Vitamin C

Vitamin C, also called ascorbic acid, is a water-soluble vitamin necessary for wound healing, immune function, and the synthesis of hormones, amino acids and collagen. Collagen is a protein found in connective tissue, bone, teeth, tendons and blood vessels. Vitamin C also functions as an antioxidant, helping eliminate potentially harmful free radicals from the body.

Food & Beverage Sources

Food sources of vitamin C include green peppers, cauliflower, broccoli, cabbage, potatoes, tomatoes, strawberries, papayas, citrus fruits and fortified ready-to-eat breakfast cereals.

Beverages such as 100% juices, especially citrus juices like orange and grapefruit juice and tomato juice, some juice drinks and fortified juice drinks contain vitamin C.

Recommended Intake Levels

The recommendation for vitamin C is 60 milligrams per day for most women and 75 milligrams per day for most men. Exceptions include smokers, who are recommended to add an extra 35 milligrams of vitamin C daily to help combat the stress from cigarette smoke, and lactating women, who need 100 milligrams per day to provide for the additional needs of their infants. For pregnant women, the recommendation is 70 milligrams per day.

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