Vitamin C can be found in food particularly fruit and vegetables such as kiwifruit, citrus fruits, broccoli, brussels sprouts etc. It is a vitamin that the body cannot make or store and therefore needs to be consumed on a regular basis. Vitamin C has become a popular supplement, most likely due to its low cost and the belief that it can prevent/ease the common cold. But can a Vitamin C supplement really be of benefit to us?
Research has concluded that Vitamin C supplements have no effect on the incidence of the common cold, but regular supplementation has been found to reduce the duration of the common cold by 8%. Therapeutic vitamin C supplementation, (Vitamin C that is taken to treat a cold, so therefore is not taken until a person has a cold) did not replicate these results, and no consistent change was seen in severity/duration of the cold. Currently there are no associated risks with the supplementation of vitamin C. Researchers opinion is that the level of benefit currently seen from vitamin C supplementation does not justify the need for long term supplementation. As mentioned early the body does not store Vitamin C so if you don’t need it, it will be removed from the body in your urine.
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Last modified: January 26, 2022
