Do large doses of vitamin C increase the risk of kidney stones? It’s a question I’m often asked, having reported the medical value of vitamin C in decreasing the risk of cardiovascular disease (CVD). So is this concern fact or fiction? Or does vitamin C, by making acid urine, combine with calcium and oxalate to form stones?
I asked Dr. Linus Pauling this question. Pauling, a two-time Nobel Prize winner, had for years taken 20,000 milligrams (mgs) of vitamin C daily. He said, “Not a single case had been reported in medical literature. But some people who had a tendency to form oxalate stones might do so while taking large amounts of vitamin C, or those with a rare genetic problem.”