I think I have a cold coming, I feel like crap. I already take a multi vitamin, would taking vitamin c tablets in addition to this for a short period of time be pointless or have a negative effect on my health?
2007-10-01 04:27:36 · 18 answers · asked by Anonymous in Health ➔ Diet & Fitness
Vitamin C is water soluble... that means whatever your body cannot readily absorb will pass right through you and out in your urine. So taking a bunch won't help you get better, but it won't hurt you either. Mega dosing on Vitamin C is pointless... you may as well throw the bottle in the toilet. :-)
That being said, moderate doses of vitamin C might help... try taking 500 mg twice daily (1000 total, spread out over the day).
Sounds corny , but try real homemade chicken soup. The liquid and steam will help you, and the marrow from the chicken bones boosts immunity.
2007-10-01 09:00:10 · answer #1 · answered by damemeow 2 · 0⤊ 0⤋
Taking too many vitamins can be harmful in some circumstances. However, Vitamin C is a water soluble vitamin so it will not build up in the body. Since you are doing doing it short time it if fine but one thing you should look out for and that is if you take too much vitamin C you can get diarrhea. Try to stay under 1 gram of vitamin c a day.
What you can try to help keep the cold as bay is Zicam. They have both a nose type of a spray (that I hate-but really works) and now a throat spray. The main ingredients is zinc and zinc works faster than Vitamin C does. You can find Zicam in almost any store that sell cold tablets. Unlike regular cold products Zicam is taken just as you are starting to get a cold and it will shorten it's duration.
My family uses it all the time and it really does work..
2007-10-01 04:35:05 · answer #2 · answered by Momma Knows 5 · 0⤊ 0⤋
Taking too many vits of certain kinds has a detrimental effect on you but vitamin C is one vitamin that you could take piles of if you wanted. It's a vitamin that the body will flush out any excess of/any more than it needs will just pass through you. Things like iron tablets and some other vits and minerals are bad in high doses but vit C is fine. The best high strenght ones for when I have a cold are those effervescent ones for less than £2 from Boots or Sainsburys. Taste like orange squash when they're dissolved so easier to go down a sore through. Also, ecchinachea (can't spell it I'm afraid) will help stop you getting a cold next time - prevention is always better than cure, my nan used to say!
2007-10-01 07:44:05 · answer #3 · answered by Kate 2 · 0⤊ 0⤋
I always take extra Vitamin C when I feel a cold coming and I take as much C as I can. The worst that can happen is that you excrete the C out of your system and as a result you have some expensive urine. There is a lot of controversy on how Vitamin C to take and I lean to the Linus Pauling's viewpoint. Goggle Linus Pauling for more information.
2007-10-01 04:38:00 · answer #4 · answered by tomheik 2 · 0⤊ 0⤋
Yes. You can have an excess of vitamins in your system. Too much of anything is a bad thing. If you're already taking a multivitamin why would you need the vitamin C? It could just be something you're not eating like citrus fruits or maybe you'd be better off going to the doctor or a nutritionist (instead of self-diagnosing).
2007-10-01 04:32:50 · answer #5 · answered by lucy 3 · 0⤊ 0⤋
Too much vitamin C tends to just pass through you and out in your urine so it's pit pointless. Try taking ecinachea. It's great for colds and immunity. Beware though, you can only take it for 2 weeks before taking a break. Generally you can take too many vitamins as some will actually harm you if taken in too big quantities.
2007-10-01 04:37:47 · answer #6 · answered by helen p 4 · 0⤊ 0⤋
Dont take extra vitamin supplements, try pure orange juice or fruit instead. Vitamin supplements generally have more than just vit c in them. Garlic capsules (or garlic in cooking) is great for helping with colds, also, anything with ginger in it. Too many vitamins can actually give you an overdose of vits which is not healthy at all. Go to bed early after a hot bath, take a couple of paracetamol or ibuprofen, and get plenty of rest, even if you dont sleep. Take a bottle water to bed and drink plenty if you wake during the night. Burning lavender oil will also help with getting shut of your cold quicker. Hot lemonade is great for getting shut of colds.
2007-10-01 04:32:38 · answer #7 · answered by Anonymous · 1⤊ 0⤋
Taking too many vitamins can be bad for you. I think you would need to start the vitamin C before getting the cold.
Try echinacea, my mum swears by it and says it really helps if you have the cold and shortens the time you have it.
2007-10-01 04:35:37 · answer #8 · answered by flutterby 5 · 0⤊ 0⤋
Vitamin C is great stuff - if you want to take a little more while you're sick, sure, go ahead - but keep taking that *little more* for a few days AFTER you feel completely better too!
Just so ya know, a ton of what you take gets *washed out of your system* naturally anyway (in other words ya flush a lot a what ya take) - But for myself and tons of my friends we swear by taking about 1000mg more, per day when sick and for a few days after!
:)
Hope you feel better soon!
:)
2007-10-01 04:37:28 · answer #9 · answered by Silo13 3 · 0⤊ 0⤋
Vitamin C has no proven effect in reducing the lenght or severity of a cold except in elite athletes who's training schedule results in lowered immune system efficiency.
Are you an elite athlete? If not, I wouldn't worry about it.
2007-10-01 05:01:58 · answer #10 · answered by Anonymous · 0⤊ 0⤋