Ought to I Take Vitamin C Each Day? Science Says There’s a Higher Approach

In the event you’re standing in a grocery retailer aisle overwhelmed by produce gadgets and vitamin C dietary supplements, we will relate. Vitamin C dietary supplements characterize a $2 billion business that markets every part from gummies to drink powders that increase immunity and power¹, and the sheer variety of merchandise can shortly begin to really feel paralyzing.

However does it need to be this sophisticated? As an antioxidant that gives a mess of properties that help immune well being, vitamin C advantages just about everybody. You doubtless already know you must be assembly your day by day vitamin consumption, however you will not be positive easy methods to match it into your day by day routine. So right here’s the multi-billion greenback query: “Ought to I take vitamin C on a regular basis?”

Past that, there’s additionally nonetheless the query of how a lot you need to take and the way you need to take it. Ought to I take a complement? Is it higher to only devour vitamin C-rich meals and drinks? Let’s dig into the myths surrounding vitamin C, a comparability of vitamin C dietary supplements and vitamin C-rich meals gadgets, and the varied types of preparation and consumption for the very best vitamin C retention. 

The $2 Billion Query: Myths and Advertising within the Trade

The complement business might want you to suppose which you can’t reap the complete advantages of vitamin C by yourself with out a little capsule. However is vitamin C supplementation actually vital for optimum well being? As you’ll see as we discover the myths of vitamin C, you could be higher off by yourself than you suppose.

Frequent advertising guarantees of vitamin C dietary supplements vary from stopping the widespread chilly to boosting power. However not all of those claims are essentially rooted within the reality. Though vitamin C can and does present immune help, the declare about widespread chilly prevention isn’t precisely true — it’s extra a tactic used to persuade customers to buy a vitamin C complement. Let’s check out some widespread vitamin C myths and the reality behind the advertising. 

MYTH #1: “Dietary supplements stop colds”

A research assessment from 2023 experiences that in comparison with placebo, vitamin C consumption of round 1 gram per day considerably decreased the severity of the widespread chilly by 15%². Though this highlights that vitamin C may also help with symptom administration, analysis doesn’t present that vitamin C can stop colds for the overall inhabitants^3,4.

There’s, nevertheless, an exception: elite athletes akin to marathoners or skiers who’re uncovered to quick bouts of maximum bodily stress present potential to cut back their widespread chilly danger by 50% with vitamin C consumption⁵. 

Lastly, though vitamin C could not stop colds altogether, usually taking vitamin C earlier than any chilly signs start could shorten the length of your chilly by 8 to 14%⁶.

MYTH #2: “Extra vitamin C = stronger immunity”

Okay, so we’ve addressed that though vitamin C can’t essentially stop the widespread chilly, it may nonetheless make a distinction in the way you expertise a chilly. However now you could be questioning, “How a lot vitamin C ought to I take day by day?”

Though you would possibly assume that the extra vitamin C the higher, increased doses of vitamin C don’t equal stronger immunity. It’s because the plasma vitamin C saturation happens at 200 milligrams (mg) day by day⁷ — taking mega doses of vitamin C is not going to present any additional profit. 

In truth, the physique actually can’t take up extreme quantities of vitamin C (suppose 2000 mg day by day), and doses this excessive can really trigger destructive negative effects like diarrhea, nausea, and abdomen cramps^4,8. In uncommon circumstances, extreme doses of vitamin C may even trigger kidney stones or negatively affect the well being of these with kidney issues, iron overload dysfunction, or hereditary hemochromatosis⁴.

MYTH #3: “Vitamin C dietary supplements are simply nearly as good as meals”

Due to the brightly coloured labels and curated claims, you could suppose that vitamin C dietary supplements are more practical than your common glass of orange juice. However the reality is that with regards to the battle of vitamin C dietary supplements vs. meals, there’s no purpose why you may’t get all of your vitamin C wants from nourishing meals and snacks. 

Right here’s the place the chips fall if you examine dietary supplements to vitamin C-rich meals.

Bioavailability

Specialists report that the bioavailability of vitamin C in dietary supplements and meals is mainly equal^9,10. The important thing distinction is that if you devour vitamin C-rich meals, your consumption of vitamin C is usually a lot decrease than a single dose of a vitamin C complement. The smaller dose means your physique is ready to take up it far more effectively.

A 2025 research assessment experiences that vitamin C-rich meals consumption ranges between 30 and 180 mg/day, with absorption effectivity starting from 70 to 90%¹¹. This quantity declines to under 50% when consumption exceeds 1 g/day, which is a typical dietary complement dose. The surplus vitamin C merely will get excreted by urine, so there’s actually no have to overdo it.

