Relay-Version: version B 2.10 5/3/83; site utzoo.UUCP Posting-Version: version B 2.10 beta 3/9/83; site nbs-amrf.UUCP Path: utzoo!watmath!clyde!burl!mgnetp!ihnp4!zehntel!hplabs!hao!seismo!rlgvax!cvl!umcp-cs!nbs-amrf!libes From: libes@nbs-amrf.UUCP Newsgroups: net.med Subject: Re: Allergies and Treatments Thereof - try Vitamin C Message-ID: <321@nbs-amrf.UUCP> Date: Fri, 15-Jun-84 21:14:21 EDT Article-I.D.: nbs-amrf.321 Posted: Fri Jun 15 21:14:21 1984 Date-Received: Fri, 22-Jun-84 05:20:58 EDT References: <427@ihu1g.UUCP> Organization: National Bureau of Standards Lines: 41 I recommend Vitamin C. I am no doctor nor can I guarantee that it will help you. However, I will take it for the rest of my life. Right now, (during allergy season), I take 3 grams a day. Other times of the year I take .5 to 1 gram. I have hayfever (for sure) and probably other allergies. I always used to sneeze a lot and especially during hayfever season. It was worst when I was a student eating a diet of subs, pizza, chocolate, cola and occasionally antihistamines when I really couldn't stand it. (I hate taking drugs of any kind.) I found a book called the "People's Pharmacy" that recommended Vitamin C and then asked a friend of mine who studies nutrition (as a hobby). After giving me some books by Linus Pauling, she explained how much to take and that day I took 3 or 4 grams - 500 mg every half hour until I went to bed. The next day I woke up with no allergy symptoms whatsoever. Two weeks later, I stopped taking C (my bottle ran out) and the symptoms came back the following day. I quickly went out and bought some more! As long as I take C in large amounts, I find I have no allergies. What more can I say? As an aside, I have had colds (sorry Linus - I really can't say if I get them less frequently) but the severity of the colds is much less. They last a day or two and no one (but me) can tell that I have one - I hardly ever sneeze (so my nose doesn't get raw), my eyes don't water, throat doesn't hurt, etc. I'd take the C just for that alone. Actually, I don't know if this resistance to colds is due to my diet...its improved 1000% since school. In any case, I find the C necessary to avoid the allergies. (Its possible I could have even better success with colds if I took 3g year round.) But obviously diet (and I take other vitamins and minerals now) plays an important part in health. (So does environment - I lost all my allergy symptoms temporarily when I visited California!) According to Pauling, 3g is actually a small dose. He suggests that people take between 5 and 8g (dependent on the person). I found that at 5g, I had diarrhea, an apparently normal reaction by the body attempting to rid itself of too much of the water-soluble vitamin. In fairness to equal say, I have to say that a lot of people (i.e. doctors) don't like Pauling and his theories, especially the AMA. Don Libes {seismo,allegra}!umcp-cs!nbs-amrf!libes