Vitamin C: How to Eat and Supplement for Cell-Level Benefits

If you don’t appreciate how good a body fed with Vitamin C can feel, you probably aren’t getting enough. When your cells have a constant influx of Vitamin C, your immune system is ready to take on anything, your skin resists age, your gut is strong, and you withstand stress.

Vitamin C is the foundation of health, but modern stressors deplete our already low levels of Vitamin C. That’s why smart supplements — that deliver Vitamin C to the cells where it does its work — can make a difference.

What Is Vitamin C?

Vitamin C powers your immune response, collagen production, and antioxidant defenses. Millennia before modern science, the importance of Vitamin C to health was apparent. 

Vitamin C History

Before anyone understood the concept of micronutrients, the thinkers of the day recognized the importance of Vitamin C-rich foods in the diet.

• 400 BC: Hippocrates describes symptoms of fatal Vitamin C deficiency, scurvy.
• 1747: British surgeon James Lind links scurvy recovery with citrus.
• 1795: Scurvy is eradicated in British navy by introducing citrus rations.
• 1912: Polish-Hungarian biochemist Kazimierz Funk introduces the concept of vitamins and names Vitamin C.
• 1928: Hungarian chemist Albert Szent-Györgyi isolates Vitamin C.
• 1933: British chemist Walter Haworth leads a team that figures out how to synthesize Vitamin C.
• 1937: Szent-Györgyi and Haworth win the Nobel Prizes for Vitamin C-related feats.
• 1970: Chemist Linus Pauling publishes best-selling book about Vitamin C.
  
  

Why We Need to Consume Vitamin C

Before documented history and the innovations of the ancient Greeks like Hippocrates, early humans may have produced their own Vitamin C. Modern humans have a gene to make the enzyme that would allow our bodies to produce our own Vitamin C from the sugar in our blood. The problem is, our liver cells can’t decode the gene to make the enzyme.

Researchers believe this is gene to be evidence of early humans’ ability to produce Vitamin C in the liver — just like most mammals — that mutated over generations, potentially due to our consumption of Vitamin C foods.

Other mammals, like goats, produce their own Vitamin C and can multiply that production 10-fold in response to stress.

Vitamin C is a water-soluble antioxidant

Water-soluble nutrients don’t accumulate in the body. Any extra that your cells can’t immediately absorb flushes out of your system. This means you can’t overdose on a water-soluble nutrient like Vitamin C, but it also means cells have difficulty getting optimal amounts, and require a near-constant influx from food and supplements.

As an antioxidant, Vitamin C fights dangerous free radicals that damage tissue and cause cell dysfunction in water-based areas of the body. This includes:

• Blood
• Immune cells
• Eyes
• Brain and nervous system
• Skin
• Lungs
• Muscles
• Liver
• Adrenal glands
  
  

Vitamin C Health Benefits

Once absorbed, your cells use Vitamin C to power several processes that keep you alive and resilient.

Immune System Support

Like a car with no gas, immune system cells can not function without Vitamin C. It helps produce and grow all the elements responsible for your ability to withstand threats.

• Immune system communication response: Vitamin C helps make interferon, which so cells can protect themselves, and cytokines, the proteins that transmit information from white blood cells.
• White blood cells: Vitamin C feeds white blood cells so they can fight pathogens, make antibodies, attack bad cells, and keep you resilient.
• Antioxidant: Vitamin C neutralizes oxidative stress that weakens immune cells.
• Hydrogen peroxide: Vitamin C interacts with hydrogen peroxide to kill invading microorganisms.
• Histamine: Vitamin C detoxifies histamine for an effective immune response.
• Vaccines and antibiotics: Vitamin C can make some bacteria more welcoming to antibiotics and can support immunity effects of vaccines.
  
  

Skin Health

The appearance of your skin as you age depends on Vitamin C — from texture to tone.

• Skin firmness and elasticity: Vitamin C stimulates collagen production, so you can mitigate the natural decline that comes with age. Diminished or damaged collagen shows as fine lines and wrinkles.
• Sun damage: Too much sun causes oxidative stress in the skin, damaging collagen, making uneven pigmentation changes, and thinning the outer layer. You skin cells increase Vitamin C receptors after sun exposure, signaling a need for this powerful antioxidant to absorb and fight off the damage.
• Skin texture: You need Vitamin C to produce the lipids making up the moisture barrier that keeps skin smooth and hydrated.
• Wound healing: By supporting collagen, Vitamin C helps wounds heal while leaving minimal scarring.
  
