I've read of a condition where, if one were to stop his dose of Vitamin C for one day, he would suffer from "rebound scurvy." I don't worry about this effect at all, as I'm diligent enough to take my high dose every day. However, a friend of mine, who is in good health, expressed interest in Vitamin C. I somewhat strained to recommend a dosage for him, as I'm probably unqualified to answer. I take anywhere from four to six grams a day; I'm in good health, but suffer from allergies. I find that six grams a day pretty much keeps my allergies at bay. For this I am most grateful and am recommending Vitamin C to those close to me.

However, this friend is afraid of the reboud effect. What I told him was this: "I don't know how high your dose would have to be for you to suffer from a rebound effect." For example, if he took only two grams a day, and then skipped a day, would he suffer a rebound effect? If not, what dose would be high enough to trigger this condition?

He should just not miss a day; that much is obvious, but I can't force people to take their vitamins. Even my girlfriend skips days. I pretty much forced her to start taking them as she has slightly high blood pressure, and she easily stresses out.

A complete discussion of the "discontinuation effect" (sometimes called the rebound effect) was here, may still be here, otherwise I'll try to find it for the archives.

In a nut shell, the Bowel Tolerance forum - and the http://www.orthomed.com/titrate.htm paper by Cathcart helps people determine what the right amount of vitamin C is for themselves. The answer is somewhere between 4000 mg and 20,000 mg, spread out 4 times throughout the day.

Most people live in a state of vitamin C starvation. A good analogy is the body's response to little water in a desert, the body begins to hold on to its water during periods of dehydration.

Vitamin C is handled in the same way. The body holds on to what little it can get. But, when the supply is ample - such as the case with most animals producing 24/7 - the body no longer needs to horde vitamin C and various enzyme systems begin that transform ascorbate into other substances.

If the supply is then suddenly cut off, these enzyme systems still transform C for 24 to 48 hours, and this is the discontinuation effect. It is not known to be serious, but a cold or congestion is likely.

Pauling recommended not stopping vitamin C even for a single day. I agree. But you can also lower the dosage slowly to avoid this effect.