Everyone knows that when you have a cold, flu, or other similar illness you should drink a lot of orange juice. Everyone also knows that the reason you do this is to increase the amount of Vitamin C in your system to "boost the immune system." However, I think that is a bit misleading. Vitamin C doesn't boost the immune system itself. Instead, what it does is weaken the defenses of the virus, or bacteria that has invaded. It also makes your body less able to be exploited by the virus.

I know I'm nit-picking. I'm just setting you up for the rest of this post. The distinction I've made above now seems more important.

I have spent the last two years experimenting on myself with Vitamin C. I have utilized it for various common ailments. While these results aren't scientific, they are now invaluable to me. Now I know how to treat these ailments with success. I know which ones are affected by Vitmain C, and which don't seem to respond at all. I'll also tell you what some other researchers have found.

This is NOT medical advice. If you are ill, go see a real doctor. If you don't have the common sense to know this, then do not read this article. Please leave NOW. (smart people, keep reading)

Vitamin C in Nature

Here's a quick fact that will probably stun you. Almost all mammals synthesize Vitamin C in their own livers. They don't have to ingest any Vitamin C at all. Some primates, and some rodents don't produce their own Vitamin C. As an example a goat creates 13,000mg (scroll down to the picture of the goat) of Vitamin C a day on healthy days. It will multiply that many times over on days that it is ill -- sometimes reaching levels of 120,000mg a day.

I'll put that in perspective for you. The typical Vitamin C tablet is 500mg. You would have to take 26 tablets to attain the equivalent levels. And that's for a normal day. Multiply that by 5 to 10 for sick days. Don't actually try this, as you can't ever achieve those levels of Vitamin C in your own body by ingesting it. In fact, the highest concentration you can reach through ingestion is about 5000mg.

The Reality

It's widely accepted that the vast majority of animals don't really suffer from cold-like illnesses. The reality is that we, as humans, have apparently evolved in such a way that we really have to take care of ourselves. It's not surprising since we have very advanced brains compared to animals. We know what it means to be sick. We know that intentional sleep, and rest helps. Animals aren't blessed with this higher brain function (no, not even primates). Hence, their bodies have to assume the responsibility.

Still, why is Vitamin C touted as a "cold remedy" and a way to avoid getting scurvy. The reality is that no-one really takes vitamin supplements very seriously. It's all quack medicine. While I don't disagree (most vitaminologists are quacks) with that, entirely, I do think that there are a select few vitamins that are vital for more than just avoiding one illness.

Vitamin C has many uses. It's not just for colds. And for those of you that will say, "I've drank a lot of orange juice when I was sick, and I didn't notice any difference." Well, that's because the orange juice industry hasn't really expressed the truth about Vitamin C. They're trying to sell orange juice, not make you well again. What follows are some ailments that I've treated with Vitamin C that had obvious outcomes. In other words, the Vitamin C clearly made a difference.

Ailment #1: The Common Cold (and Flu)

The common cold is the most obvious choice for Vitamin C treatment. However, orange juice will never provide enough Vitamin C to treat it effectively. There are a couple of reasons why. Orange juice provides about 120% of recommended daily allowance of Vitamin C per eight ounce glass. Stop right there. 120% sounds good! It sounds like a lot! And, if the FDA says that I'm basically overdosing on Vitamin C by taking 20% more than they recommend, surely 3 or 4 glasses of orange juice will help!

The truth about the RDA (Recommended Daily Allowance) is the minimum amount needed to avoid getting scurvy. All you need to avoid scurvy is 50mg to 100mg daily. That's one-tenth to one-fifth of a normal supplement tablet. Yep, cut that tablet into 10 equal pieces. That's all you need to meet the RDA. That little bit will be used by your body immediately just for it's normal maintenance needs. So, what's left to treat the cold?

Your body can actually easily use 2000mg a day just for normal maintenance. 2000mg a day is 3200% of the RDA.

Did you get that? That wasn't a typographical error. I'll spell it out. Your body can easily use two-thousand milligrams of Vitamin C a day just for normal maintenance. That amount of Vitamin C is three-thousand two-hundred percent of the Recommended Daily Allowance. That means, just for general health, and bodily repair you should take four typical (500mg) Vitamin C tablets a day. Preferably spread out over the course of a day. One every six hours, or 2 in the morning, and 2 before bed.

What about my cold? How can I treat it effectively with Vitamin C?

The first thing I'm going to tell you is to be smart. You know when you're catching a cold at least 24 hours before you actually start feeling bad. It is crucial that you react to your body's signal to you. By giving you that little itch in your nose, or that slightly raw feeling in your throat your body is telling you that something isn't right. The only trick to effectively treating a cold is catching these symptoms early and beginning treatment immediately.

All other cold treatments still apply. Rest, sleep, and hot liquids (like chicken soup, or chili soup). These treatments cause your nose to run. A runny nose is actually a good thing for treating a cold. You help your body expel the toxins through your nose giving them less chance to take hold (toxins, in this case, is the virus).

You can also take standard cold medicines to alleviate the itchiness in your throat if you've waited too long. Vitamin C doesn't have to be the only course of action.

Now, here's the secret. Catch the symptoms early. Take eight to ten 500mg tablets of Vitamin C a day. That is about all your body can metabolize anyway. The rest will just be passed in your urine (also, not a bad thing!). Your digestive system can actually handle about 12000mg a day (24 500mg tablets) before you start getting digestive cramping. (Please read about Vitamin C toxicity below).

