Vitamin C is a popular antioxidant best known for its role in supporting immune health. Many people turn to vitamin C supplements to help prevent illness, especially during cold and flu season.
While immune support is one of its top benefits, vitamin C has several lesser-known advantages. Here are four reasons you might consider adding a vitamin C supplement to your routine—along with some of its best sources.
1. Improves Skin Health
One of the classic signs of vitamin C deficiency is slow wound healing and fragile skin. That’s because vitamin C plays a key role in skin health—primarily due to its connection with collagen production. Collagen is an essential protein found in connective tissue, and vitamin C is necessary for the body to produce it.
Without enough vitamin C, your body can’t make sufficient collagen, which can lead to poor skin quality. Vitamin C also works in synergy with another antioxidant, vitamin E, to protect your skin from damage caused by UV rays.
2. Boosts Immune Function
Vitamin C’s role in maintaining healthy skin also helps support your immune system, since your skin is your body’s first line of defense against pathogens. But it goes much further than that.
Vitamin C supports both innate immunity (your body’s first general defense) and adaptive immunity (your body’s targeted response to specific pathogens). Its antioxidant properties help protect healthy cells from oxidative stress.
For athletes, people exposed to cold weather, or those who are borderline deficient, taking at least 200 mg per day may lower the risk of catching a cold. While vitamin C supplements haven’t been shown to prevent colds in the general population, taking them preventively (rather than after getting sick) can reduce the duration and severity of symptoms.
3. May Lower Risk of Cardiovascular Disease
Oxidative damage—caused by too many unstable molecules called free radicals and not enough antioxidants—is believed to be a key contributor to heart disease. Antioxidants like vitamin C may help reduce that risk.
A 2020 study found that taking at least 500 mg of vitamin C per day was associated with lower blood pressure, potentially reducing the risk of cardiovascular problems over time.
4. Helps Your Body Absorb Iron
Vitamin C plays an important role in helping your body absorb non-heme iron—the kind found in plant-based foods. If you’re at risk for iron deficiency, especially if you eat mostly vegetarian or vegan meals, pairing iron-rich foods with vitamin C can boost absorption.
For example, add red bell peppers to your beans, or enjoy oatmeal with seeds and strawberries for a more iron-friendly meal.
How to Take Vitamin C Supplements
Supplements are a convenient way to meet your vitamin C needs. They come in many forms: capsules, powders, gummies, chewables, and liquids.
You can take vitamin C at any time of the day, but splitting your dose or taking it with food may reduce stomach upset caused by its acidity.
Here’s the Recommended Dietary Allowance (RDA) for vitamin C, which varies based on age, sex, pregnancy/lactation status, and smoking:
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0–6 months: 40 mg
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7–12 months: 50 mg
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1–3 years: 15 mg
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4–8 years: 25 mg
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9–13 years: 45 mg
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14–18 years: 75 mg (males), 65 mg (females), 80 mg (pregnant), 115 mg (lactating)
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19+ years: 90 mg (males), 75 mg (females), 85 mg (pregnant), 120 mg (lactating)
Research shows that when you take 30–180 mg per day, your body absorbs 70–90% of it. However, if you consume more than 1,000 mg, absorption drops to less than 50%.