose this fully buffered fully reduced ascorbate powder.

For more information on ascorbate, see the many blogs in our Ascorbate Awareness section.