Solgar Ester-C Plus 1000 mg Vitamin C with Citrus Bioflavonoids - 50 Capsules - Gentle & Non Acidic - 24-Hour Immune Support, Supports Upper Respiratory Health - Non-GMO, Gluten Free - 50 Servings

A few minutes upon taking this 1000mg Ester C ,after it was delivered ,my lungs started to heal.Finally i felt i could take deep breaths wheeeas before had much difficulty breathing.The size is too big for me to swallow but i open it onto my tongue.it tastes fine & i get some water& swallow it down.This i have to say is the very best vitamin C i have ever purchased.It gives me life inside me.It doesnt upset my digestive system like other C products.I will definitely buy this again and again for the rest of my life…..

These 1000 mg are larger then the 500 mg I was taking. I guess I didn't realize that the larger dose would be so big. If you are used to taking any size pills then these would probably be fine, but they were more difficult for me to take. I like the convenience of having the whole dose taken one time, but I don't like the size of the capsule.

We were almost out of Vitamin C and usually take the 1,000 mg, so thought these Solgar EsterC Plus looked interesting. I was curious about the name Ester-C so looked it up online. Ester-C is the generic name for Ascorbic calcium (a Vit. C), and apparently it's quite powerful and used to treat low levels of Vit. C and may need a prescription. Also, take it with plenty of water! Imagine my surprise when it said that Ester-C is "discontinued". It looked like all Ester-C brands were in that category. Now I'm not so sure about using this product on a daily basis, maybe more of an occasional serving. Maybe more research is needed to see if what I read is correct and how recent. So far, I had already opened the jar and took one with a glass of water, and now will be cautious in the future about the rest. These really sounded unique and worthwhile with the 24-hour immune support listed, and also gentle on the system. What to do?

Solgar has been around for a long time, since 1947. I still use their vitamin products here and there, so I was curious about this Ester-C product from them since the Vitamin C I take daily is of the Calcium Ascorbate kind, which can be a bit gentler on the stomach than ascorbic acid Vitamin C, though it does carry along a bit of extra Calcium, though not much.The glass bottle that contains 100 capsules arrives packed well, within it's own little cardboard box, which is a nice additional protection for it during shipping. The capsules are not too large, and easy to swallow. The bottle features all the important information on there, as well.Ester-C is a brand name type of Calcium Ascorbate, Vitamin C. Ascorbic Acid Vitamin C is the, "Typical" Vitamin C out there, and for some people, they prefer the Calcium Ascorbate Vitamin C as it can be a bit easier on the stomach. I'm one of those folks. From the capsules of this that I've taken so far, I don't notice anything with my stomach, and that's precisely why I take this form of Vitamin C.Besides the 1,000mg of Vitamin C, there is also 108mg of Calcium that tags along with it, since this is the Calcium Ascorbate form of Vitamin C, so that's normal. In addition, Solgar has also added 200mg of various Citrus Bioflavonoids. The bottle contains 100 capsules, and each serving is 1 capsules, so, 100 servings per bottle. No complaints, it's what I expected from Calcium Ascorbate Vitamin C. Manufactured in the USA.

This is a good vitamin C supplement, though I suspect that some of their sales points are hype. On the Linus Pauling website, they say that Solgar’s study “has not been published in a peer-reviewed journal. A small published study of vitamin C bioavailability in eight women and one man found no difference between Ester-C® and commercially available ascorbic acid tablets with respect to the absorption and urinary excretion of vitamin C.” Further, they say, “Only one study, which included five men and three women, found that a 500-mg supplement of synthetic ascorbic acid, given in a natural citrus extract containing bioflavonoids, proteins, and carbohydrates, was more slowly absorbed and 35% more bioavailable than synthetic ascorbic acid alone, when based on plasma levels of ascorbic acid. The remaining studies showed either no change or slightly lower plasma ascorbate levels in subjects who consumed vitamin C with flavonoids compared to flavonoids alone.”Regarding the buffering of the vitamin C by presenting it in an ascorbate like this product, that website says, “There appears to be little scientific research to support or refute the claim that mineral ascorbates are less irritating to the gastrointestinal tract.”However, if you’ve found that regular vitamin C seems to bother your stomach (or some people have issues with urinary tract irritation), this would seem like a reasonable product to try.Otherwise, I’d consider other products at a better price point first.

After taking these for a while, I can find nothing remarkable about them aside from the claims. The manufacturer claims both a gentler action on the digestive tract and better absorption.In use, I can detect no difference between these and generic ascorbic acid. I also researched these claims finding neither support or refutation of them from any reasonable third party. To be fair, I’ve never had a digestive issue with plain vitamin C and it’s impossible to detect any level of that vitamin in your body unless you’re deficient for a long time and develop scurvy.I also have no way to detect if the bioflavonoids accelerate or add to this vitamin’s absorption rate or even if that rate is important. In sum, I’d say I can’t verify or deny the special claims made for this brand of vitamin C but figure that the differences from generic C aren’t detrimental. It’s a pay your money and take your chances at getting a better product or an equivalent one. I would recommend this to those who struggle with GERD because it can’t hurt and may help.