  

Stress & Adrenal Function

Remember how goats increase their Vitamin C production in response to stress? That’s because a stressed body needs Vitamin C for a healthy, helpful response.

• Hormone production: Vitamin C is required to produce cortisol, the hormone that allows you to focus and respond to stress. The fight-or-flight hormones adrenaline and noradrenaline are also dependent on Vitamin C.
• Hormone management: Vitamin C also assists in preventing excessive cortisol, which can cause ill effects from stress.
• Antioxidant capabilities: Stress causes an influx of free radicals which, if left unchecked, can cause oxidative stress. Vitamin C helps neutralize these substances before they become harmful and recharge other antioxidants, like Glutathione and Alpha Lipoic Acid.
• Immune resilience: Because of how much Vitamin C is needed to produce these hormones and fight oxidative damage, your body burns through it during times of high stress and leaves little for your immune system. Higher Vitamin C levels can mitigate this issue.
  
  

Metabolic Health

• Iron absorption: Your blood needs iron to deliver oxygen from the heart to tissues and muscles. Vitamin C helps you absorb iron from foods (particularly tougher-to-absorb plant-based sources) so your body can use it.
• Carnitine synthesis: Vitamin C is required to make carnitine, an amino acid that plays an essential role in converting dietary fats to energy.
• Gut lining: Collagen helps keep the gut barrier strong and less permeable to substances that shouldn’t be there. This supports healthy digestion.
  
  

Brain & Cognitive Support

• Neurotransmitters: Vitamin C is directly involved in creating the molecules that comprise your brain’s communication network. Your ability to think and remember depends on neurotransmitters.
• Blood-brain barrier: Another significant part of the body with a high collagen concentration is the barrier that keeps bad stuff out of your brain and lets the good nutrients in.
  
  

Bone + muscle health

• Collagen production: Again, this comes down mostly to collagen as its presence in muscle cells, ligaments, tendons, cartilage, and bone determines much of their strength and resilience.
• Calcium incorporation: To form and maintain high-density bone material, you need Vitamin C to help calcium assimilate into the bone and fight the oxidative stress that works against this process. 
  
  

Eye health

• Cornea: The barrier covering the iris and the pupil depends on collagen to protect the eye and support vision.
• Antioxidant: Vitamin C fights free radicals that can damage vision while regenerating Vitamin E that fights free radicals in the fat-based retina.
  
  

Best Vitamin C Food Sources

Vitamin C is found in many fruits and vegetables. The following offer the highest doses.

• Red bell pepper
• Kiwi
• Strawberries
• Broccoli
• Brussels sprouts
• Pineapple
• Mango
• Tomato
• Cantaloupe
  
  

How to maximize Vitamin C in food

• Cook with little water: Because Vitamin C is water-soluble, boiling leaches the antioxidant out of your food. That means less Vitamin C for you and more for your kitchen sink. Steam Vitamin C-rich veggies when possible to retain the most Vitamin C.
• Pressure cook: The combination of steam, speed, and relatively low heat preserves Vitamin C better than high-heat or long-cook methods.
• Sous-vide: Sealing food in a bag protects Vitamin C from oxygen that degrades it. The low heat also helps preserve the nutritional content.
• Buy local produce: When a fruit or vegetable is disconnected from its plant, nutrients start to degrade. Buying local means less time off the vine.
• Eat with the seasons: Produce is at its most nutrient dense when it is in season.
• Choose frozen over canned: Freezing keeps nutrient levels stable while canning exposes fruits and vegetables to high temperatures that degrade nutrients.
  
  

Are You Getting Enough Vitamin C?

Common Vitamin C deficiency symptoms

• Easy bruising
• Dry, spitting hair
• Weak nails
• Slow wound healing
• Bleeding or swollen gums
• Dry, rough skin
• Weight gain
• Nosebleeds
  
  

Who May Need More Vitamin C

• Smokers
• Athletes
• People with chronic stress
• Frequent travelers
• People taking certain medications that deplete Vitamin C 
• Older adults
  
  

How much Vitamin C do you need?

