What is vitamin C?

Vitamin C (also known as L-ascorbic acid or ascorbate) is a natural antioxidant. This vitamin can be found in a variety of fresh foods, mainly fruits and vegetables.

Vitamin C is essential in keeping you healthy and your body functioning well.

Why is vitamin C important for my health?

Vitamin C has many important functions in the body, including:

• keeping your skin, bones, blood vessels and connective tissue healthy
• helping with wound healing
• keeping your immune system healthy
• helping your body absorb iron from the food you eat

There is some research to show that vitamin C may also reduce the length of severe common cold symptoms.

You should have vitamin C regularly as part of a healthy diet.

What foods are high in vitamin C?

Vitamin C is found in many fruits and vegetables.

Fruits high in vitamin C:

• citrus fruits such as oranges, grapefruit and lemons
• kiwi fruit
• tomatoes
• strawberries
• blackcurrants
• guava

Vegetables high in vitamin C:

• broccoli
• capsicum (peppers)
• brussels sprouts
• cabbage
• cauliflower
• potatoes

The amount of vitamin C in fruits and vegetables varies, and can be influenced by:

• the season
• how the fruits and vegetables are transported to the shops
• the shelf life of products
• storage time
• how you cook them

Eating fresh fruit and vegetables is ideal, because cutting, bruising, cooking and exposing food to certain materials can destroy the vitamin C.

How much vitamin C do I need?

The Australian Government publishes a Recommended Dietary Intake (RDI) for vitamins.

You can get enough vitamin C by eating about 8 strawberries or a small orange each day.

If you are concerned about your vitamin C intake, keep a food diary to record what you eat. You can also talk to your doctor or dietitian.

Can I have too little vitamin C?

It's possible to not get enough vitamin C from your diet if you don't eat enough fresh fruit and vegetables.

Symptoms of a lack of vitamin C can include:

• a tendency to bruise or bleed easily
• bleeding gums
• wobbly teeth
• poor wound healing
• skin spots — due to bleeding and bruising from broken blood vessels
• hair loss

Vitamin C is not stored in your body, so deficiency can happen quickly.

You can be at increased risk of vitamin C deficiency:

• if you don't eat enough fruit and vegetables on a long-term basis
• if you smoke
• after an illness or surgery — especially surgery to your small bowel

Sometimes, vitamin C deficiency (a lack of vitamin C) can lead to scurvy.

Should I take vitamin C supplements?

The best way to give your body the vitamins it needs is to eat a varied diet that includes:

• a variety of fresh fruit and vegetables
• healthy proteins, such as lean meats and poultry, fish, eggs, dairy, nuts, seeds, legumes and beans

Some people may need to take vitamin supplements to avoid vitamin deficiencies and stay healthy. Vitamin supplements may be recommended if you:

• are on a restrictive diet
• have certain health conditions, such as Crohn's disease or surgery to your small bowel

Vitamin C supplements may reduce the effectiveness of some medicines used to treat cancer.

Before taking any vitamin supplements, speak with your doctor or an accredited dietitian.

Do vitamin C supplements cause side effects?

When taken as directed, vitamin C supplements taken by mouth do not usually cause many side effects.

Always talk to your doctor before you start taking supplements and follow the instructions on the package.

Taking too much vitamin C supplement can cause:

• abdominal (tummy) pain or cramps
• diarrhoea
• flatulence
• kidney stones

High doses of vitamin C can also interfere with the way your body absorbs other essential nutrients, such as iron.

Do not take more than 1,000 mg per day in the form of a vitamin C supplement.

If you are concerned that you have taken too much of a vitamin C supplement, call the Poisons Information Centre (13 11 26) immediately.

Resources and support

See the Australian Guide to Healthy Eating.

Dietitians Australia has information on healthy eating and finding a dietitian.

Health Translations has information about fruit and vegetables in languages other than English.

You can also call the healthdirect helpline on 1800 022 222 (known as NURSE-ON-CALL in Victoria). A registered nurse is available to speak with 24 hours a day, 7 days a week.