Do You Need to Take a Vitamin C Supplement?
In this video, I’m going to discuss who should take vitamin C supplements, how much vitamin C is needed daily and the potential benefits and harms of vitamin C.
Vitamin C is a water-soluble vitamin that is naturally present in certain foods. Humans are unable to synthesize vitamin C and have to obtain Vitamin C from foods or supplements.
Vitamin C is required for the production of collagen and some neurotransmitters. Collagen plays a critical role in wound healing. Vitamin C is also an important antioxidant and plays an important role in immune function. It enhances the absorption of iron in plant-based foods.
People with vitamin C deficiency can suffer from fatigue, depression, connective tissue defects like inflammation of the gums, skin bruises, internal bleeding, impaired wound healing etc.
Fruits and vegetables are the best sources of vitamin C. This table shows the vitamin C content in selected foods. The DV at the right upper corner indicates daily value. The daily value of vitamin C in this table is 90 mg.
Vitamin C deficiency is uncommon in developed countries but can still occur in certain groups of people.
The following groups of people are at risk of vitamin C insufficiency.
Smokers and passive “smokers”
Infants fed with evaporated or boiled cow’s milk
Individuals with limited intakes of fruits and vegetables
People with severe intestinal malabsorption
Some cancer patients
People with Chronic kidney disease on hemodialysis
People at risk of vitamin C insufficiency should take vitamin C supplements.
Here is a table of the recommended dietary allowances for vitamin C. As you can see here, adults, pregnant women, breast feeding mothers and smokers require higher doses of vitamin C.
There are a few benefits of taking vitamin C supplements.
Taking High dose of vitamin C 500 mg with 400 IU vitamin E, 15 mg beta-carotene, 80 mg zinc, and 2 mg copper might slow the progression of Age-related macular degeneration in people at high risk.
The use of vitamin C supplements can also shorten the duration of the common cold and lessen its symptom severity in the general population.
Because Vitamin C enhances the absorption of iron in plant-based foods, it can also help People with iron deficiency anemia.
Although vitamin C is essential to health, taking excessive amount of vitamin C can be harmful.
For example, high doses of vitamin C intake can cause nausea, abdominal cramps, diarrhea and other gastrointestinal disturbances.
In individuals with hereditary hemochromatosis, high doses of vitamin C can exacerbate iron overload and cause tissue damage.
vitamin C supplements can also increase urinary oxalate and uric acid excretion, which may contribute to kidney stones.
Some studies have shown that high intakes of vitamin C can cause oxidative tissue damage and lower vitamin B12 and copper levels.
Because of the potential harms from taking excessive amount of vitamin C, the Tolerable Upper Intake Levels for Vitamin C have been established as shown in this table.