Too much Vitamin C, Lysine, or Zinc?!
Question:
Too much Vitamin C, Lysine, or Zinc?
A friend who is well-versed with alternative medicine recommended some vitamins for a particular infection that I'm fighting. I know that some vitamins and supplements could have negative effects if too much is ingested. My question is, are there negative side-effects (or a dosage limit) with these three vitamins/supplements?
Vitamin C
L-Lysine
Zinc
Thank you!
Answers:
Vitamin C is water soluble and any excess is eliminated automatically every day. Three grams a day is not a problem (and is in fact the amount recommended by the Vitamin C Foundation) but if you take much greater amounts you could end up with kidney stones. More than one gram in one dose is not recommended. If you take say three grams in a day make sure that it is three times one gram.
Lysine is quite safe and three grams a day is not a problem. Even greater amounts are unlikely to give you any problems. Perhaps amounts greater than three grams a day is overdoing it a bit.
Zinc is very dangerous and toxic if you take 80 mg a day or more. 25 or even 50 mg a day is OK. As zinc and copper interact a large intake of zinc could lead to a deficiency in copper because the zinc is likely to be absorbed preferentially at the expense of the copper. If you take say 50 mg of zinc a day then you may require a copper supplement as well.