Throughout chilly and flu season, vitamin C turns into the star of many medication cupboards and pantries. This highly effective micronutrient has confirmed itself to be very important for immune assist, making it additional essential within the chilly winter months1.
Fortunately, nature rises to the event to ship precisely what we want. Winter is the height season for vitamin C-rich meals like citrus fruits2. Simply when your physique is in search of additional assist, citrus fruits are at their optimum taste and freshness to assist.
And if you happen to’re not a citrus fruit fan, don’t fear — there are tons of different meals wealthy in vitamin C to show to, from bell peppers to strawberries. So if you happen to’re seeking to assist immunity with out taking a complement, let’s take a deeper take a look at what meals to eat, how a lot you want, and a few meal plans to assist your consumption.
What Is Vitamin C and Why Does It Matter?
Vitamin C is a water-soluble vitamin, which suggests it could possibly’t be saved within the physique — so it needs to be consumed day by day3. Together with being a precursor for essential compounds like collagen for pores and skin well being, vitamin C additionally enhances iron absorption4. And let’s not neglect the antioxidant properties of vitamin C that make it so useful for immune well being assist.
Antioxidants like vitamin C assist struggle free radicals within the physique that may trigger cell injury5. Due to this, vitamin C and different antioxidants may help cut back continual illness threat, assist wound therapeutic, and improve immune operate3. With out sufficient vitamin C in your weight loss plan, you could be in danger for vitamin C deficiency, also called scurvy, which we’ll discuss extra about later6.
How A lot Vitamin C Do You Want Day by day?
Adults have various vitamin C wants, with the really helpful dietary allowance (RDA) of vitamin C at round 75 milligrams (mg) for ladies, 90 mg for males, and an extra 35 mg for people who smoke4. People who smoke want extra vitamin C as a result of smoking produces an extreme quantity of free radicals, and in flip depletes vitamin C ranges7.
Many research even suggest greater than the RDA of vitamin C for optimum well being. The “candy spot” for vitamin C to assist immune well being and cut back threat of getting a chilly is 200 mg day by day8,9. However like something in life, it’s additionally attainable to have an excessive amount of of a superb factor. The higher restrict for vitamin C per day is 2,000 mg — greater than this could trigger diarrhea, complications, and gastrointestinal discomfort in some folks10.
20+ Meals Wealthy in Vitamin C
Now that you understand why vitamin C is nice for you, let’s take a look at some meals sources of vitamin C that you could add to your weight loss plan at present to reap the advantages. A few of them would possibly shock you! Think about saving this listing to your cellphone in your subsequent journey to the grocery retailer or farmer’s market. Examples of vitamin C meals sources, together with their vitamin C content material and approximate day by day worth of vitamin C, embrace11,12,13,14,15:
Vitamin C Champions (100mg+)
- Crimson bell peppers: One cup uncooked of candy crimson pepper incorporates 190 mg of vitamin C (212% DV) — that’s much more than oranges!
- Guava: One 55 g guava fruit (with out refuse) incorporates round 125 mg of vitamin C (137% DV).
- Orange juice: One cup of orange juice incorporates round 124 mg of vitamin C (~136% DV).
Winter Citrus Fruits
These fruits are presently of their peak season, so it’s a good time to refill.
- Oranges: One medium orange incorporates 70 mg of vitamin C (78% DV).
- Grapefruit: One-half of a medium grapefruit incorporates 39 mg of vitamin C (43% DV).
- Clementines: One 74 g clementine fruit incorporates round 36 mg of vitamin C (40% DV).
- Kiwi: One medium kiwi fruit incorporates 64 mg of vitamin C (71% DV).
- Papaya: One cup of uncooked papaya incorporates round 88 mg of vitamin C (98% DV).
- Candy potatoes: One medium baked candy potato incorporates round 22 mg of vitamin C (24% DV).
Cruciferous Greens
- Brussels sprouts: One-half cup of cooked Brussels sprouts incorporates 48 mg of vitamin C (53% DV).
- Broccoli: One-half cup cooked of broccoli incorporates 51 mg of vitamin C (57% DV).
