Linus Pauling Vitamin C And The Common Cold

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· 64 ratings · 9 reviews

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Mar 11, 2012 Jodi rated it it was amazing

Linus Pauling is a real hero to me and his intelligence, logic and compassion for people come through on every page of this book. The world would be a far better place with more people like him in it.

Having said that, after reading this book I do think it is clear he continually honed his message and the basic points he wanted to make about nutrition and orthomolecular medicine as time went on. For that reason I would recommend reading Pauling's book 'How to Live Longer and Feel Better' above th

'How to Live Longer and Feel Better' includes a lot of the excellent vitamin C infomation contained in this book but also so much more. The discussion has a lot more depth, more research is quoted and practical advice is given about a basic but fairly complete orthomolecular program and not just how much vitamin C to take. It is pretty wonderful.

This is a slightly paraphrased version of Pauling's basic regimen for a healthy life:
* Take 6 - 18 g of vitamin C daily
* Take 400 IU, 800 IU or 1600 IU of natural vitamin E daily
* Take 1 - 2 B vitamin supplements daily
* Take 25 000 IU of vitamin A daily
* Take a multimineral tablet daily
* Keep your intake of sugar low
* Eat what you like in moderation, but avoid sugar. Meat and eggs are good, and fruit and vegetables are good. Don't eat too much of any one food and don't eat so much that you become overweight.
* Drink plenty of water
* Keep active, but do not severely overexert yourself physically.
* Drink alcohol in moderation only
* DO NOT SMOKE CIGARETTES
* Avoid stress, work at a job you like, be happy with your family.

This is just such a great and simple list, I had to type it out for those who can't read/afford the book. (Note that Pauling comments that the amounts given for supplements are for healthy people, and that those suffering serious illness may need higher doses of some of these, including vitamin C to bowel tolerance.)

It's appalling that more than 20 years after this book was published, the same old scaremongering (ie. lying!) about the safety of vitamins and their effectiveness is still going on, and people are still being told vitamins are not safe, helpful or necessary and that all that is needed is a balanced diet. (A nice story, but one that isn't based on fact.) Sadly, the same old nonsense that Pauling describes, where vitamin studies are set up to fail by those who want to prove that vitamins don't work, is still happening; doses much smaller than would be effective are used, the time periods are too short to allow the vitamin to actually work, and so on. Many different studies are quoted in a lot of detail, thus Pauling's arguments are very convincing.

Pauling had high hopes that all this was about to start changing and that soon vitamins would become far more accepted and used in mainstream medicine. To some extent that has happened, but for the most part little has really changed. It's quite depressing.

I'm very passionate about vitamin C due to the amazing books on it I have read, and all the accounts by doctors that were or are vitamin C experts and also because of the impact it has had on my own life and the lives of others I know. I got this book of Pauling's because I had heard that it went into detail about why humans lost the ability to synthesise vitamin C, and why it is almost impossible to regain this ability even if it would not be very beneficial for humans to do so. And it did. I now understand that issue much better than I did before.

Other excellent vitamin C books include Ascorbate: The Science of Vitamin C and Vitamin C: The Real Story, the Remarkable and Controversial Healing Factor and The Healing Factor: "Vitamin C" Against Disease (available free online) plus articles online by Dr Cathcart and Dr Klenner and most of all probably, the books Primal Panacea and Curing the Incurable: Vitamin C, Infectious Diseases, and Toxins by the brilliant Dr T Levy. These last 2 books are about the only ones I know of which also discuss liposomal vitamin C which allows you to get many/all of the benefits of IVC orally. Liposomal vitamin C is wonderful stuff whether you're using it to maintain health, prevent or treat a cold or flu or any other disease.

A big thank you to all the vitamin C pioneers!

