In this article I’m going to talk about a pretty popular subject, one in which most of us are at least somewhat familiar with and also just as confused about. The government agencies, medical and pharmaceutical companies have a vested interest in making sure that you stay confused as well. This article is going to clear up a lot of that confusion hopefully once and for all.

There are millions of people who take vitamin and mineral supplements on a daily basis, myself included. Most people who take them notice a difference in their health, immunity and overall sense of well being when doing so. For millions of others this is a confusing subject with so much disinformation and confusion out there about how necessary vitamin and mineral and even herbal supplements really are.

There are those who say that the minimum dosages recommended by the FDA are all that’s needed. Still others talk about mega doses of certain vitamins, particularly vitamin C and a couple of others. Then there are those who say that because of foods today being “fortified” with vitamins that we don’t need to take any extra supplements at all. We also hear from certain “studies” that those who take vitamins risk everything from kidney stones to increase risk of heart disease, cancer and the list goes on.

What’s generally not known about the governments recommended daily allowances (RDA) is that these values, especially that of Vitamin C, were set back during WWII. They were set up for soldiers as minimum amounts that needed to be taken in order to ward off diseases that arise due to deficiency of vitamins, and the country and the rest of the world has followed this horribly outdated RDA ever since. However, the amount of vitamin C for example that’s needed to truly have abundant and robust health is about 100 times those minimum standards.

Let’s take the government RDA and compare it to water, and absolutely vital element necessary for life. The minimum RDA for water to just keep someone alive might be 5 ounces per day for example, but is that enough for the person to be healthy, strong and live an active life? Of course not! They would be lying in bed hardly doing anything, living but not alive. You need at least 64 ounces a day to maintain proper hydration and much more then that if you’re active, have a more physical job and far more then that if your out in the sun or live in a hot climate.

The same holds true for vitamins and minerals too. These minimums were only what is needed to stave off any disease such and rickets and scurvy in the case of vitamin C, which arise when there is a critical shortage of the particular nutrient. But the amounts needed by the body to be able to truly regenerate properly, be strong, fit, healthy, have abundant energy for your day and still have enough left over to repair cells and fight off infections, germs and bacteria is far above those minimums in most cases, especially in the case of vitamin C.

I agree with various groups such as the Chinese Taoists and Dr. Mercola who say that we should get all our nutrition from foods. That’s how the body was meant to get its nutrition and as the Chinese know, nothing is smarter then the creative force itself. Today however, even if you juice all your foods and eat more then 50% organic raw foods, we still need extra supplies of several key vitamins and minerals to stay healthy due to the heavily polluted air, water and even electromagnetic pollution as well. When you have a diet consisting of at least 50% raw organic foods, proper supplementation, and exercise which includes strength training, deep breathing and meditation to build up the vital life force (Chi) that will further give your body the energy supplies necessary for all its functions and processes to take place, you’ll greatly lower your risk of disease, greatly slow down the degeneration of the body and can actually reverse it significantly if it has already begun. . If you make this a regular part of your life, your not only going to feel and eventually look great, but you’ll be in a far better position to ward off age related diseases and live a much more healthy, happy and abundant life and just feel great every day.

What about the “king of the anti-oxidants”, vitamin C? Well, this is a very necessary vitamin and one that humans must have in large quantities. The current RDA, which was increased from a dismal 60mg per day to a still dismal 90mg is pathetic and doesn’t even come close to the amount that the body truly requires.

Vitamin C has over forty-six separate applications within the body. It helps hold connective tissue together, accelerates wound healing, is an effective blood thinner (so stop taking it about a week before any surgery), prevents or reverse cataracts, improves the strength of bones, teeth and gums, prevents bruising, hair loss, joint pain and swelling and can help improve overall strength and endurance (I’ve found), as well as having powerful anti-cancer effects.

Due to a critical lack of a certain enzyme in the liver, humans are one of only a handful of species on the planet that can not manufacture their own vitamin C, therefore it must be supplied daily from external sources. A 150lb goat for example manufactures thirteen thousand (13,000mg) milligrams of vitamin C per day for its metabolic needs. Since vitamin C is critical in the manufacturing of Norepinephrine, which is a neurotransmitter critical to brain function and is known to affect mood, getting necessary supplies is vital. Vitamin C is also involved in the transport of fat to cellular organelles called mitochondria, which is necessary for conversion of fat to energy. Recent studies also show that vitamin C is involved in the metabolism of cholesterol to bile acids, which may have implications for blood cholesterol levels.

