Ascorbic acid safety

In a casual survey of 20 physician colleagues, Goodwin and Tangum (1998) found that all of them were aware that high-dose vitamin C ingestion can cause kidney stones. Goodwin and Tangum were, however, interested in where this common ‘knowledge’ comes from and they combed the medical literature without finding any articles in refereed journals reporting instances of high-dose vitamin C causing kidney stones. Review articles cited book chapters that in turn cited abstracts, letters, and other review articles. Goodwin and Tangum concluded that nowhere in the trail of citations was there any fundamental information on whether or how frequently high-dose vitamin C supplementation might lead to kidney stones. The authors simply stated that vitamin C may cause kidney stones, and as proof they cited other authors who had said the same thing. Thus, this description reveals a typical urban legend; a story that is retold, yet no-one confirms that the story is true.