Entire Meals Matrix Benefit

One surprising benefit of getting your nutritional vitamins from meals reasonably than dietary supplements has to do with the entire meals matrix. What this implies is that by consuming vitamin C and antioxidant elements like bio flavonoids through meals, you’re additionally consuming dietary fiber and different cofactors discovered within the fruit and veggies wealthy in vitamin C. This may also help additional improve bioavailability of quite a lot of vitamins, basically unlocking this crucial vitamin to assist your physique higher take up and make use of it^10,12. 

So though you may definitely get a better dose of vitamin C by a dietary complement, vitamin C-rich meals take the win with regards to the complete bundle.

The Verdict

Based mostly on the breakdown of those myths, it’s not solely ample so that you can get your vitamin C from meals — it could be the popular option to do it. Nevertheless, that doesn’t essentially imply that you need to throw away these dietary supplements you simply invested in.

Vitamin C dietary dietary supplements should be applicable for individuals with vitamin C deficiencies, as a better dose can be warranted to deliver an individual as much as wholesome vitamin C serum ranges. Vitamin C dietary dietary supplements could have an enhanced bioavailability when the physique is in a depletion state, so there are circumstances the place they might present professional help¹¹. And there’s nothing mistaken with reaching for a complement when you recognize you’ve failed to satisfy your wants for the day — however you need to use them as a back-up, reasonably than an excuse to not eat well-rounded meals. 

For most individuals although, vitamin C from meals sources will present essentially the most total well being advantages. In the event you’re on the lookout for steering on easy methods to get vitamin C naturally, try our article on meals sources of vitamin C.

Vitamin C Value Evaluation of Meals vs. Dietary supplements

Based mostly on the day by day advisable consumption of vitamin C for ladies (75 mg per day), let’s have a look at the price evaluation evaluating a vitamin C dietary complement to hitting consumption wants from vitamin C-rich meals^13,14,15,16.

• Dietary supplements: $0.05 or extra/day = Assuming consumption of remoted ascorbic acid tablets at a 75 mg vitamin C serving.
• Meals (primarily based on knowledge from January 2026): Round $0.30-$1.00/day = By consuming cheap vitamin C-rich meals like oranges, you might be able to attain your day by day wants with only a single fruit. 

Based mostly on pure day by day price evaluation, vitamin C dietary supplements could also be cheaper than fruit. Nevertheless, you must also take into account that vitamin C-rich meals present further vitamins like antioxidants, potassium, fiber, and extra — to not point out the truth that you doubtless already eat many vitamin C-rich meals with out realizing it.

How Cooking Destroys Vitamin C

Okay, so we will agree that it’s doable to hit all of your vitamin C wants by meals. But it surely’s additionally not nearly what you eat — it’s additionally about how you eat it. 

A Warmth-Delicate Nutrient

One thing to remember with regards to consuming vitamin C-rich meals is that publicity to warmth destroys vitamin C. To protect your nutritional vitamins as a lot as doable and retain vitamin C content material in your meals, cooking strategies ought to restrict warmth publicity.

For instance, consultants counsel you keep away from boiling as a result of vitamin C is a water-soluble vitamin⁴. This implies it’s going to leach into any cooking liquid, and is subsequently misplaced throughout strategies that require the meals to be soaked in water (until the individual consumes the liquid together with the merchandise being cooked)^4,8.

A 2019 research assessment exhibits that boiling may cause as much as round 50-94% lack of vitamin C in greens like potatoes when boiled and reheated or held in a sizzling pan earlier than serving¹⁷.  A 2020 research exhibits that tomato juice heated at temperatures between 158 and 194 levels Fahrenheit had vital vitamin C loss, with increased temperatures inflicting extra loss¹⁸.

Cooking Strategies Ranked

Since some vitamin C-rich produce like potatoes and broccoli are cooked in quite a lot of dishes, it’s good to know the easiest way to cook dinner them with out dropping an excessive amount of vitamin C. Listed below are our rankings for cooking strategies from finest to worst by way of vitamin C retention^19,20,21:

• BEST: Steaming or uncooked. The very best option to retain vitamin C in your fruit and greens is to not cook dinner them in any respect — uncooked prep retains 100% of vitamin C. Nevertheless, steaming vitamin C-rich produce falls fairly near consuming uncooked produce, retaining nearly the entire vitamin C.
• BETTER: Microwaving or stir-frying. While you desire a cooking technique that’s quick however nonetheless retains most of your vitamin C, stir-frying or microwaving for a brief interval is the best way to go. These strategies solely trigger roughly 15-25% lack of vitamin C, so that you’ll nonetheless get the vast majority of your produce’s vitamin content material.
• WORST: Boiling. Boiling vitamin C-rich produce will leach essentially the most vitamin, at round a median of a 50-90% loss.

