Abstract
The dosage of vitamin C necessary to maintain a level in the urine which could be detected using the 2,6-dichlorophenolindophenol assay was determined with undergraduate students. Students taking 250 mg daily did not excrete significant levels of vitamin C in their urine, while excretion increased at doses from 0.5 to 2 g. A 2 g daily dose caused detectable excretion from about 4 until 16 hr later, on both the first and eighth day. A dose of 500 mg taken every 12 hr led to continuously-detectable levels of vitamin C in the urine. The conclusion is that two conditions are necessary to elevate vitamin c excretion continuously: a dose of at least 500 mg and a dose every 12 hr. This is substantially higher than the U.S. recommended daily allowance and more frequent than administration being used in clinical trials.
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King, G., Beins, M., Larkin, J. et al. Rate of excretion of vitamin C in human urine. AGE 17, 87–92 (1994). https://doi.org/10.1007/BF02435011
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DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/BF02435011