Just How Much Vitamin C Do You Need For Optimum Health?

Many benefits of vitamin C have been identified since the consumption of citrus fruit was first recognised as the immediately effective cure and preventative for the scurvy which so dreadfully afflicted the long distance sailors of a few centuries ago.

Numerous studies have recognised the vitamin as a possible protector against coronary heart disease, stroke, atherosclerosis, hypertension and cancer, to name but a few, and it is possible that all of these effects stem ultimately from vitamin C's acknowledged role as a powerful anti-oxidant, active in preventing the free radical damage which is a known cause of premature ageing and many chronic degenerative diseases.

So the absence of acute deficiency diseases such as scurvy in modern affluent societies should not be taken as implying that the typical Western diet contains an adequate intake of vitamin C for optimum long-term health.

The United States Recommended Dietary Allowance (RDA) for vitamin C is 90 mg per day for a healthy, non-smoking man and 75 mg for a woman. But these suggested requirements are increased to 125mg and 110 mg respectively in the case of smokers, a tacit acknowledgement of the increased requirement for this vitamin which increased toxic stress places on the body. But these RDAs nevertheless appear to be set at a level sufficient only to avoid outright deficiency disease.

To be sure of obtaining all the optimum benefits of vitamin C, the authoritative Linus Pauling Institute has recommended a daily minimum intake of at least 400 mg. This amount has been shown to achieve saturation levels of the vitamin within the body's tissues in healthy young adults who are non-smokers. To get this in perspective, even the consumption of the recommended five daily servings of fruits and vegetables may provide just 200 mg of vitamin C, whilst even commercial multi-vitamin supplements typically provide only around 60 mg.