too much vitamin c?

Question

i've got a horrible cough and the vitamin c citris drops i have say that each one is your daily serving of vitamin c. Can eating too many of these be bad for me? (by too many i mean 12-15)

Answer 1

Relatively large doses of vitamin C may cause indigestion, particularly when taken on an empty stomach.

When taken in large doses, vitamin C causes diarrhea. In one trial, doses up to 6 grams of ascorbic acid were given to 29 infants, 93 children of preschool and school age, and 20 adults for more than 1400 days. With the higher doses, toxic manifestations were observed in five adults and four infants. The signs and symptoms in adults were nausea, vomiting, diarrhea, flushing of the face, headache, fatigue and disturbed sleep. The main toxic reactions in the infants were skin rashes.

oh and i took the opportunity to research vit c and its effects on the coomon cold and flu and guess what i have found....my reseach based on google and yahoo searches said that there is no proof that vit c halps your body fight the common cold..i did this search because i presently have the cold and i asked a medical doctor about vit c and he said that it does nothing... of coarse i found that wierd because everyone says that vit c is good for the cold so i decided to research it andhe was right..i guess we are being mesled also...

if you dont beleive me do the search yourself...i was shocked too

Answer 2

Anything over 200 mg is more than enough to maximize the levels of plasma and lymphocytes. There are times when a body does require additional amounts of Vitamin C. For example, if you are under any type of environmental stress such as a trauma, fever, or any kind of infection. Anything over 500 mg, even with any of the above mentioned environmental factors, will reach any person's maximum saturation rate. Vitamin C is a water - soluble protein and in normal conditions, anything in excess is excreted by the body. When it is not excreted it will cause diarrhea, gas, and stomach cramps at the very least. Other effects can be severe cramps, nausea, and risks for kidney stones.

Answer 3

Actually, Ebony_316 is the closest because of that study. You CAN get too much Vitamin C, but it takes a LOT to get that much. Yes, it is water-soluble, so if your body can't use it, it will be excreted.... but too much of anything can kill you (even water or oxygen).

Linus Pauling (who originally found Vitamin C) took over 10,000 mg per day... but he was a fully grown adult and apparently didn't have any digestive problems. Children should not have anywhere near that large of a dose (as the study Ebony_316 pointed out) because their bodies aren't as large as an adult, so the "toxic dose" will be much smaller in them. Also, people who have sensitive stomachs (sensitive to acids or spices, primarily) should watch how high of a dose they take as the acid can upset some people's stomachs.

I don't know how much of a dose those cough drops have, so I can't say if it was too much. Most of them tend to have either 100 mg or 500 mg, so it shouldn't be too much for you (although you may get loose stools with that many). Good luck!

Answer 4

Vitamin C is water soluble. Any excess will be excreted in your urine.

Vitamins that are fat soluble are more of problem if you take too many.

Answer 5

No- you can't have "too much" in a toxic sense. but your body is only capable of absorbing a certain amount every few hours. The remainder will be excreted as waste. Do know that diarrhea is a possibility.

Answer 6

If I get sick, I take 1000mg per hour until I feel better. You cannot overdose on Vitamin C. Your body disposes of the extra that it doesn't need.