bcase (03/23/83)
#R:hou5a:-31500:uiucdcs:31200002:000:1435 uiucdcs!bcase Mar 22 13:21:00 1983 I direct your attention to a book by Durk Pearson and Sandy Shaw entitled "Life Extension A Scientific Approach." I am not so sure about the second part of the title, but the 'Life Extention' part should be enough to distinguish it from any other book you might find. The whole thing is dedicated to the art of ingesting mega doses of all kinds of substances, with references to experiments which indicate the effectiveness of each vitamin, etc. Quite extensive, it covers everything from curing baldness to improving athletic performance. In reference to vitamin C, the authors explain the free radical theory of aging and how it affects the imune system (by taking large doses of vitamin C, the imune functions are improved, thus the lower frequency of illness). I have taken large doses of vitamin C this winter, especially when I started to feel sick once (cold or something); I have to admit that I never really GOT sick, and I havn't been sick since! (I have never NOT gotten sick during winter.) This is really a fun book to read, and the authors stress the importance of medical supervision during your own personal life extension experiment. P.s.: I was taking about 10 to 15 grams of vitamin C when I was trying to prevent the cold; I found a place to buy 50 grams of C for a dollar, that's why I could afford it. Also, I was distributing the total of 10 to 15 grams into about 4 approxomately equal doses per day.
barbaral (04/07/83)
about the megadoses of Vitamin C...it seems like a harmless thing to try to improve ones health, but be aware that there are some people, like myself, who break out in a skin rash when too much Vitamin C is taken.