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Vitamin C

(Ascorbic acid)

What is vitamin C and what does it do?

Vitamin C, also known as L-ascorbic acid, is a water-soluble nutrient found in some foods. In the body, it acts as an antioxidant, helping to protect cells from the damage caused by free radicals. Free radicals are compounds formed when our bodies convert the food we eat into energy. People are also exposed to free radicals in the environment from cigarette smoke, air pollution, and ultraviolet light from the sun.

The body also needs vitamin C to make collagen, a protein required to help wounds heal. In addition, vitamin C improves the absorption of iron from plant-based foods and helps the immune system work properly to protect the body from disease.

How much vitamin C do I need?

When it comes to vitamin C, a little bit goes a long way — which is to say, it’s not all that difficult to get your recommended daily amount. For example, one medium orange has about 80 milligrams of vitamin C, which accounts for much of your daily intake.

The amount of vitamin C you need each day depends on your age.
Average daily recommended amounts for different ages are listed below in milligrams (mg).

Life Stage	RDA
Birth to 6 months	40 mg
Infants 7–12 months	50 mg
Children 1–3 years	15 mg
Children 4–8 years	25 mg
Children 9–13 years	45 mg
Teens 14–18 years (boys)	75 mg
Teens 14–18 years (girls)	65 mg
Adults (men)	90 mg
Adults (women)	75 mg
Pregnant teens	80 mg
Pregnant women	85 mg
Breastfeeding teens	115 mg
Breastfeeding women	120 mg

If you smoke, add 35 mg to the above values to calculate your total daily recommended amount.
“Keep in mind that these recommendations are a minimum to prevent deficiency,” Peart says, “and some experts believe the recommendations should be higher.”

These recommendations also don’t take into account bodily differences like weight, height, sex, overall health, etc. Plus, if you smoke, you’ll need about 35 mg more per day because smoking is toxic to cells, causing your body to use up its vitamin C more quickly.

If you’re not sure how much vitamin C you should be getting, talk to a healthcare provider for personalized guidance.

Health benefits of vitamin C

What does vitamin C actually do for your body? Peart delves deeper into some of the proven ways that it supports your health, plus a few possibilities that are still being researched.

1. Fights cell damage and disease

Vitamin C is an antioxidant, a natural chemical found in certain foods. You can think of antioxidants like invisible superheroes inside your body. Their main job is to protect you from free radicals, or unstable molecules that can damage your cells, cause oxidative stress, increase signs of aging and more.

“A buildup of free radicals is associated with a risk of diseases like cancer, heart disease and arthritis,” Peart explains. Eating antioxidant-rich foods, like those high in vitamin C, can help protect your body from free radical-related damage.

2. Protects your eyes

Vitamin “see” indeed: This antioxidant is thought to help ward off cataracts (a clouding of the lens of your eye) and slow the progression of age-related macular degeneration (AMD), a condition that causes people to lose their central vision.

“Studies have shown mixed results,” Peart notes, “but we know that vitamin C acts as an antioxidant for cells in the retina and macular region of the eye.”

3. Improves iron absorption

Some plant foods, including beans and spinach, have iron in them (a type called non-heme iron), but they also have properties that make it hard for your body to access that iron. Enter vitamin C, which acts as iron’s wingman.

“Consuming foods that are high in vitamin C in the same meal with iron-rich plant foods boosts the bioavailability of the iron, meaning that you absorb more of it,” Peart explains.

Let’s say you make a spinach salad with strawberries on top. Spinach has non-heme iron, while strawberries are rich in vitamin C. They’re both healthy on their own, but when you eat them together, the vitamin C in the strawberries helps your body access and absorb more iron from the spinach than it could if you just ate the spinach alone.

4. Helps with wound healing

Vitamin C encourages collagen growth, which is an important part of your body’s healing process. “Collagen is a protein that keeps our skin looking young,” Peart adds.

It’s one of the keys to properly healing wounds, including cuts, scrapes and surgical incisions. And people who don’t get enough vitamin C have been shown to heal more slowly than those who get the recommended amount.

5. Promotes healthy skin

We’re mostly talking about the kind of vitamin C that you find in foods, but it’s worth noting that topical creams and serums made with vitamin C can do all kinds of good things for your skin. They help slow signs of aging, reduce dark under-eye circles and even bolster the effects of sunscreen. (Psst: You are wearing sunscreen, aren’t you? Hint, hint.)

