Vitamin Supplements

In general, vitamin C appears to be relatively safe for most people, even when consumed in fairly large quantities over long periods of time. Doses as high as 10 g per day (more than 100 times the RDA) for several years do not have any toxic effect for some people. The body tends to excrete (in the urine) any vitamin C it can’t put to use, thereby preventing toxic buildup. Some studies, however, have shown that toxic symptoms can occur in daily doses of as little as 1 g. Read the rest of this entry »

Before you decide that you need to take vitamin supplements or change the way you eat, you should know where you stand and how much improvement you really need. To help you analyze your current diet, we’ve developed a system you can use to calculate your approximate vitamin C intake. Following is a list of vitamin C food sources, arranged according to the percentage of our Optimal Daily Allowance of vitamin C contained in them. Read the rest of this entry »

If you answer yes to any of the following questions, you have an above-average risk of developing a vitamin C deficiency.

• Do you smoke? Studies show that smokers need at least twice as much vitamin C as nonsmokers, because smoking increases the rate of breakdown of this vitamin.

• Are you an older person? Older people often take medications that enhance the breakdown of vitamin C. In addition, many older people have poor dietary habits—sometimes because they are on limited budgets or Read the rest of this entry »