How Much Vitamin C is Too Much

Your food consists of essential nutrients such as carbohydrates, proteins, minerals, fats, and vitamins. Vitamins are vital ingredients that are required in sufficient quantities for the proper growth and maintenance of your body. Vitamin C is a water-soluble vitamin, which is mostly found in fruits and vegetables.

It has strong antioxidant properties which protect your body from the harmful effects of free radicals, and thereby boost the immune system. It also helps produce collagen, which is a protein required for faster healing of wounds. It also acts as a catalyst to absorb iron in the body.

Foods rich in vitamin C should be an important part of your diet. The recommended dietary allowance for a healthy adult male and female is 90 mg and 75 mg respectively. For pregnant women, it is about 80-85 mg/day, and for children, it is about 45-65 mg/day. It's consumption slightly above these recommended quantities, cannot be termed as too much.

However, consuming it well above these quantities can come under excess consumption. There have been several experiments in the past, when experts have observed adverse effects of vitamin C toxicity, but such instances rarely occur.

This is because vitamin C is water-soluble, and is not stored in the body. The effects of excessive consumption depend on the body's metabolism as well as the prevailing medical conditions, if any.

The NIH (National Institutes for Health) fact sheet for vitamin C provides the further mentioned values as the tolerable upper intake levels (Uls) as applicable for food and supplement intake w.r.t. age:

• 1-3years - 400mg
• 4-8years - 650mg
• 9-13years - 1200mg
• 14-18years - 1800mg
• Above 19years - 2000

In rare cases, high quantities of this nutrient lead to adverse effects like insomnia, diarrhea, indigestion, renal failure, drowsiness, kidney stones, dental damage, gastritis, abdominal cramps, fatigue, decreased vitamin B12, acid reflux leading to irritation of the esophagus, etc.

The effects of vitamin C intake in case of cancer are controversial, and depend on the type and stage of cancer as well as the precise medical condition of the patient.

In certain types of cancers, intravenous administration of ascorbic acid have shown to aid tumor reduction as compared to dietary intake. However, certain studies reveal that such intravenous administration has led to increased complications during cancer treatment.

Certain advocates of alternative medicines recommend vitamin C injections at a dosage much higher than the recommended intake levels. They claim that it's effective in treating AIDS and cancer. However, there is no concrete scientific evidence for the same. Therefore, it is always consult a medical professional before resorting to any such therapies.

Disclaimer: This story is for informative purposes only, and should not be used as a replacement for professional medical advice.