The recommended daily allowance (RDA) is 75–90 mg per day. That’s the bare minimum to avoid potentially fatal Vitamin C deficiency, scurvy. Research suggests a far higher amount is warranted, with many studies showing profound benefits at 1,000 mg per day.

Supplementing with Vitamin C

For those with higher Vitamin C demands, risk of depletion, or just want to ensure their bodies have sufficient raw material for collagen production and immune health, supplements are a popular option.

Vitamin C Absorption Is Difficult

Vitamin C works inside the cells, but the process to get there from the mouth is wrought with challenges.

1. Vitamin C enters the digestive system.
2. Transporter proteins attach to Vitamin C to deliver to the bloodstream.

Any Vitamin C that isn't picked up by the proteins leaves your body as waste.

3. Vitamin C arrives in the bloodstream.
4. Transporter proteins attach to Vitamin C to deliver to the cells.

Any Vitamin C that isn’t picked up by the proteins leaves your body as waste.

5. A fraction of the Vitamin C consumed enters the cells.

The proteins that transport Vitamin C are primarily responsible for delivering glucose to the cells. These proteins are in limited supply, leaving much Vitamin C unabsorbed and passed as waste. Consuming sugar at the same time as Vitamin C further diminishes absorption.

IV Vitamin C injections bypass the digestive system, but still require transporter proteins from the bloodstream to the cells.

That’s why cell-level delivery is so important.

Types of Vitamin C Supplements

Vitamin C gummies: Like candy with some nutritional value, gummies are fun to take and easy to swallow. The problem is the sugar actively competes with Vitamin C for absorption, making them an unreliable way to get Vitamin C into the cells where you need it.

Vitamin C pills: Although rarely containing sugar, Vitamin C pills often contain too much Vitamin C for your body to absorb. This results in some digestive discomfort as your body rids itself of the excess.

Vitamin C powders: Some popular Vitamin C powders can contain up to seven times more sugar than Vitamin C, making their effectiveness dubious.

Liposomal Vitamin C: By wrapping Vitamin C in tiny spheres made of the same material as your cell membranes, liposomal Vitamin C delivers the antioxidant for absorption in your cells. Reputable liposomal supplement brands do so without using sugar or artificial sweeteners.

What Is Liposomal Vitamin C?

Liposomes are tiny spheres made of the same phospholipids as your cell membranes that, when wrapped around a nutrient like Vitamin C, deliver it into the cells for absorption.

Originally developed for targeted delivery of life-saving cancer drugs, liposomes:

• Protect nutrients from destruction in the digestive system
• Deliver Vitamin C into the cell’s power centers without using valuable cellular energy
• Merge into the cells to fortify the cell membrane

How to Choose a High-Quality Liposomal Vitamin C

Any brand can claim to be liposomal, but there are several clues on the label that will reveal whether a product is legitimately encapsulated in liposomes to deliver Vitamin C into the cells.

1. Water or another liquid: Required to form liposomes.
2. At least as high phospholipid content as key nutrient: Ensures enough material for encapsulation.
3. Few other ingredients aside from a preservative (ethanol a.k.a., alcohol) and possibly an acidity regulator (citric acid or potassium hydroxide): No other ingredients are necessary.
4. No sugar, artificial sweeteners, artificial flavors, binders, or fillers: These are only added when a company is trying to compensate for lack of efficacy with taste.

Real, high-quality liposomal Vitamin C supplements:

• Do not dissolve in water. Liposomes are fat-based and the supplement should maintain a blood shape when poured into water.
• Are sold in single-dose packages. Liposomes degrade quickly in air, so repeated opening of a bottle over the course of a month can make them ineffective.
• Contain phosphatidylcholine in the liposomes for additional brain, liver, and cell health benefits.
  
  

Putting it all together

Vitamin C is a foundational nutrient for the skin, brain, eyes, metabolism, musculoskeletal system, and immune systems. Since humans cannot produce it, consuming enough Vitamin C on a daily basis is critical to keep our bodies ready to respond to anything.

Fresh, in-season fruits and vegetables are the strongest food sources, but the amounts needed during stressful periods may exceed what you can eat. Liposomal supplements that target the cells provide elite absorption so you can feel the benefits of cells fed with Vitamin C.

Frequently Asked Questions

Is 1,000 mg of Vitamin C too much?