- Kale: One cup of uncooked kale incorporates round 19 mg of vitamin C (21% DV).
- Cabbage: One-half cup cooked cabbage incorporates 28 mg vitamin C (31% DV).
- Cauliflower: One-half cup of uncooked cauliflower incorporates 26 mg of vitamin C (29% DV).
Shocking Sources of Vitamin C
- Strawberries: One-half cup of sliced strawberries incorporates 49 mg of vitamin C (54% DV).
- Tomatoes: One medium uncooked tomato incorporates 17 mg of vitamin C (19% DV).
- Tomato juice: One cup of tomato juice incorporates round 44 mg of vitamin C (49% DV).
- Baked white potato: One medium baked white potato incorporates round 17 mg of vitamin C (19% DV).
- Candy inexperienced peppers: One-half cup of inexperienced candy peppers incorporates 60 mg of vitamin C (67% DV).
- Grapefruit juice: One cup of white grapefruit juice incorporates round 93 mg of vitamin C (103% DV).
- Cantaloupe: One-half cup of cantaloupe incorporates 29 mg of vitamin C (32% DV).
Ideas for Vitamin C Retention
In the case of vitamin C-rich produce and juices, correct storage and preparation is essential to vitamin retention. Issues like pH, mild, temperature, and the focus of oxygen can all drastically influence vitamin C preservation16.
Storage
In the case of storage, be sure you maintain vitamin C-rich juices within the fridge at 41 levels Fahrenheit or much less in a sealed glass container for optimum vitamin preservation17,18. For vitamin C-rich produce, eat uncooked produce as quickly as attainable after you buy it, however wait to chop or peel it till proper earlier than you eat or put together it for optimum freshness.
You should definitely retailer uncooked produce within the fridge as nicely, however in hermetic containers — ideally opaque glass containers. This helps cut back publicity to oxygen and moisture, which may have an effect on the vitamin C content material of your meals19. There are specific exceptions, nonetheless — some produce like candy potatoes needs to be stored saved in a dry and darkish location like in a brown bag or closed basket20.
Whether or not you merely retailer it after buying or put together the produce beforehand, be sure you use most refrigerated vitamin C-rich meals inside three to 5 days. Some extra delicate produce like leafy greens could solely stay contemporary for round two days after storage, whereas produce like peppers could keep for up to some weeks within the fridge crisper21.
Preparation
Once you put together meals wealthy in vitamin C, we suggest cooking them rapidly in as little water as attainable. Cooking strategies like steaming or stir frying (fairly than boiling, for instance) assist protect probably the most vitamin C content material. These strategies expose your vitamin C-rich meals to the bottom quantity of warmth and moisture attainable (apart from merely consuming them uncooked).
Recent vs. Frozen
Questioning if you happen to’ll nonetheless get the identical vitamin C advantages from these frozen strawberries you place in your smoothie this morning? You may be stunned. A examine that in contrast vitamin retention in eight vegatables and fruits when frozen vs. contemporary discovered that the frozen produce had comparable OR sometimes increased vitamin content material than their contemporary counterparts22.
It’s because frozen greens are usually harvested at peak ripeness earlier than being frozen and packaged inside a number of hours, whereas contemporary vegatables and fruits are typically picked earlier than they’re ripe so that they don’t spoil throughout transportation. This implies they’ve much less time on the plant to develop a full vary of nutritional vitamins and minerals, plus they usually sit for lengthy durations of time in storage earlier than ever arriving in your kitchen.
Then again, the blanching course of that’s usually used to prepare dinner greens earlier than frozen can cut back vitamin C content material — so on the entire, you’re an nearly negligible distinction between contemporary and frozen. Take your choose!
Your 200 mg Day by day Problem: Meal Plan Concepts
If you wish to be sure that you eat the “candy spot” of 200 mg of vitamin C day by day, attempt certainly one of these three beginning factors for sensible meal plans.
Winter Citrus Lover
We love this one as a result of it highlights present peak season produce that you could simply buy in these winter months. In the event you’re leaning into this plan, take pleasure in a number of candy potatoes and citrus fruits to achieve your vitamin C targets. Strive having half a grapefruit and an orange at breakfast, one other orange as a snack, and embrace one medium candy potato at dinner to hit your day by day 200 mg vitamin C objective.
