While Pauling recommended a whopping 2,300 to 10,000 mgs. Vegetarians easily meet this recommendation by eating at least five generous servings of fresh fruits and vegetables each day, including rich C sources such as citrus fruits, bananas, berries, greens, peppers, tomatoes and potatoes. But many preventive medicine specialists say 200 mg. You have to evaluate each patient's need on a case per case basis. Like Pauling, Cheraskin recommends taking 1,000 mg.
Any delay diminishes the likelihood of success.
No matter whose advice you take, be sure the pills you're using are fresh and potent, not leftovers from last year's supply. Vitamin C is easily oxidized when exposed to light, heat or air. Most natural health practitioners recommend using a buffered form of vitamin C to prevent acid burn in the stomach and suggest a product complete with bioflavonoids, which are also powerful antioxidants. Nearly every American's diet is low in this trace element, according to the Journal of the American College of Nutrition, which reported in 1995 that zinc intake has declined among American adults resulting in widespread immune problems. Zinc levels of vegetarians tend to be somewhat lower than those of meat eaters because animal products, meat in particular, provide about 70 percent of the zinc in American diets and because the absorption of zinc from plants is lower than that from animal products.