Vitamin C Forum

Owen,

My cardiologist was alarmed when I told him of the high dose of vitamin C I've been taking. He says it could cause kidney damage and strongly recommended against it.

I haven't been able to find anything on the Web about this

Just curious as to your thoughts on this. I have no plans to quit taking my Pauling Therapy (as Heart Technology).

Thanks

Bob

The nicest thing we can say is that your cardiologist isn't making this up out of thin air. Medical textbooks actually list kidney damage (oxalate production) as a possible (theoretical) side effect of taking vitamin C!?!

Doctors are taught that vitamin C may cause kidney stones, and the hospitals are filled with cardiovascular patients.

This erroneous information is one reason Linus Pauling took an interest and began writing his books on vitamin C. HOW TO LIVE LONGER AND FEEL BETTER (1986) has a good treatment of the kidney stone issue.

Perhaps the best defense against such a charge is Dr. Thomas Levy's book Vitamin C, Infectious Diseases and Toxins (2002). I doubt your doctor would read it, but, Dr. Levy is also a lawyer. His book is written to be useful in court as a counter to much misinformation that is taught in medical schools.

There is a highly theoretical argument, but there have been no studies that have ever demonstrated the effect. In fact, Dr. Catchart who has treated over 20,000 patients with high vitamin C has yet to see a single kidney stone and believes vitamin C is protective against stones. Also a recent study of 85,000 nurses showed no correlation between vitamin C and kidney stones (but did correlate low vitamin B6).

If you want to ruin your kidneys, take common over the counter NSAIDS without vitamin C.

Matthias Rath M.D., Cardiologist was Linus Pauling's first Director of Cardiovascular Medicine.
His Foundation's Research is based on the fact that humans cannot produce their own vitamin C and is the primary missing link to the prevention and treatment of both cardiovascular disease and cancer.

Why Animals Don't Get Heart Attacks
... But People Do!
http://www4.dr-rath-foundation.org/THE_ ... _book.html

If ascorbate caused kidney damge, 4,000 mammals would be long extinct. They produce ~50 mg/kg ascorbic acid in there livers. Reptiles actually produce it in their kidneys.

Linus Pauling once said that the probability of getting kidney stones from vitamin C was about 1 person in the entire USA.
Anyone concerned about oxalate kidney stones should take 2 Ultra-Mag tablets a day and enjoy life. About 300 mg of magnesium and 50 mg of B6 per day prevent recurring kidney stones about 97% of the time. (Nutritional Influences on Illness)
Magnesium is one of my TOP 10 Supplements, posted elsewhere on this forum.

Everyone using NSAID's would be prudent to supplement with N-Acetyl Cysteine (NAC) and R-Lipoic acid. Not only will this protect the kidneys, but Acetaminophen poisoning is the leading cause of liver transplants. NAC and R-Lipoic acid protects the liver as well.

What is the similarity between a kidney stones and a unicorn?

Answer: Everyone knows what it is, but no one has ever seen one.

Two studies done in 1996 and in 1999 at Harvard by Curhan on tens of thousands of men and woman both concluded that there is no correlation between vitamin C intake and kidney stones. Ask you doctor if Harvard is good enough for him.

Dr. William McCormack, in the 1940's, treated kidney stones by giving vitamin C.

Simon and Hudes (1999) concluded that a rise of 1.0 mg/deceliter of vitamin C in the blood is associated with a 28% drop in the appearance of kidney stones.

There is no mention in any scientific literature of any damage to kidneys.

Who's the quack?

I visited a cardiologist a couple years ago because I had some heart palpitations. Got a clean bill of health at the time but he told me NOT to take any kind of vitamin or mineral supplement. Said "you get all you need from your food" Right! At 30,000 calories maybe in an eastern country where the land is rich in minerals.

I have to ask myself how much training he received in that field. I mean...come on!

Owen Posting this From email

Good morning,
I am a medical student interested in information regarding vitamin therapy. I am particular interested in Vitamin C as an antioxidant. However, my question concerns calcium oxalte stone formation. Your foundation recommends 3 grams/day. What is your experience regarding the possibility of stone formation?
I would appreciate any information.Thank you.
Angelo Porto

Angelo Porto as Guest wrote:What is your experience regarding the possibility of stone formation?

Read again, starting on the second post of this thread.

-Karl