Veggie-Targeted
This plan has the added bonus of serving to you hit your fiber targets alongside your vitamin C targets. Lean into greens at most meals and unfold out your consumption. For instance, attempt a kale, cauliflower, and broccoli salad at lunch — you’ll hit half of your day by day objective in a single meal. Then throw some roasted Brussels sprouts and cabbage as sides in your protein at dinner and you may name it a day.
Price range-Pleasant
In the event you’re on a meals funds, there are nonetheless loads of methods to hit your 200 mg of vitamin C day by day with out breaking the financial institution. For instance, even simply beginning your day with a glass of orange juice does an enormous quantity of labor in direction of your objective. Then attempt a baked white potato with a facet of frozen broccoli or cauliflower for dinner and also you’ll be good to go.
Indicators of Vitamin C Deficiency
Though uncommon, vitamin C deficiency can happen in sure at-risk populations, together with these with alcohol use dysfunction, consuming problems, restricted diets, malabsorption problems, or restrictive diets7. And as talked about earlier than, people who smoke are additionally extra in danger for vitamin C deficiency8.
Vitamin C deficiency signs embrace7:
- Frequent infections
- Fatigue
- Bleeding gums
- Straightforward bruising
- Pores and skin rashes
- Delayed wound therapeutic
FAQs
The fruit with probably the most vitamin C on this planet is a Kakadu plum, a uncommon fruit present in Australia which incorporates 2300 to 3150 mg of vitamin C per 100 grams of contemporary weight23. Essentially the most vitamin C-rich fruit present in the US is guava.
Crimson and inexperienced bell peppers, or candy peppers, comprise extra vitamin C than oranges!
It might be very tough to eat greater than the higher restrict of two,000 mg of vitamin C day by day, since most meals don’t comprise vital quantities of vitamin C. Our our bodies additionally excrete this water-soluble vitamin all through the day, so your threat actually is low.
In the event you do handle to eat greater than 2,000 mg of vitamin C day by day via meals alone, it is going to seemingly not trigger a lot hurt apart from gastrointestinal results like nausea and diarrhea in some folks.
Taking vitamin C when you find yourself already sick is not going to essentially make your illness go away. Nevertheless, research recommend that taking vitamin C earlier than you get sick could shorten the period and severity of chilly signs if you happen to do get sick, so it’s all the time a good suggestion to remain on high of standard consumption24.
Sources:
- https://www.mdpi.com/2072-6643/9/11/1211
- https://pmc.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/articles/PMC7571178/
- https://ods.od.nih.gov/factsheets/VitaminC-HealthProfessional/
- https://pmc.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/articles/PMC12640369/
- https://pmc.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/articles/PMC12085410/
- https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/books/NBK493187/
- https://pmc.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/articles/PMC12173858/
- https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/books/NBK279544/
- https://pmc.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/articles/PMC12655283/
- https://pmc.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/articles/PMC12441711/
- https://www.nal.usda.gov/websites/default/information/page-files/Vitaminpercent20C.pdf
- https://fruitsandveggies.org/weblog/whats-in-season-winter/
- https://fdc.nal.usda.gov/food-details/173044/vitamins
- https://fdc.nal.usda.gov/food-details/168195/vitamins
- https://fdc.nal.usda.gov/food-details/168421/vitamins
- https://pmc.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/articles/PMC8619176/#sec6-foods-10-02630
- https://www.researchgate.web/publication/374183400_Stability_of_Vitamin_C_Content_in_Plant_and_Vegetable_Juices_under_Different_Storing_Conditions
- https://www.fns.usda.gov/fs/produce-safety/storage
- https://pmc.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/articles/PMC8619176/#sec6-foods-10-02630
- https://www.fns.usda.gov/fs/produce-safety/storage
- https://extension.umaine.edu/food-health/2025/05/29/storing-and-washing-fresh-fruits-and-vegetables/
- https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/25526594/
- https://pmc.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/articles/PMC10056586/
- https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/38082300/