Jodi Bassett, The Hummingbirds' Foundation for M.E. (HFME) and Health, Healing & Hummingbirds (HHH)

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Feb 07, 2015 Monica rated it it was amazing

Some people are just way ahead of their time and Linus Pauling is one of them. The two-time Nobel prize winner (one for chemistry and one for peace) gives a background on the history of Vit C, a very plausible theory of how humans somehow lost the ability to synthesise it, previous research (plus his own) on Vit C that supports not only it's consumption but the need for higher doses than the RDA, and the resistence by the conventional medical community to accept it including the reticence by med Some people are just way ahead of their time and Linus Pauling is one of them. The two-time Nobel prize winner (one for chemistry and one for peace) gives a background on the history of Vit C, a very plausible theory of how humans somehow lost the ability to synthesise it, previous research (plus his own) on Vit C that supports not only it's consumption but the need for higher doses than the RDA, and the resistence by the conventional medical community to accept it including the reticence by medical journals to publish studies demonstrating the benefits of Vit C then (1970s and prior) as they might loose advertising revenue from pharmaceutical companies that produced flu and cold medications.

A good read indeed from the father of the idea of mega Vit C theory. He lived till 93. Now, that's some.decent evidence.

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Jun 01, 2016 nitaj rated it liked it

Vitamin C is actually ascorbic acid. While most animals synthesize it, humans can not. One of his arguments is that the experiments and researches with vitamin c administered too little of it, often times minimal doses (less than a hundred milligrams) that, while preventing worst deficiencies like scurvy, are not enough for optimal health. Linus recommends between 1-2g daily, and on first signs of illness 1.5g hourly for a couple of hours. 3g daily cut sickness in skiers by 60%, while in other s Vitamin C is actually ascorbic acid. While most animals synthesize it, humans can not. One of his arguments is that the experiments and researches with vitamin c administered too little of it, often times minimal doses (less than a hundred milligrams) that, while preventing worst deficiencies like scurvy, are not enough for optimal health. Linus recommends between 1-2g daily, and on first signs of illness 1.5g hourly for a couple of hours. 3g daily cut sickness in skiers by 60%, while in other studies 0.5 to 1g cut flu by ~30%. Sometimes patients received up to 40g of ascorbic acid daily, intravenously as therapy for some cancers. There is always an observable drop in the concentration of ascorbic acid in the blood when you get sick so, probably, supplementing vitamin c can prevent sickness, and even impede cancer formation, among its other great benefits. Perhaps too optimistic, perhaps a true panacea, enough time and money will tell. I've started taking a g daily, it's good so far. ...more

Aug 02, 2020 C. Hinsley rated it really liked it

Not sure how this is pseudoscience. Also not sure how anybody thinks Pauling's claims here have been amply refuted. He supports his ideas with comprehensive evidence, qualifies any speculations he makes, and lucidly explores the implications of his findings. Every counter-argument I've seen has been a strawman. I think the public might be wrong on this one. Not sure how this is pseudoscience. Also not sure how anybody thinks Pauling's claims here have been amply refuted. He supports his ideas with comprehensive evidence, qualifies any speculations he makes, and lucidly explores the implications of his findings. Every counter-argument I've seen has been a strawman. I think the public might be wrong on this one. ...more

The book puts the theory over the science. Research is based on small group, facts are misconfused with correlation. I don't trust scientists that are willing to behave as experts in all fields thus Pauling is more like preacher here than doctor. Assumptions are winning over common sense and knowledge The book puts the theory over the science. Research is based on small group, facts are misconfused with correlation. I don't trust scientists that are willing to behave as experts in all fields thus Pauling is more like preacher here than doctor. Assumptions are winning over common sense and knowledge ...more

Oct 02, 2021 Lana rated it it was amazing

The best book on Vitamin C!
Most of the modern doctors who use Vitamin C and speak about it online mainly retell points in this book.
The author, and his life dedication to promote cheapest cure and healthy lifestyle also inspires me!
Highly recommend this book to anyone who wants to improve their health!

Aug 27, 2019 Josh rated it it was amazing

Great short book that argues, pretty convincingly for higher amounts of vitamin C in the diet. It's old but the evidence is pretty convincing. I'm going to try it out, taking ~4g a day in supplements +fruit and veg in the diet, and will update on how it goes. Great short book that argues, pretty convincingly for higher amounts of vitamin C in the diet. It's old but the evidence is pretty convincing. I'm going to try it out, taking ~4g a day in supplements +fruit and veg in the diet, and will update on how it goes. ...more