Vitamins & Minerals
Individual Vitamins and Minerals
What does vitamin C do?
Vitamin C is required for a wide range of functions within the body including:
- synthesis of collagen which gives the skin strength and elasticity.
- synthesis of adrenaline, - one of our most important stress hormones
- promotion of digestion of fat and absorption of iron.
- synthesis of carnitine, which is important in energy production.
- stimulation of detoxification functions performed by the liver
In addition to these, vitamin C is one of the most important antioxidants in the body, where it helps to neutralise harmful ‘free radicals’, and generally boost the functionality of the immune system. Vitamin C is found in all tissues in the body, particularly the brain, liver, adrenal gland and eyes.
How much vitamin C do we need?
The Recommended Daily Allowance (RDA) for vitamin C is 60mg, and this is sufficient to prevent deficiency diseases such as scurvy. However, there is great debate about whether this level is optimal for general health and prevention of disease, with many nutritionists advocating nearer to 500mg as the optimum daily dose. This figure is supported by the recognised guideline of eating between 5 and 8 portions of fruit and vegetables every day which itself would provide between 300mg and 400mg per day. As such, in the absence of achieving this dietary target of fruit and vegetables, the SC panel recommends intake of vitamin C of between 200mg and 500mg per day.
Why consider a vitamin C supplement?
Most multivitamin and multivitamin and mineral products contain vitamin C at around the RDA level of 60mg. Therefore to achieve the intake levels of vitamin C associated with high consumption of fruit and vegetables (200-500mg) or if you want to deliver a boost to the immune system (500-2000mg), it is necessary to supplement with a higher potency product.
Most individual vitamin C supplements now provide between 500-1000mg vitamin C per dose. Vitamin C supplements which provide less than 200mg tend to be poor value for money and many multivitamins may provide a similar level for not much more cost.