1,000 mg of Vitamin C may be too much from traditional supplements like pills, powders, and gummies due to poor absorption, which can cause gastric distress. 1,000 mg of Vitamin C delivered in liposomes is widely considered an optimal dose.

What is the best form of Vitamin C to take?

Liposomal Vitamin C enables elite absorption at higher doses. It also delivers the benefits of the essential phospholipids in the liposomes.

What are the benefits of taking Vitamin C supplements?

Vitamin C is critical for proper immune, brain, and metabolic function, as well as vital in the production of collagen for strong skin, muscles, tendons, gut lining, and more. Vitamin C is also a potent antioxidant that fights oxidative stress in many tissues of the body.

Scientific References

Duarte TL, Cooke MS, Jones GD, “Gene expression profiling reveals new protective roles for vitamin C in human skin cells” Free Radic Biol Med 2009 Jan 1 46(1):78-87.

Hashem MA, et al, “A rapid and sensitive screening system for human type I collagen with the aim of discovering potent anti-aging or anti-fibrotic compounds” Mol Cells 2008 Dec 31 26(6):625-30.

Qiao H, et al, “Ascorbic acid uptake and regulation of type I collagen synthesis in cultured vascular smooth muscle cells” J Vasc Res 2009 46(1):15-24.

Boyera N, Galey I, Bernard BA, “Effect of vitamin C and its derivatives on collagen synthesis and cross-linking by normal human fibroblasts” Int J Cosmet Sci 1998 Jun 20(3):151-8.

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Marionnet C, et al, “Morphogenesis of dermal-epidermal junction in a model of reconstructed skin: beneficial effects of vitamin C“ Exp Dermatol 2006 Aug 15(8):625-33.

Rebouche CJ, “Ascorbic acid and carnitine biosynthesis” Am J Clin Nutr 1991 Dec 54(6 Suppl):1147S-1152S.

Naidu KA, “Vitamin C in human health and disease is still a mystery? An overview” Nutr J 2003 Aug 21 2:7.

Gabbay KH, et al, “Ascorbate synthesis pathway: dual role of ascorbate in bone homeostasis” J Biol Chem 2010 Jun 18 285(25):19510-20.

Yalin S, et al, “Is there a role of free oxygen radicals in primary male osteoporosis?” Clin Exp Rheumatol 2005 Sep-Oct 23(5):689-92.

Park JB, “The Effects of Dexamethasone, Ascorbic Acid, and β-Glycerophosphate on Osteoblastic Differentiation by Regulating Estrogen Receptor and Osteopontin Expression” J Surg Res 2010 Oct 8.

Hie M, Tsukamoto I, “Vitamin C-deficiency stimulates osteoclastogenesis with an increase in RANK expression” J Nutr Biochem 2011 Feb 22(2):164-71.

Sheweita SA, Khoshhal KI, “Calcium metabolism and oxidative stress in bone fractures: role of antioxidants” Curr Drug Metab 2007 Jun 8(5):519-25.

Saito M, “Nutrition and bone health. Roles of vitamin C and vitamin B as regulators of bone mass and quality” Clin Calcium 2009 Aug 19(8):1192-9.

Maehata Y, et al, “Type III collagen is essential for growth acceleration of human osteoblastic cells by ascorbic acid 2-phosphate, a long-acting vitamin C derivative” Matrix Biol 2007 Jun 26(5):371-81.

Pasco JA, et al, “Antioxidant vitamin supplements and markers of bone turnover in a community sample of nonsmoking women” J Womens Health (Larchmt) 2006 Apr 15(3):295-300.

Sugiura M, et al, “Dietary patterns of antioxidant vitamin and carotenoid intake associated with bone mineral density: findings from post-menopausal Japanese female subjects” Osteoporos Int 2011 Jan 22(1):143-52

Ruiz-Ramos M, et al, “Supplementation of ascorbic acid and alpha-tocopherol is useful to preventing bone loss linked to oxidative stress in elderly” J Nutr Health Aging 2010 Jun 14(6):467-72.

Zinnuroglu M, et al, “Prospective evaluation of free radicals and antioxidant activity following 6-month risedronate treatment in patients with postmenopausal osteoporosis” Rheumatol Int 2011 Jan 8.

Content adapted from Primal Panacea by Thomas E. Levy, MD, JD.