How and the hell did Linus Pauling’s wife die from vitamin C supplements. From what I understand, excess vitamin C is not harmful (even in ridiculously high doses). It just gets pissed and shit out without causing too much harm. I haven’t ever heard of vitamin C ever killing anyone.
Please cite sources for such claims.
Thanks,
This was well publicized a few decades ago. My freshmen chemistry teacher talked about it too. He explained why supplements can be harmful in terms of their chemical properties. In fact, they can increase the rate of cancer. He had known Pauling.
From the article I link below it is explained this way:
"How could this be? Given that free radicals clearly damage cells -- and given that people who eat diets rich in substances that neutralize free radicals are healthier -- why did studies of supplemental antioxidants show they were harmful? The most likely explanation is that free radicals aren't as evil as advertised. Although it's clear that free radicals can damage DNA and disrupt cell membranes, that's not always a bad thing. People need free radicals to kill bacteria and eliminate new cancer cells. But when people take large doses of antioxidants, the balance between free radical production and destruction might tip too much in one direction, causing an unnatural state in which the immune system is less able to kill harmful invaders. Researchers have called this "the antioxidant paradox." Whatever the reason, the data are clear: high doses of vitamins and supplements increase the risk of heart disease and cancer; for this reason, not a single national or international organization responsible for the public's health recommends them."
Pauling was a chemist and had a Nobel prize in chemistry, yet he didn't understand the concept that the body needs a certain balance of free radicals to kill bacteria and eliminate new cancer cells. That's how it is with people, even the smartest. They have blind spots like this .
It's well known that Pauling was promoting Vitamin supplements, especially vit C. He claimed it would prevent cancer and add 25 years to the life. He wrote at least one book and many articles telling people to take high doses of vitamin C. You can find some online.
He advised2 the public to take 3000 mg vit C per day. That's 50X the FDA recimmended daily allowance. Pauling and his wife were taking 20000 mg vitamin C per day.
After a few years of this heavy vitamin C intake, his with got stomach cancer and died. But that didn't deter Pauling. He kept up his 20 gram a day vitamin C diet. Several years later he died of prostrate cancer.
Here is a link to an article in the Atlantic that goes into more detail what I said. They also cite several studies that link increased risk of cancer to vitamin C.
Nutrition experts contend that all we need is what’s typically found in a routine diet. Industry representatives, backed by a fascinating history, argue that foods don’t contain enough, and we need supplements. Fortunately, many excellent studies have now resolved the issue.
www.google.com
Treating cancer with high-doses of vitamin C is a zombie idea that began with Linus Pauling, and has failed to die ever since. But has new research vindicated this idea? No. No in any meaningful way
sciencebasedmedicine.org
And here:
http://nutritionandcancer.org/view/nutritionandcancer/oism_nac.pdf
Study gave megadoses of vitamin C to mice. Their rate of cancer doubled. The principal investigator was Pauling's colleague. When Pauling saw the data from the preliminary experiments done in the 1980s, he fired him, shredded the data, and killed all the experimental mice. And he continued to promote megadosing on vitamin C.