Vitamin C overdose?

Question

im starting to get a cold and want to get rid of it as soon as possible because i have a play 3 days from now.
if i take more than one vitamin C tablets, will it help?
(i was thinking about taking 3 right this minute,)
Any helth risks?
"over dose on vitamins"? lol

Answer 1

Yes, you can take more than one Vitamin C tablet to help get rid of your cold. It is not possible to overdose on Vit C because it is water soluble (meaning you will eliminate it from your body through your urine).

I take 1000 mg when I first feel a cold coming on and it helps, with adequate rest and plenty of liquids.

Best wishes. Hope you feel better soon. Break a leg.

Answer 2

Vitamin C is a water soluble vitamin. That means you can't overdose on it. Actually, there is a limit to how much your body can even absorb. Anything over this amount is not absorbed in the gut and passes through. This can have a potent laxative effect at high doses (anything over 2 or 3 grams).

That isn't the issue. The issue is that vitamin C has been proven time and time again in research to have no effect on colds. Two groups with colds. One takes vitamin C. The other does not. No difference in outcome, no matter what the dose is.

However, that does not mean you can't effect a cold with supplementation. Vitamin C is just the wrong one. A few years back, the New England Journal of Medicine published research that proved conclusively that supplementation with zinc, cuts the average duration of a cold in half. That is a rather potent effect. It's the exact same effect as what an antibiotic typically does to an upper respiratory tract infection caused by bacteria (note that antibiotics do nothing against viruses).

So basically, if it's a bacterial infection, take antibiotics, but if it's a cold take zinc supplements. The make lozenges with zinc in them now, available at most grocery stores or pharmacies. Be careful to make sure there is actual zinc in the lozenge. Zinc is Grey and gritty. It's not the best tasting but for the effect you get, deal with it. Some lozenges are fraudulent. They say zinc on the package but if you look closely, it says "homeopathic remedy". Homeopathic remedies don't have anything in them. You make them by waving the thing (in this case zinc) over the med while banging on the metal container the med is inside of. The ingredient never even touches the med, let alone is added to it. That is VERY important to understand. There is no actual zinc inside those zinc lozenges that say "homeopathic remedy" on them. That is dishonest and should be illegal. Most definitely, you will not get the same result as what was published in the New England Journal of Medicine.

Caveat Emptor

Answer 3

YOU CANNOT OVERDOSE on WATERSOLUBLE VITAMINS... Vitamin C, is a water-soluble vitamin, so you have nothing to worry about, if you notice that your urine is brighter than normal, then you're likely to be taking too much, and therefore wasting the vitamin C.
3000mg of vitamin C is recommoned (1000mg at breakfast, lunch and dinner would be best) Noble Prize Winner, Paul Lining had stacks of vitamin C! and lived until 93? I think... so it's very healthy! - and there are more studies supporting Vitamin C than dismissing it...

ALSO, Vitamin C, with Bioflavornoids is better absorbed by the body, and can therefore use it far better. So try getting a brand with bioflavornoids...

People have mentioned that Zinc is also good, but you CAN overdose on this... (don't let this scare you though! you can overdose on panadol) and this hasn't got as much support as vitamin C due to limited testing.

GOOD LUCK, hope you feel better!

Answer 4

There are minor health risks for overdose in Vitamin C; you get diarrhea and stomachaches.

Generally, Vitamin C is water-soluable; most of this vitamin dissolves with water, and the extra goes out by urination. Some of it still remains and causes these minor "risks."

Just get plenty of rest and fluids too! Vitamin C isn't going to singlehandedly help; and soon that cold will be gone.

Answer 5

In the next few days I would take higher levels of Vitamin C but I would recommend taking one at a time and take them throughout the day. If you take them all at once most of it will be wasted. If you just take them for a few days I think it would be impossible to overdose because your body will just flush out what it doesn't use.
You should also consider adding a zinc supplement as well. The combination of the two is effective at keeping colds at bay. Keep hydrated and gets lots of sleep. My sister is a naturopathic doctor and this is what she recommends if a cold starts.

Answer 6

I was under the impression that you couldn't overdose on vitamin C as once your body had the amount it needed, the rest was washed out.I seem to stand corrected as the latest scientific findings are that it is DANGEROUS to overdose on Vitamin C.
1000mg tablets have been banned in the UK because of this.Nothing can cure a cold but people given the cold virus in clinical conditions had less chance of catching a cold if their feet were warm.

Answer 7

Vitamin C can cause a harmless watery diarrhea if you take it past the point of absorbtion in the body. That is a signal to reduce your dose a gram or two. Linus Pauling won two unshared Nobel prizes and took 17 grams a day most of his adult life. BIG MEDICINE hates vitamins and works tirelessly to discourage people from taking them; hence, the 'negative' studies. I take two grams a day and double or triple that if I feel ill. It seems to help. I seldom get a cold or flu.

Answer 8

Its best to space out vitamin C it is water soluble and your body will get rid of what it does not need. So no you can not overdose on vitamin C you can on others

Answer 9

Guava juice has 4 times the Vitamin C as OJ does. Whenever I feel a cold coming on, I drink those juices and Tea with lemon and eat citrus fruits. Works for me !

Answer 10

Hope the following information from the source will be of help to you.
While the recommended daily or dietary allowance (RDA) stands now at 75 - 90 mg per day for adults, a higher dietary reference
intake (DRI) is again in review. Regardless, many of those who regularly supplement Vitamin C, take in the vicinity of 250 -1,000+mg per day, and there are those who take up to, and beyond 10,000 mg daily. Headlines about oxidative damage (DNA mutations) attributed to taking Vitamin C in excess of 500 mg per day had many people step back and reconsider their supplemental routines. In addition, similar studies had come to light just prior to the Vitamin C revelation about the potential problems of regularly supplementing Beta Carotene. This, however - as it turned out later - only applied to smokers who
used higher doses of synthetic, but not natural sources of beta carotene, and which made the use of natural-source, mixed carotenoids the preferred choice and more popular.
Note that Vitamin C Overdose symptoms usually refers to various symptoms known to a patient, but the phrase Vitamin C Overdose signs may refer to those signs only noticable by a doctor:
Severe back pain
Jaundice
Itchy skin (prurutis)
Tender mass in left upper abdomen (splenomegaly)
Fever
Abdominal pain
Dizziness
Vomiting
Nausea
Headache
Facial flushing
Dental cavities (caries)
Decreased urine output
VR