Other possible benefits

Science never stops! There are always studies in progress to uncover new health information, including the many roles vitamin C plays in our bodies. Here are a few other possible benefits of vitamin C, though more research is needed on all of them:

May help you recover quickly: Contrary to what you might’ve heard, vitamin C can’t prevent you from getting sick (sorry). But it can still be of help. “Some studies suggest that it can help lessen the severity and duration of colds and the flu and potentially reduce your risk of further complications,” Peart says.

May improve heart health: Vitamin C may help prevent and treat cardiovascular disease (CVD), including strokes. Studies so far have been conflicting, though, so researchers still can’t say for certain how effective it might be.

May play a role in cancer treatments: As researchers continue to learn about cancer, genetics, vitamin C absorption and metabolism, Peart says they’re exploring the role vitamin C might play in treating some types of cancers. “There is some promising evidence so far, as an adjunct to conventional cancer treatment,” she says. This means it could play a role in — but not replace — treatment.

What foods provide vitamin C?

Fruits and vegetables are the best sources of vitamin C. You can get recommended amounts of vitamin C by eating a variety of foods including the following:

Citrus fruits (such as oranges and grapefruit) and their juices as well as red and green pepper and kiwifruit, which have a lot of vitamin C.

Other fruits and vegetables—such as broccoli, strawberries, cantaloupe, baked potatoes, and tomatoes—which also have vitamin C.

Some foods and beverages that are fortified with vitamin C. To find out if vitamin C has been added to a food product, check the product labels.

The vitamin C content of food may be reduced by prolonged storage and by cooking. Steaming or microwaving may lessen cooking losses. Fortunately, many of the best food sources of vitamin C, such as fruits and vegetables, are usually eaten raw.

What kinds of vitamin C dietary supplements are available?

Most multivitamins have vitamin C. Vitamin C is also available alone as a dietary supplement or in combination with other nutrients. The vitamin C in dietary supplements is usually in the form of ascorbic acid, but some supplements have other forms, such as sodium ascorbate, calcium ascorbate, other mineral ascorbates, and ascorbic acid with bioflavonoids. Research has not shown that any form of vitamin C is better than the other forms.

Am I getting enough vitamin C?

Most people in the United States get enough vitamin C from foods and beverages. However, certain groups of people are more likely than others to have trouble getting enough vitamin C:

People who smoke and those who are exposed to secondhand smoke, in part because smoke increases the amount of vitamin C that the body needs to repair damage caused by free radicals. People who smoke need 35 mg more vitamin C per day than nonsmokers.

Infants who are fed evaporated or boiled cow’s milk because cow’s milk has very little vitamin C and heat can destroy vitamin C. Cow’s milk is not recommended for infants under 1 year of age. Breast milk and infant formula have adequate amounts of vitamin C.

People who eat a very limited variety of food.

People with certain medical conditions such as severe malabsorption, some types of cancer, and kidney disease requiring hemodialysis.

What happens if I don’t get enough vitamin C?

Vitamin C deficiency is rare in the United States and Canada. People who get little or no vitamin C (below about 10 mg per day) for many weeks can get scurvy. Scurvy causes fatigue, inflammation of the gums, small red or purple spots on the skin, joint pain, poor wound healing, and corkscrew hairs. Additional signs of scurvy include depression as well as swollen, bleeding gums and loosening or loss of teeth. People with scurvy can also develop anemia. Scurvy is fatal if it is not treated.

What are some effects of vitamin C on health?

Scientists are studying vitamin C to understand how it affects health. Here are several examples of what this research has shown.

Cancer prevention and treatment

People with high intakes of vitamin C from fruits and vegetables might have a lower risk of getting many types of cancer, such as lung, breast, and colon cancer. However, taking vitamin C supplements, with or without other antioxidants, doesn’t seem to protect people from getting cancer.

It is not clear whether taking high doses of vitamin C is helpful as a treatment for cancer. Vitamin C’s effects appear to depend on how it is administered to the patient. Oral doses of vitamin C can’t raise blood levels of vitamin C nearly as high as intravenous doses given through injections. A few studies in animals and test tubes indicate that very high blood levels of vitamin C might shrink tumors. However, more research is needed to determine whether high-dose intravenous vitamin C helps treat cancer in people.