The Cookware Secret

Some cookware is designed for increased temperatures than others — so it’s no shock that totally different supplies may cause extra vitamin C loss. For instance, forged iron and aluminum cooking pans retained simply 61-72% of vitamin C from the produce examined, as in comparison with 85-94% retention with stainless-steel and titanium cookware²².

To maximise your vitamin C consumption, keep away from cooking with uncooked forged iron, carbon metal, unlined copper, and aluminum cookware. These kind of cookware don’t inherently destroy vitamin C, however they do retain extra warmth than different cookware supplies. In the end, this implies you expose your vitamin C-rich meals to extra oxygen, warmth, and moisture that may oxidize the vitamin.

As a substitute of the above cookware choices, persist with pans that may expose your meals to much less warmth, like stainless-steel, ceramic, and enameled forged iron^22,23. Glass cookware can be an excellent possibility to offer a impartial floor for getting ready vitamin C-rich meals²⁴.

When Dietary supplements Truly Make Sense

Most individuals can get pleasure from optimum immune safety merely from incorporating vitamin C-rich produce into their weight loss plan. However there are some teams of individuals that will profit from consuming a vitamin C complement for additional help. Let’s check out people which are at larger danger of vitamin C deficiency because of both elevated oxidative stress publicity, nutrient absorption points, or diminished nutrient consumption¹³.

Elevated publicity to oxidative stress

Nutrient absorption points

• These with malabsorption situations like Crohn’s illness or celiac illness
• Individuals who have had intestinal surgical procedure or a historical past of bariatric surgical procedure

Diminished nutrient consumption

The Backside Line

In the end, for those who’re nonetheless asking your self “do I want vitamin C dietary supplements?”, the reply is: it relies upon. For most individuals, entire meals gadgets containing vitamin C are essentially the most helpful supply of vitamin C. In the event you’re not an excessive athlete, smoker, or in any other case liable to deficiency, you’re doubtless higher off specializing in consuming a rainbow of antioxidants from fruit and veggies for the simplest and nutrient-dense immune safety.

Sources: 

1. https://www.fortunebusinessinsights.com/vitamin-c-market-110676
2. https://pmc.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/articles/PMC10712193/
3. https://pmc.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/articles/PMC7166744/
4. https://www.well being.harvard.edu/vitamin/myths-and-truths-about-vitamin-c
5. https://www.cochrane.org/proof/CD000980_vitamin-c-preventing-and-treating-common-cold
6. https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/23440782/
7. https://www.cambridge.org/core/journals/proceedings-of-the-nutrition-society/article/what-is-the-optimal-intake-of-vitamin-c/2E5F1A5B1A64266EF996A59B4776839E
8. https://nutritionsource.hsph.harvard.edu/vitamin-c/
9. https://lpi.oregonstate.edu/mic/nutritional vitamins/vitamin-C/supplemental-forms
10. https://pmc.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/articles/PMC7393990/
11. https://pmc.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/articles/PMC12608462/
12. https://www.tandfonline.com/doi/10.1080/10408398.2023.2232880?url_ver=Z39.88-2003&rfr_id=ori:rid:crossref.org&rfr_dat=cr_pubpercent20percent200pubmed
13. https://ods.od.nih.gov/factsheets/VitaminC-HealthProfessional/#h4
14. https://businessanalytiq.com/procurementanalytics/index/ascorbic-acid-vitamin-c-price-index/
15. https://www.selinawamucii.com/insights/costs/united-states-of-america/citrus-fruits/
16. https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/31706353/
17. https://tutorial.oup.com/ijfst/article/54/1/291/7805488
18. https://tutorial.oup.com/ijfst/article/55/1/201/7805618
19. https://agriculture.institute/food-fundamentals-fv/thermal-processing-storage-nutrients-food-quality
20. https://pmc.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/articles/PMC6049644/
21. https://pmc.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/articles/PMC2722699/
22. https://pmc.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/articles/PMC8249525
23. https://tutorial.oup.com/ijfst/article/54/1/291/7805488
24. https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/37330033/ 

Staci has been a registered dietitian since 2010 and has handled a whole bunch of sufferers for nutrition-related points ranging from … Extra about Staci Gulbin, Registered Dietitian

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