Vitamin C Guide

One of the above servings of fruits or vegetables will give you more than 100% of the national recommended daily intake (in the UK) for Vitamin C. (1)

That’s one bell pepper,

one single orange,

one kiwi,

or one cup of broccoli at dinnertime.

Other notable mentions include asparagus, papaya, cantaloupe, cauliflower, broccoli, brussels sprouts, green peppers, grapefruit, kale, lemons, and strawberries.

Fruits and vegetables also contain fibre which is vital for #guthealth

If your track calories and macros you can find your vitamin C intake along with a few others on the ‘Nutrition’ page in the MyFitnessPal app.

We need to intake vitamin C (also known as ascorbic acid) daily as it cannot be created or stored in the body. For this reason vitamin C is considered an essential vitamin.

Fortunately it’s not too tricky to get in if the diet contains some fruits and vegetables like the ones above.

I don’t think vitamin C supplementation is necessary for the majority of individuals capable of consuming it from the diet.

I don’t think megadosing vitamin C supplements is a wise idea either.

‘Over a range of usual vitamin C intakes (30–180 mg/ day) from food, vitamin C absorption is about 70% to 90%. Absorption of the vitamin decreases with increased intake; for example, 16% is absorbed at high intakes (∼12g) versus 98% absorbed at low intakes (<20 mg). At intakes above 1g, less than 50% of vitamin C is typically absorbed. ‘ (2)

^ The body is smart. If we are in need, we will absorb. Megadosing is unlikely to present an issue as Vit C is water soluble but it’s also less likely to be absorbed well, so appears to not be worth your time or money.

Refs:

(1) https://www.nhs.uk/conditions/vitamins-and-minerals/vitamin-c/

(2) Gropper, S., Smith, J. and Carr, T. (2017). Advanced nutrition and human metabolism. 7th ed.