Here is my specific recommendation because it works for me. I take my Vitamin C tablets 2 at a time. However, I swallow one, and suck on the other. Yes, they are very sour. They don't have a bad taste, at all. It's just very, very sour. If you decide to suck on one of the tablets, make sure to move it around in your mouth a lot. It will create sores in your mouth (acid burns). Though the burns are harmless, they can make eating (or sucking on more tablets) mildly painful.

Here's my theory on sucking on the tablets. The virus or bacteria that cause the discomfort in your throat and on the soft-pallate apparently don't like the Vitamin C cocktail. My sore throats are very, very mild because of this particular treatment. Furthermore, my colds last all of about 1 single day. If the cold takes hold anyway (about 1 in 5 colds takes hold in spite of my early treatment), it makes the cold very, very mild. Additionally, the symptoms still only last 24 to 48 hours. After that, I feel much better. Overall though, colds aren't the hell they once used to be.

I don't know, nor do I care, how Vitamin C works. But, it does.

Ailment #2: Cold and Mouth Sores

What? Vitamin C for cold sores? Yes! If you get a cold sore on your lip, crush a Vitamin C tablet and put the powder directly on the cold sore. Do this a few times. It does hurt (you've been warned!). To me, the pain over 2 minutes is better than 5 to 7 days of having a cold sore. Do this twice a day for two days. Usually, the cold sore is gone after the first day. The second day is just to make sure.

Mouth sores require that you suck on the Vitamin C tablet. Place the tablet right on the sore and let a good concentration of it saturate the sore. These sores, similarly, will go away in 24 hours.

The best thing about this treatment is the sore just goes away. There is rarely ever even a sign that you had the sore at all.

A toothache is another mouth sore. If you have a toothache, and your dentist appointment is days away, and you need some relief. Try a Vitamin C tablet in the cavity. Find the guilty tooth, and try to chew the tablet with that tooth. Do this before bed, and let the crushed tablet sit in the cavity. Often the pain will be gone the next day -- or, at least it will be more bearable. High concentrations of Vitamin C in your saliva (by sucking on a tablet) can also help an oral infection (like an abscess). If you're stupid, don't try this. Why not? Because, just because the pain went away doesn't mean you can ignore the tooth now. GO SEE A DENTIST. At least while you're in pain, if you're stupid, you'll actually go see a dentist.

Ailment #3: Acid Reflux and Heartburn

This ailment is easy. Take one tablet when you feel the heartburn or the acid reflux. Vitamin C does something magical for this one. I can't even begin to explain why or how it works. I just know that it works nearly every time (nothing is 100%!). I couldn't really find any information about why this works. I can theorize, however.

A common treatment for acid reflux and heartburn is the ingestion of acetic acid (aka vinegar). Apparently the addition of another acid to the stomach somehow causes your body to react and compensate. Stomach acid is not actually used for digestion, per se. It's actually used to sanitize. It kills bacteria. I don't really care to know why this trick works. It just does -- at least for me. Best of all, it won't hurt you to try this.

Warning: Don't mess around with this one. If you have severe heartburn and/or acid reflux, don't be an idiot. Go see a doctor and make 100% sure it's not something more serious. Don't be stupid.

Ailment #4: Circulatory Damage

I couldn't actually test this one. This one is common sense by studying up on disease of the circulatory system. Vitamin C is vital in the production of collagen. Your veins and arteries are made of collagen. The reason people get clogged arteries is because the collagen becomes damaged (by the constant pulsating of the heart) and plaques fill in the injuries. These plaques promote blood clotting, as well as more plaque adhering. Eventually, the arteries get clogged.

Vitamin C promotes the repair of these normal "injuries" to the veins and arteries. Filling in the injuries with collagen instead of plaques. The collagen is smooth, and blood cells do not adhere. We simply don't take in enough Vitamin C to repair collagen deficiency injuries.

Ailment #5: Stupid People

I am not a doctor. You should always see a doctor if you are ill. You shouldn't take mega-doses of anything, including Vitamin C without first consulting a doctor. You should do your own research. You can start here: Wikipedia Vitamin C Article. Follow some of the other links in the article. You have to be smart. If you're stupid, you should have stopped reading this article much earlier. Do not take ANY vitamin until and unless you have consulted a real true-to-life doctor

Vitamin C Toxicity

The interesting thing about Vitamin C is that no one really knows what the toxic level of Vitamin C is. I couldn't find any information on anyone that died from, or became critically ill from overdosing on Vitamin C. That doesn't mean there isn't a toxicity level to Vitamin C -- there most certainly is. However, if you take 12000mg or less a day, the worst thing you'll experience is some harmless digestive cramping. You may also get gas, and/or diarrhea. I advise you start small. Try out 2000mg a day. If you get any discomfort, take less. If not, try adding another tablet a day (2500mg a day). Keep taking it up until you do get a stomach ache. Again: I can't stress this enough: DO NOT take any supplement without talking to a doctor.

Don't take sweetened Vitamin C tablets. The reason is simple, the sweetener they use is often Sorbitol. Sorbitol is a laxative if taken in large amounts. It can also cause severe cramping and gas pains (and, duh, gas). Just don't take sweetened Vitamin C. Sorbitol is toxic in large quantities. So, if you got diarrhea or cramping from taking Vitamin C, and that Vitamin C was sweetened, it wasn't the Vitamin C that made you sick; it was the sweetener.

Thanks for visiting. Hopefully some of this works for you.