13 Scientifically Proven Benefits of Vitamin C

Vitamin C is one of the most well-known vitamins. It's a water-soluble, essential vitamin. This means your body can't produce it on its own, so you must get it from food or a supplement.

Vitamin C is best known for its antioxidant properties, safety, and low price. It's often used, among other things, to treat cold symptoms.

An antioxidant protects your body against damage caused by free radicals (such as UV radiation or air pollution).

But what types of vitamin C are there? And what are its benefits? In this article, I'll explain the different types of vitamin C and its 13 scientifically proven benefits ! 

Because vitamin C is an essential vitamin, your body cannot produce it on its own. Therefore, it's important to eat plenty of foods rich in vitamin C, such as kiwis or oranges.

You can also choose to take a vitamin C supplement. There are currently three generations of vitamin C on the market:

L-ascorbic acid is the natural form of vitamin C and is the least expensive compared to the other forms. It is a very weak acid and is well tolerated by most people, except those who are acid-sensitive.

Examples of mineral ascorbates include calcium ascorbate, sodium ascorbate, and magnesium ascorbate. In these supplements, vitamin C is bound to a mineral, which reduces the acidity of the vitamin C. Mineral ascorbates are a good choice for anyone looking for vitamin C that is less harsh on the stomach than L-ascorbic acid.

Ester-C is a complex of calcium ascorbate and vitamin C metabolites with higher bioavailability. This means it's a version of vitamin C that's better absorbed by your body. This is the newest and most absorbable version of L-ascorbic acid.

All three different vitamin C supplements offer the same health benefits for your body. In recent years, extensive research has been conducted into these benefits.

Below you will find 13 benefits of vitamin C, along with various scientific studies that support this:

Vitamin C is primarily known as an antioxidant, meaning it helps combat free radicals in the body. These free radical compounds can cause damage when you have too much of them in your body.

Your body uses antioxidants to keep these free radicals under control. Vitamin C contributes to protection against free radicals and external influences. This is good for maintaining healthy cells and tissues. (1)

Healthy cardiovascular systems are important for everyone. All your organs depend on the blood supply. Unhealthy blood vessels can prevent various vital organs from receiving enough blood.

Vitamin C contributes to the production of collagen in your body. Collagen is important for maintaining supple veins and strong blood vessel walls, among other things. A collagen deficiency is detrimental to your blood vessels.

In fact, vitamin C is important for the health of your blood vessels, because collagen formation is essential for the proper functioning of the blood vessels. This has been shown in a study of obese children. (2)

Vitamin C is not only important for your blood vessels but also for normal bone function. For example, vitamin C contributes to the maintenance of strong bones and plays a role in bone formation.

A study has shown that vitamin C is good for maintaining strong bones. No adverse effects have been reported, which suggests that vitamin C is safe to use. (3)

A vitamin C deficiency affects collagen production. And collagen contributes to the maintenance of strong bones. Taking a vitamin C supplement is therefore good for your bones. This is measured based on bone mineral density. (4)

Healthy bones and healthy cartilage. Who wouldn't want that? Because vitamin C contributes to collagen production in your body, it's good for the production of cartilage in joints.

Vitamin C is also good for maintaining healthy cartilage. Its antioxidant properties offer protection against inflammation in your joints. This has been shown in a study of the effect of vitamin C on cartilage health. (5)

This is because the vitamin is water soluble and can therefore react with various aqueous free radicals and reactive forms of oxygen.

A vitamin C deficiency can therefore lead to reduced collagen production. Joints contain a lot of collagen-rich connective tissue, which means a collagen deficiency could cause problems.

Many studies have been done on the cause of joint problems related to collagen deficiency. (6)

Iron is an important mineral that plays a variety of roles in your body. For example, iron is essential for the production of red blood cells and the transport of oxygen.

Vitamin C increases the absorption of iron from food by your body.

In fact, 100mg of vitamin C has been shown to increase iron absorption by 67%. (7)

Essentially, the vitamin provides your body with extra iron. This is very beneficial for people prone to iron deficiency, as it can help reduce the risk of anemia.

An iron deficiency can lead to reduced red blood cell production, which causes anemia. Do you have low iron levels in your blood? Then vitamin C can help improve your iron absorption. (8)

Healthy skin gives you a well-groomed appearance. For this, it's important that you produce enough collagen. Vitamin C contributes to collagen production and thus to maintaining healthy skin.

