Vitamin C supplements/Ester C

I read the autobiography of Paul Kimmage, the former professional cyclist who strove to have a clean riding career with his bicycle. Anyway, he'd talk about taking Vitamin B injections by staff of the cycling teams he rode on, legal by the way and taking Vitamin C pills for his endurance riding, keeping them in his back pocket.

Well, I don't know about you, but I always envision vitamin C pills as being the kind of chewable types kids might like or that one might take to ward off colds and keep a strong immune system.

But I thought, why not try that? I've wanted to stay away even from using the legal stimulants people do and when I say that, I mean your energy drinks and energy products at the stores or at least, not feel dependent on them.

Whooah, I went to the health food store and got some Ester C, I mean, the first day I thought, 1 or 2, I don't need much of this but that stuff gets you UP UP UP and with me, maybe a headache too, it really does stimulate to the point where I wonder if Ester C is actually a good pill to take and I found some criticisms of it on the web but it was not that easy to sift out if you type in "ester c, side effects".

I'm thinking if one goes on a long run or wants a good workout, maybe a C supplement might be of use but I'll tell you, with me at least, Ester C is strong stuff. I've decided to open up a pill in a glass of water and stir it up. Pills can be strong and I think a lot of us don't need so much. Sure is as different as can be from a glass of orange juice, what I always thought vitamin C mainly was (yes, of course I know, why not just eat the orange itself). Ester C will keep you up at night if you have it late oh, and it can give me a headache too. I'm very cautious as to how I will consume it, once this bottle is gone (500 mgs and the person in the health food store told me she'd take 1000 mgs twice a day), maybe I'd like another C supplement but not as strong or perhaps just eat it in fruit but it certainly is a boost.

Feedback? Ideas?

The vitamin C in pills is much more concentrated than in most fruits (ok a few uncommon foods have ultra-high doses, but most normal foods have very little compared to a pill).
Here is a site with a few fruits (note that things like kiwi fruit has more vit C than oranges, citrus people just have better advertising but even that is only 100mg or so per serving).

I personally would use L-ascorbic Acid not ester-C. Ester-C is not what is found in plants or produced by animals. I've not read any real 'proof' that it's bad (a few hunches, but no facts), but I tend to try & avoid anything not found normally in the human body...vit C is cheap enough that you can buy it in a form found in your body so I tend to stick with that just to be safe.

Good tips, I'll definitely try the L-ascorbic Acid Vitamin C. Thank you.

I know many people will take vitamin C mainly for the immune system which in part is why I was but with the Ester C, you need to be planning some serious cardio or lifts too and that's just with a relatively small dose. No wonder I have heard of people who break up or grind some pills up because of potency.

http://www.lifestream.co.nz/Products/Lifestream-Natural-Vitamin-C/default.aspx

I think this would be the best kind of vitamin C, but I haven't tried it myself. Maybe I will try it when I've run out of some of my other supplements. I love the brand Lifestreams, I get my pea protein from them. All their products are vegan and many are organic. They also have a calcium supplement made from seaweed.

Although this vitamin c is a lower dose, its meant to be much more bioavailable.

Court said:

Quote :

http://www.lifestream.co.nz/Products/Lifestream-Natural-Vitamin-C/default.aspx

I think this would be the best kind of vitamin C, but I haven't tried it myself. Maybe I will try it when I've run out of some of my other supplements. I love the brand Lifestreams, I get my pea protein from them. All their products are vegan and many are organic. They also have a calcium supplement made from seaweed.

Although this vitamin c is a lower dose, its meant to be much more bioavailable.

The only trouble with that is for people who take vitamin C for issues, for example I take high doses for hayfever (like over 3 GRAMS a day), blocks off hayfever pretty much totally over the summer (that & cutting out wheat during that time which affects hayfever for some reason, but doesn't affect me other times of the year?).

With claims about being 'more bioavailable' I like to see research, have they done studies where they've measured blood or cell levels of vitamin C with a standard vitamin C pill Vs their own pill? Somehow I think they may not have & so just 'believe' it must be. Even if mg for mg it is slightly more bio available I would suspect that a 1 gram pill of vitamin (with suitable bioflavonoids) will give you more vitamin C than 85mg from these pills.

Most people who look at primate intake suggest that we take in very little vitamin C compared to are cousins. For our size, if we were any other primate we'd be eating at least a couple of grams of vitamin C. It may turn out we do not need as much as our cousins in the wild, but as taking a few grams is cheap right now, & appears to be harmless I see no need not to (especially as for me it helps with stop hayfever symptoms just about totally).

Yes, and it would be expensive to have so many of the Lifestream tablets to get a megadose. But I would definitely pay more for an equivalent amount of vitamin C to get it from a plant source.

I agree! As near to natural as possible is the best method to take all your nutrients.

Ascorbic acid is a good choice for having vitamin C. I have heard about pine needles as a good source but some people consider it not the safe choice.