Bushwalk Australia

i use aqua socks in camp, $5 from Kathmandu, silicon rubber soles, much lighter than carbon rubber soles.
or fleece type slippers if you're not likely to get wet feet in camp
i take a small bottle of vitamin C to cover any infections, i take a gram or two a day normally when walking, helps your immune system and should i get sick i megadose on it. i've used this regime for decades, megadosing vitamin c has sorted out infections a lot faster than anything else i've tried and it helps fight the infection unlike a lot of "flu remedies" from teh chemist which just suppress the symptoms and your immune response.

wayno wrote:i take a small bottle of vitamin C to cover any infections, i take a gram or two a day normally when walking, helps your immune system and should i get sick i megadose on it. i've used this regime for decades, megadosing vitamin c has sorted out infections a lot faster than anything else i've tried and it helps fight the infection unlike a lot of "flu remedies" from teh chemist which just suppress the symptoms and your immune response.

This has no scientific basis, Wayno. Vitamin C is a water soluble vitamin, any excess exits your body via your urine. Megadoses are known to give some people diarrhoea. It does nothing for the immune system unless you are severely deficient in Vitamin C in the first place.

In the interests of saving weight, I would say forget the Vitamin C.

Does wonders for the placebo effect though!

I would take Vit C and Zinc supplements when dealing with a complex wound or a non-healing sore. I would take Vit C to prevent scurvy. For flu/cold prevention, I like the taste of chewable Vit C tablets. Like lollies from my childhood. No good evidence to suggest it works but that's besides the point.

matagi wrote:

wayno wrote:i take a small bottle of vitamin C to cover any infections, i take a gram or two a day normally when walking, helps your immune system and should i get sick i megadose on it. i've used this regime for decades, megadosing vitamin c has sorted out infections a lot faster than anything else i've tried and it helps fight the infection unlike a lot of "flu remedies" from teh chemist which just suppress the symptoms and your immune response.

This has no scientific basis, Wayno. Vitamin C is a water soluble vitamin, any excess exits your body via your urine. Megadoses are known to give some people diarrhoea. It does nothing for the immune system unless you are severely deficient in Vitamin C in the first place.

In the interests of saving weight, I would say forget the Vitamin C.

i've read studies that show when you have a bacterial or viral infection it can shorten the time of infection by megadosing,
normally you excrete the excess. if you mix an aqueous solution of silver nitrate with urine it will turn grey or black under normal circumstances showing excretion of vitamin c,, but i have tested this myself when i had viral infections and took 80 grams of vitamin c in a day but the silver nitrate didnt discolour with my urine while i was sick , but it would go black when i wasnt sick,, and i have personally found i gdont get as sick as often or for as long by suplementing vitamin c

wayno wrote:

matagi wrote:

wayno wrote:i take a small bottle of vitamin C to cover any infections, i take a gram or two a day normally when walking, helps your immune system and should i get sick i megadose on it. i've used this regime for decades, megadosing vitamin c has sorted out infections a lot faster than anything else i've tried and it helps fight the infection unlike a lot of "flu remedies" from teh chemist which just suppress the symptoms and your immune response.

This has no scientific basis, Wayno. Vitamin C is a water soluble vitamin, any excess exits your body via your urine. Megadoses are known to give some people diarrhoea. It does nothing for the immune system unless you are severely deficient in Vitamin C in the first place.

In the interests of saving weight, I would say forget the Vitamin C.

i've read studies that show when you have a bacterial or viral infection it can shorten the time of infection by megadosing,
normally you excrete the excess. if you mix an aqueous solution of silver nitrate with urine it will turn grey or black under normal circumstances showing excretion of vitamin c,, but i have tested this myself when i had viral infections and took 80 grams of vitamin c in a day but the silver nitrate didnt discolour with my urine while i was sick , but it would go black when i wasnt sick,, and i have personally found i gdont get as sick as often or for as long by suplementing vitamin c

I'm with matagi on this one wayno. I would love to see the studies you have read.
A simple google search turned up this peer reviewed journal paper https://www.mja.com.au/journal/2001/175 ... lled-trial

i'm not posting any more off topic comments on this thread. I've stated my personal experience to be favourable and i'll leave it at that, beat me over the head all you want but do it on another thread.... i'm not in the mood for this

wayno wrote:i've read studies that show when you have a bacterial or viral infection it can shorten the time of infection by megadosing,
normally you excrete the excess. if you mix an aqueous solution of silver nitrate with urine it will turn grey or black under normal circumstances showing excretion of vitamin c,, but i have tested this myself when i had viral infections and took 80 grams of vitamin c in a day but the silver nitrate didnt discolour with my urine while i was sick , but it would go black when i wasnt sick,, and i have personally found i gdont get as sick as often or for as long by suplementing vitamin c

The evidence is marginal.

This is from the summary of the Cochrane Review of the subject:
(Green is original, blue is my interpretation)

The failure of vitamin C supplementation to reduce the incidence of colds in the general population indicates that routine vitamin C supplementation is not justified, yet vitamin C may be useful for people exposed to brief periods of severe physical exercise.
Vitamin C does not reduce the incidence of colds, except during a brief period following heavy physical exercise.
Regular supplementation trials have shown that vitamin C reduces the duration of colds, but this was not replicated in the few therapeutic trials that have been carried out.
While some low reliability studies found that Vit C reduces the duration, higher quality studies did not show this effect.
Nevertheless, given the consistent effect of vitamin C on the duration and severity of colds in the regular supplementation studies, and the low cost and safety, it may be worthwhile for common cold patients to test on an individual basis whether therapeutic vitamin C is beneficial for them.
If it works for you, do it.
Further therapeutic RCTs are warranted.
The reviewers recommend that more high quality studies be done

TL;DR No conclusive evidence either way.

Full report:
http://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/10.1 ... 4/abstract

I've watched a mega dose of Vit C serum save a rescue roo after snake bite. Also heard it works for snake bites to larger animals like horses. One of my rescue wallabies was successfully treated with a big injection of Vit C for a bad reaction to her vaccine.
If it works for other animals it should be good for more uses in humans too.

Wayno, the only caution I would suggest is that whilst Vit C is pretty safe in terms of dose load, but a heavy user may put oneself into a compromised state and induce deficiency symptoms when the dose is reduced. So megadose with care and do no harm.

humans attempt to make vitamin c in their bodies but lack and enzyme to complete the process, animals under stress produce large amounts of vitamin c, i read about goats producing up to 100 grams a day,
humans can recucle spent vitamin c so we dont need as large amounts as other animals on average but under stress. amounts of up to a hundred grams or more a day have been used for various illnesses. linus pauling and robert cathcart have used it extensively to treat patients.

Vitamin C can have bad effects.
Overdosing on vitamin C can be bad for people who get mouth ulcers.
If I eat too many citrus fruits or use C supplements, I end up with excruciating and drawn out mouth ulcers which take ages to heal.
Diarrhoea is also a common symptom for some, and definitely not ideal when bushwalking.
Wayno, have you tried garlic and horseradish tablets?

you can take sodium ascorbate a non acidic form, or another non acidic form, calcium ascorbate in lesser amounts unless you supplement with magnesium to balance out the calcium...