Vitamin C is a very important part of your skin's immune system. It's transported to your skin, where it can act as an antioxidant. This helps strengthen your skin from within. (12)

Healthy skin contains a lot of vitamin C, especially in the outer layer of the skin. Vitamin C keeps your skin healthy by protecting it from oxidative damage caused by UV radiation and exposure to pollutants like cigarette smoke or ozone. (13)

Vitamin C is a powerful antioxidant that promotes mental resilience and a clear mind. It even has several benefits for your psychological function, such as improving your mood, learning performance, concentration, and memory.

Vitamin C deficiency is involved in your memory and thinking ability. In addition, a high vitamin C intake has been shown to have a protective effect on your thinking and memory as you age. (14)

It has also been shown that people with good mental balance and normal concentration have higher concentrations of vitamin C in their bodies compared to other people. (15)

Beautiful, healthy teeth: that's something everyone wants. And vitamin C can definitely help! It contributes to collagen formation, which is good for maintaining strong teeth.

Collagen can help heal wounds in your mouth. In addition, too little collagen has been linked to tooth loss. This is because collagen is made up of fibers found in the tissues that make up teeth and bones. (16)

A collagen deficiency can cause weakened gums, which can lead to bleeding. A vitamin C supplement can help stimulate collagen production. (17)

Vitamin E is a fat-soluble vitamin that also functions as an antioxidant. This vitamin doesn't dissolve in water, unlike vitamin C. Vitamin E plays a role in regulating cellular metabolism, among other things.

Vitamin C can help maintain the activity of vitamin E by returning vitamin E to its active form. (18)

I'll try to explain it simply for you... Vitamin C and vitamin E are both antioxidants, meaning they protect your body from free radical damage.

Vitamin C scavenges water-soluble free radicals (outside your cells), while vitamin E scavenges free radicals within your membranes (inside your cells). When vitamin E attacks free radicals within your membranes, the vitamin binds to them.

Vitamin C regenerates vitamin E by essentially taking over these free radicals from vitamin E, so they have a place to fight new free radicals in your cells. This even happens through your membranes, so vitamin C doesn't have to enter your cells for this. (19)

Your nervous system is essentially a network of nerves that receive information from your senses and transmit it to your brain. Your brain also sends signals to the rest of your body via your nervous system.

In fact, your nervous system ensures that your entire body is connected.

Your brain and spinal cord form the central part of your nervous system. The connections from there to your muscles and organs form the peripheral part of your nervous system. These two parts work together to keep your body functioning optimally.

Vitamin C contributes to the normal functioning of your nervous system. This means it plays an important role in the functioning of your nerves. This is because it is an important antioxidant and therefore participates in many different cellular functions. (20)

Your body produces energy in the form of ATP. This molecule is comparable to gasoline, which powers your car. ATP is produced in your mitochondria. This is one of the organelles in your body's cells, just as the engine is a component of your car.

Mitochondria produce energy. Some cells that use a lot of energy (like muscles) have thousands of mitochondria, while other cells have only a few hundred. In your mitochondria, proteins, fats, and carbohydrates are converted into energy in the form of ATP. (21)

Energy production in your mitochondria is vital to life and plays a role in many bodily processes, such as your physical strength and endurance. Mitochondria can be damaged and even die when exposed to free radicals.

Vitamin C contributes to normal energy-yielding metabolism because it helps protect your body against these free radicals and promotes your energy metabolism. (22)

Fatigue can have many different causes. It's not always immediately clear why you're so tired all the time. However, vitamin C has been proven to help reduce fatigue.

As previously discussed, vitamin C is good for your blood iron levels. This iron level is responsible for healthy oxygen transport in your blood. Too little oxygen to your body's cells can, in turn, lead to fatigue. (23)

One of the first signs of a vitamin C deficiency is fatigue. Fatigue can even occur before a complete deficiency develops. A vitamin C supplement can help counteract these symptoms after just a few days of moderate intake or within 24 hours of a high dose of vitamin C. (24)

In this article, we've outlined 13 scientifically proven benefits of vitamin C. If you're considering taking a vitamin C supplement to supplement your diet, there are several important things to know.

The general maintenance dose of vitamin C for adults is 1-2 grams per day. It's best to use vitamin C in combination with other antioxidants. This creates a strong interaction because they essentially "recycle" each other.

Also, always make sure you use a high-quality vitamin C supplement!