Vitamin C dietary supplements and other antioxidants might interact with chemotherapy and radiation therapy for cancer. People being treated for cancer should talk with their oncologist before taking vitamin C or other antioxidant supplements, especially in high doses.
Cardiovascular disease

People who eat lots of fruits and vegetables seem to have a lower risk of cardiovascular disease. Researchers believe that the antioxidant content of these foods might be partly responsible for this association because oxidative damage is a major cause of cardiovascular disease. However, scientists aren’t sure whether vitamin C itself, either from food or supplements, helps protect people from cardiovascular disease. It is also not clear whether vitamin C helps prevent cardiovascular disease from getting worse in people who already have it.
Age-related macular degeneration and cataracts

Age-related macular degeneration (AMD) and cataracts are two of the leading causes of vision loss in older people. Researchers do not believe that vitamin C and other antioxidants affect the risk of getting AMD. However, research suggests that vitamin C combined with other nutrients might help slow AMD progression.

In a large study among older people with AMD who were at high risk of developing advanced AMD, those who took a daily dietary supplement with 500 mg vitamin C, 80 mg zinc, 400 International Units (IU) vitamin E, 15 mg beta-carotene, and 2 mg copper for about 6 years had a lower chance of developing advanced AMD. They also had less vision loss than those who did not take the dietary supplement. People who have or are developing the disease might want to talk with their doctor about taking dietary supplements.

The relationship between vitamin C and cataract formation is unclear. Some studies show that people who get more vitamin C from foods have a lower risk of getting cataracts. However, further research is needed to clarify this association and to determine whether vitamin C supplements affect the risk of getting cataracts.
The common cold

Although vitamin C has long been a popular remedy for the common cold, research shows that for most people, vitamin C supplements do not reduce the risk of getting the common cold. However, people who take vitamin C supplements regularly might have slightly shorter colds or somewhat milder symptoms when they do have a cold. Using vitamin C supplements after cold symptoms start does not appear to be helpful.

Can vitamin C be harmful?

Taking too much vitamin C can cause diarrhea, nausea, and stomach cramps. In people with a condition called hemochromatosis, which causes the body to store too much iron, high doses of vitamin C could worsen iron overload and damage body tissues.

The daily upper limits for vitamin C include intakes from all sources—food, beverages, and supplements—and are listed below.

Life Stage	Upper Limit (per day)
Birth to 12 months	Not established
Children 1–3 years	400 mg
Children 4–8 years	650 mg
Children 9–13 years	1,200 mg
Teens 14–18 years	1,800 mg
Adults	2,000 mg

Interaction with Medications or Supplements?

Vitamin C dietary supplements can interact or interfere with medicines that you take. Here are several examples:

Vitamin C dietary supplements might interact with cancer treatments, such as chemotherapy and radiation therapy. It is not clear whether vitamin C might have the unwanted effect of protecting tumor cells from cancer treatments or whether it might help protect normal tissues from getting damaged. If you are being treated for cancer, check with your health care provider before taking vitamin C or other antioxidant supplements, especially in high doses.

In one study, vitamin C plus other antioxidants (such as vitamin E, selenium, and beta-carotene) reduced the heart-protective effects of two drugs taken in combination (a statin and niacin) to control blood-cholesterol levels. It is not known whether this interaction also occurs with other statins. Health care providers should monitor lipid levels in people taking both statins and antioxidant supplements.

Tell your doctor, pharmacist, and other health care providers about any dietary supplements and medicines you take. They can tell you if those dietary supplements might interact or interfere with your prescription or over-the-counter medicines or if the medicines might interfere with how your body absorbs, uses, or breaks down nutrients.

Vitamin C and healthful eating

People should get most of their nutrients from food and beverages, according to the federal government’s Dietary Guidelines for Americans. Foods contain vitamins, minerals, dietary fiber, and other components that benefit health. In some cases, fortified foods and dietary supplements are useful when it is not possible to meet needs for one or more nutrients (for example, during specific life stages such as pregnancy).

Summary

Vitamin C supplements have been marketed for many conditions. Ultimately, it's the best treatment for vitamin C deficiency.

As an antioxidant and anti-inflammatory, vitamin C has been studied for its uses in heart disease prevention, gout, immunity, and more.

It is best to get vitamin C from your food. But if you don't, a supplement can help you meet your goals. Talk to your healthcare provider before taking supplements.

The right dosage depends on several factors, including age and medical conditions. In addition, vitamin C can interact with certain medications and cause side effects at high levels, so it is important to discuss with your healthcare provider whether supplementation is appropriate for you.

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