How many vitamin c per day

Preparing for the holidays? I'm 79 years old and have been taking 3, mg of vitamin C a day for years. I'm now uneasy about taking this amount and plan to cut back to 1, mg daily. Is this the right vitamin c dose? Will my body be startled by the abrupt change?

Cutting back on daily vitamin C is a wise decision. You've been taking much more vitamin C than you need. Vitamin C, or ascorbic acid, plays a role in many vital functions, including metabolism and immunity. We can't make vitamin C in the body, so we need to get it from dietary sources. It's found in high concentrations in many fresh fruits and vegetables see the chart ; it's also available in most multivitamins and as a single-ingredient supplement. In large population studies, people who eat lots of fruits and vegetables high in vitamin C appear to have a reduced risk for various types of cancer, including cancers of the mouth, esophagus, stomach, colon, and lung.

But it's not clear that these benefits come specifically from vitamin C. The Age-Related Eye Disease Study found that a daily supplement containing milligrams mg of vitamin C, international units IU of vitamin E, 15 mg of beta carotene, 80 mg of zinc, and 2 mg of copper can help slow the progression of macular degeneration, an age-related eye disease that causes vision loss.

But we don't know what benefits, if any, are conferred by vitamin C in particular. Many people take vitamin C supplements in unnecessarily high doses to prevent or treat various conditions for which its effectiveness is unproved.

The vitamin C supplements have variously been touted for preventing cardiovascular disease and osteoarthritis, staving off sunburn, and improving the appearance of wrinkles. None of these purported benefits have been verified in scientific studies. Perhaps the best-known and most widely promoted use of high-dose vitamin C is to prevent or treat the common cold. However, in January , this will increase to 90 mg 8. The RDA for Vitamin C ranges from 15—75 mg for children, 75 mg for adult women, 90 mg for adult men, and 85— mg for women who are pregnant or breastfeeding.

Vitamin C is essential for overall health and wellness, and the nutrient may particularly benefit certain conditions. In fact, vitamin C supplements may help prevent infection, while a deficiency of the vitamin appears to make you more susceptible to infection 13 , 14 , Thus, individuals with iron deficiency might benefit from increasing their vitamin C intake 17 , Regularly getting 1—2 grams of vitamin C per day may reduce the duration of common cold symptoms and boost your immune system.

It might also help prevent iron deficiency anemia. Typically, the best sources of vitamin C are fruits and vegetables. The table below displays the vitamin C content and contribution to the recommended Daily Value DV for some of the best food sources of the nutrient 8. The best food sources of vitamin C are fruits and vegetables. The nutrient is easily destroyed by heat, so consuming these foods raw might maximize your nutrient intake. When looking for a vitamin C supplement, you might see the nutrient in a couple different forms 8 :.

Choosing a supplement with ascorbic acid is usually a good choice, as it has a high level of bioavailability, meaning your body absorbs it easily 8 , 19 , 20 , Additionally, given that most multivitamins contain ascorbic acid, choosing a multivitamin will not only boost your vitamin C intake but also your intake of other nutrients.

Vitamin C supplements come in a variety of forms. Choose a supplement with ascorbic acid to make it easier for your body to absorb the nutrient. Although vitamin C has an overall low toxicity risk in healthy individuals, consuming too much of it can cause some adverse gastrointestinal side effects , including cramps, nausea, and diarrhea 11 , Individuals with hemochromatosis should be particularly cautious when taking vitamin C supplements.

Vitamin C is a water-soluble vitamin and essential antioxidant that plays many roles in your body. It supports wound healing, collagen formation, and immunity. Vitamin C supplements should meet the RDA and stay well below the established UL — for young children, 1, mg for kids aged 9—13, 1, mg for teens, and 2, mg for adults. Here are several examples of what this research has shown. 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. But 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. 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. 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 mg vitamin C, 80 mg zinc, 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.

But further research is needed to clarify this association and to determine whether vitamin C supplements affect the risk of getting cataracts.

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. 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:.