Vitamin C

Well the first cold of the season hit our house last week. I got it first but I thought it was just allergies and ended up passing it along to all three kids (and our friends - sorry!).

Ive seen it before and I saw it again - Vitamin C is powerful to help the body fight off illness. I guess its impossible to *prove* but I started giving it to all of them, twice a day or more and they never got really sick. They had runny noses and some dry coughing but that was it. And if it didnt help ..... well, it cant hurt.

Some tidbits:

- you cant overdose on Vit C. You need to find the child's threshold. You increase the dose until they have loose stools, then thats the amount they can handle. I used this general guideline from this site (this is a dosing amount for fighting an illness):

Vitamin C
60 mg 4 times daily for children 6-12 months old;

100 mg 4 times daily for ages 1-4.

500 mg 4 times daily for children over 4.

- I gave the boys about 800mg twice a day (they are 3 and 4 but the same weight).

- ** The best, most easily absorbed, type of Vit C is "Sodium Ascorbate". This is the brand we buy. I dissolve it in some water (its salty) and add some stevia and they drink it down.

-Chewable Vit C tablets can harm the enamel on their teeth.


HERE is a great thread on this from Mothering.com. The first post contains many links to scientific studies and also includes some dosing guidelines.

As we approach cold and flu season Ill share more about what we do to avoid being sick. Vitamin C is an affordable way to help keep our kids healthy - cant hurt! :)