Vitamin C

Ever since I was cured of childhood bronchitis through diet (Pottenger's), I have been alert to alternative health care techniques. I take a lot of vitamins. Do they keep me healthy? I don't really know. Ever since I got well at age 9, I have rarely gotten sick.

I do know this. When I used to get hay fever, I could control the symptoms with a gram of vitamin C. But I had to do this more than once a day.

My worst experience was in Eugene, Oregon, in 1975. I was speaking at a week-long seminar for high school teachers. It was field-burning week in Eugene. That was the worst week of the year for people with allergies. I knew. My parents lived 30 miles west of Eugene.

I was almost incapacitated. My nose was running profusely. But I had to give a daily speech.

I had started taking a gram of C every 3 hours or so -- not more, because of C's tendency in megadoses to produce diarrhea. I would take the C, and 15 minutes later, my nose would stop running. Then, about 2 hours later, it would start running again.

The C controlled the symptoms.

Every day, I would take a gram of C about 15 minutes before my lecture. I got through all of them for the week.

My friend Arthur Robinson did the actual research and data analysis for the Linus Pauling Institute. He said the statistics did not back up Pauling on cancer prevention. Robinson thinks megadoses of C -- more than a gram a day -- may be counter-productive.

But megadoses of C sometimes control my worst symptoms when I get a bad cold -- maybe once every two years. I can sleep better at night. That helps me get through the ordeal. But I cut back after it's over.