Mega doses of vitamin C, upwards of twenty thousand milligrams (20,000mg) per day are usually well tolerated by most people. For those who say that such doses cause an increase in risk of gallstones, there are numerous people who have been taking such doses for decades without ill effects and quite the opposite in fact. For most healthy adults a daily dose of 3000-6000mg per day is generally more than sufficient and double that when ill or under stress. This should not be taken all at once due to the fact that the biochemical activity of vitamin C last no more then six hours in the body regardless of whether it’s taken in food or supplement form. Taking 1000mg with your morning, noon and evening meals is one of the best ways to ensure a steady supply of vitamin C is available for use by the body.. Another 500 to 1000mg dose can be taken about thirty minutes before retiring to ensure that the body has sufficient supplies while sleeping. This can be important since the body does its daily detoxification while sleeping and ensuring sufficient anti-oxidant supplies of vitamin C at this time will help the body to cleanse and repair cellular damage.

The central nervous system and the brain have such enormous needs for vitamin C that they actually operate a type of “vitamin C pump” to extract it from the blood and concentrate it in the cerebrospinal fluids where the levels are ten times greater than in the blood. From there it is further pumped into the protective sheathing (myelin) of brain and nerve cells where it is ten times higher then even in the cerebrospinal fluid. The brain and central nervous system are then flooded with 100 times the concentration of vitamin C than is found in the blood or any other body fluids. The body does this to protect the vital brain and nerve cells from oxidant and free radical damage since vitamin C is one of the most powerful anti-oxidants known. The protective effects of vitamin C on brain and nerve cells also account for reports that vitamin C is helpful in preventing and reversing some cases of multiple sclerosis. It can also be helpful in preventing or even helping to reverse other oxidant related conditions such as Parkinson’s and Alzheimer’s.

To find your own personal maximum tolerance for vitamin C you should slowly increase your dosages on a weekly basis from 2000mg a day and increasing 1000mg each week or every few days until you hit your own personal “bowel tolerance”. What is bowel tolerance? That is the point at which your body can not absorb anymore vitamin C. You’ll know when you reach this point when you get a bit of the runs or diarrhea. Simply decrease your dosage about 1000mg less per day until that no longer occurs, then you’ll know your personal limit for vitamin C. Most people find this to be between 8,000-15,000mg per day, though don’t be worried if yours in less then this. Vitamin C is a water-soluble vitamin so you can’t overdose on it. The only symptoms of this are the aforementioned “runs”. You would need to consume about 3lbs of vitamin C per day for it to be fatal. Despite what doctors and other health workers will tell you, you do need much more then the 200-400mg a day that they say is the upper limit for cellular absorption. I’ve had people tell me that their bowel tolerance was about 6000mg per day when they’re healthy, but this easily doubles and more when sick. The body is no longer excreting the extra C because the cells are using it to fight off infection and germs and boost the immune system. Once the person is well, they have to dial down their dosages back to their previous tolerance levels. This is a simple way to prove to yourself that the body is in fact using that much vitamin C. Some of these people work in hospitals and are often getting sick often resulting in several days to weeks of missed work each year. After taking the mega doses of vitamin C, that was cut down to only a few days a year, with far less severe symptoms and in some cases no days missed at all.

Some regular vitamin C supplements can cause mild stomach irritation. If you find this is the case with you, try switching to an Ester-C variety, which is said to be gentler on the stomach. Of course those made from pure rose hips or other natural sources are best. Always make any changes in the diet slowly, including when adding supplements to your daily diet. Even when switching from processed foods to organic foods you can sometimes get sick at times if the changes are too abrupt and drastic because any change to the body, even when it’s for the good it can throw the system out of balance for a time. Always integrate such changes gently and patiently with wisdom and caution.

Taking large doses of one vitamin often depletes the body of others. For example, large vitamin C doses can deplete the body of copper, so either take a multimineral supplement or a good multivitamin daily. A good whole foods multi-vitamin such as the “Alive-Whole Food Energizer” or some other natural food vitamin that is not made from synthetic material is an excellent choice. I also use sea salt on a regular basis, which has at least 50 vital trace elements and minerals in it, which also helps me to ensure that I’m getting these vital life giving nutrients in my diet. Your body will thank you for it.

Remember to always consult your doctor or health care provider when making any drastic changes in diet or adding any supplementation to your diet. This is especially important if you’re taking any prescription drugs of any kind. While most vitamins are generally safe to take with drugs, it’s always best to check and make certain by talking to your doctor first.