Linus Pauling spent nearly 1 million dollars trying among other things to suppress Dr. Robinson's research which indicated that a moderate dose of Vitamin C increased the incidence of cancer, but that another diet, entirely different from the one that Pauling pushed on talk shows, was far more effective in suppressing cancer. "The results showed that if you gave mice the equivalent of the 5 to 10 grams a day of Vitamin C that Pauling recommends for people, it about doubled the cancer rate. If you give them massive multiple vitamins, it does too. (Think about that, you Handful-of-Vitamin takers !) As you go up in dose range, you near the lethal dose. And just under the lethal dose, there starts to be a suppression of cancer. Then I became interested in a raw fruits and vegetable diet for the mice. That was very effective against cancer, it was remarkable".

Linus Pauling tried to publish a paper claiming that a double dose of his already high Vitamin C diet would essentially provide complete protection against skin cancer in mice. Pauling apparently didn't do the work and so may have been unaware that the double dose was absolutely lethal and that none of the mice lived. He later claimed that this was a great discovery about cancer.
Dr Robinson suggests that "it appears increasingly that Vitamin C is mutagenic in large amounts in aerobic solutions, and it is not at all clear that you don't increase the chances or the risk of cancer if you pour 10 or 20 grams a day into people's stomachs and intestines for years.

Now stay with this stuff PLEASE! You probably still believe that Vitamin C supplements are good for you, regardless of what research people found out about mice. It's ok! The real point of all this is that YOU have to sort out what is truth from politics and economics, and I hope to be able to give you some tools to do just this.

Linus Pauling then published an article in PREVENTION Magazine. He says that "75% of all cancer can be prevented and cured by Vitamin C alone" He said this without a shred of evidence. The Mayo Clinic goes out and does a study to prove Pauling wrong - and that's easy. 15 other studies concluded that Pauling was preaching nonsense.Vitamin C doesn't cure cancer. But Pauling gets a lot of press. He got more press by talking about himself and his wife. He put himself and his wife on 10 grams of Vitamin C a day. She lasted ten years before dying of stomach cancer. Dr. Robinson points out that she was bathing her stomach with an enormous amount of mutagenic material for 10 years. He doesn't know if that is why she got it, but it is the sort of thing that he would worry about in the long term. Linus himself died of cancer at age 93.

For a detailed account of Linus Pauling's IgNobel conduct, see Accuracy in Media October-B 1994 XXIII-20 "Linus Pauling: Crank or Genius" by Dr. Thomas H. Jukes. Please read this if you still think Linus is flawless and I am spreading falsehoods.

For the the last word (or what should be) on Ascorbic acid please see this recent article from Health Alert.

Most people confuse ascorbic acid and adsorbates with Vitamin C. They are not the same. Ascorbic acid is the antioxidant portion of the vitamin C complex. Natural vitamin C is made up of at least 10 different, distinct molecules that we know of. These include ascorbic acid (which is only the preservative portion of the nutritional complex), the enzyme tyrosinase (needed to make organic copper), rutin, bioflavanoids (vitamin p), organic copper, manganese, and a host of other phytochemicals including enzymes, trace mineral activators and more.

. The FDA (our protector) allows drug companies to sell synthetic ascorbic acid as Vitamin C, and allows them to infer that the benefits derived from taking their product will be the same as taking the real stuff. 

90% of all the ascorbic acid in the US is manufactured by pouring battery acid or hydrochloric acid on corn syrup. [YUM}

The National Academy of Sciences (NAS) suggests that the optimal dose of vitamin C is 200 mgs. Most people who take Megadoses of adsorbates show severe vitamin C deficiency when tested properly says Lita Lee, Ph.D. For more information on natural vitamin C versus ascorbic acid, see chapter 22 of her book "Radiation Protection Manual".

Vitamin C Pills cause hardening of the arteries?

A new study raises the disturbing possibility that taking vitamin C pills may speed up hardening of the arteries. When you extract one component of food and give it at very high levels, you just don't know what you are doing to the system, and it may be adverse, "said Dr. James H. Dwyer, and epidemiologist who directed the study. He presented his findings at a meeting in San Diego of the American Heart Association 3/16/00.
Dwyer and colleagues from the University of Southern California studied 573 outwardly healthy middle-aged men and women who work for an electric utility in Los Angeles. About 30 percent of them regularly took various vitamins.

The study found no clear-cut sign that getting lots of vitamin C from food or a daily multi vitamin does any harm. But those taking vitamin C pills had accelerated thickening of the walls of the big arteries in their necks. 

In fact the more they took, the faster the buildup. People taking 500 milligrams of vitamin C daily for at least a year had a 2 1/2 times greater rate of thickening than did those who avoided supplements. Among smokers the rate was 5 times greater.

Ascorbic Acid contributes to coronary heart disease?

Advocates of Vitamin C supplements cite a study by University of Buffalo epidemiologists that shows that people with higher levels of Vitamin C in their blood serum have lower levels of a marker for oxidative stress. The researchers tested the actual blood level of Vitamin C. I have no problem with this. The question is, does taking synthetic concentrated ascorbic acid actually raise the level of Vitamin C in your blood serum. Tests that Dr. Bruce West have run indicate that Vitamin C concentrates (ascorbic acid) produce NO difference in blood serum levels of Vitamin C.

Large amounts of ascorbic acid produce a copper and tyrosinase deficiency (weakens the adrenal glands) just as high doses of calcium or zinc produce a magnesium or copper deficiency. Don't take high doses of artificial vitamin supplements especially prenatal vitamin supplements, even if they claim to be "ALL NATURAL". All natural means: "of the earth". Plastic is "ALL NATURAL". What you should be looking for is something resembling: "Made from fruits and vegetables below 70 degrees F."

In general, experts recommend that people get their vitamins and other nutrients from fruits, vegetables, whole grains and nuts.

I suggest that massive doses of anything (especially Drugs, Herbs
or Vitamin supplements) are not good for you, not nature-al ,
and in many cases can cause real harm......more is not better.
You might consider the motivation of someone who recommends this sort of a supplementation program.

I also suggest that before you ingest (eat) any processed or cooked food (non raw fruits, vegetables, nuts & grains), you really should look past the advertising and discover for yourself what those substances are doing to you.

As a simple example, try olive oil: The label says PURE olive oil. Do you know that pure olive oil is extremely unstable, oxidizes rapidly when exposed to air and goes rancid? So what else is in the can to keep it useable? How much is in there? Who really knows? "The SHADOW?"
You tell me why the FDA does not require olive oil manufacturers to print on the label what else is in the can..

What else is being marketed with FDA blessing that is not on the label. Pick up that red packet on the restaurant table and read the "may be dangerous to health" label, check your gum wrapper, you may be amazed at what they admit ( in fine print), and what they leave out.