One of the most important substances in the achievement and preservation of optimum health, as well as the prevention and treatment of disease, is vitamin C.

To appreciate why an optimum daily intake of this nutrient is so essential in the battle against infectious disease and well-being in general, we must remember that our bodies do not make vitamin C.

The question becomes what amount of vitamin C is needed to put a person in the best of health and give them the immune protection against infectious diseases of all kinds, as well as the various degenerative diseases that are now so common.

To help you understand the truth of "what amount," here is what experts in the field of nutrition have to say:

"In order to answer this, we must first understand the concept of Recommended Dietary Allowance (RDA) as formulated by the Food and Nutrition Board.

"Most people interpret RDA for any particular nutrient (in this case vitamin C) as being that specific dosage that leads to the best health for all people. That is, ‘if I take the RDA of vitamin C every day of my life, I will more than likely achieve the best health that can possibly be gained by the intake of this nutrient.’

"This interpretation is quite false!

"The RDA is only the estimated amount that, for most people, will prevent scurvy or death caused by vitamin C deficiency.

"The board's recommendations were adopted to indicate to the general American public the amount of vitamin C needed [45 mg] in order to avoid scurvy.

"The problem with the board’s recommendations is that the medical profession took hold of them and created a misconception generally accepted by many physicians. This being:

"If there are no signs or symptoms of scurvy, we must assume that there is no deficiency of vitamin C. Therefore no need to take supplements of this vitamin.

"But scurvy is not just a symptom of lack [of vitamin C], but a final collapse, leading to death, via a breakdown and disintegration of our bodies.

"There is a large area, including colds, infections, flu and degenerative diseases that exists between the total blackness of scurvy and death, and the pure white of optimum health and resistance to disease.

"No longer can we be satisfied with the misconception that if we do not have scurvy, we do not need any additional amounts of vitamin C in order to achieve optimum health and resistance to disease."

Excerpted from Brain Allergies

by William Philpott, M.D. & Dwight Kalita, Ph.D.

Eight double blind studies have been done using between 200 mg/day and 2,000 mgs/day, which have shown an average 44% reduction in illness, thus the RDA recommendation of 45 mg of vitamin C is far too low to provide the protection needed today.