Daily intake of vitamin C is necessary to prevent diseases, but in large quantities it can be harmful.
All vitamins have an essential function in our body. It is important to maintain the necessary amounts of each one since excess or deficiency can affect our health.
Among them, vitamin C is a star nutrient that stands out for its role in protecting the immune system and preventing diseases.
Vitamin C (ascorbic acid) is a water-soluble nutrient present in many foods, mainly in fruits and green leafy vegetables, although it can also be obtained from nutritional supplements.
A healthy person needs between 15 and 120 mg of vitamin C every day, depending on age and sex, but what happens if we consume too much? What are the consequences for our bodies?
The benefits of taking vitamin C in the right amount
If you think of vitamins that are good for your health, vitamin C surely comes to mind, and you are not wrong.
Vitamin C is a super nutrient that protects our immune system and prevents several diseases. A healthy person needs to take between 15 and 120 mg of vitamin C daily: the amounts vary according to age and sex, according to the National Institutes of Health portal.
Thus, when the body gets the right amount of vitamin C, it can take advantage of all its benefits. You probably associate the intake of this nutrient with preventing colds and flu, and you are not wrong, but this natural substance provides much more than that to our health.
Vitamin C protects the membranes of blood vessels and helps produce a protein called collagen, which is essential for forming the structure of the skin and caring for cartilage, tendons, ligaments, and muscles.
In this regard, you may not have known that vitamin C can help reduce dark circles. This is because it has antioxidant properties and plays an essential role in collagen production.
Likewise, vitamin C plays an important role in the absorption of non-heme iron (from the plant kingdom).
Therefore, it is essential for people who follow a vegetarian diet to be strict with their intake of ascorbic acid. Its deficiency can cause poor iron absorption and anemia, for example.
Research has shown the importance of incorporating this nutrient in the treatment of degenerative diseases, such as Alzheimer’s, arthritis, and heart disease, and to reduce the risk of certain types of cancer, such as breast, colon, and lung cancer.
What happens if I take too much vitamin C every day?
The body cannot synthesize vitamin C on its own, nor can it concentrate it. For this reason, it is important to incorporate many foods – especially fruits and green leafy vegetables – that contain this vitamin into the daily diet.
To do this, it is necessary to take into account that for healthy people, a daily consumption of vitamin C of between 15 and 120 mg is suggested, depending on sex and age.
However, just as deficiency has negative health consequences, large amounts (more than 1000 mg per day) of vitamin C can cause serious side effects.
It is unlikely that there is too much vitamin C in the body because the body cannot store the vitamin, but it is still important to know that too much of the nutrient, usually caused by unnecessary or excessive intake of nutritional supplements, can be harmful.
Large amounts of vitamin C in the body can cause stomach pain, diarrhea flatulence, and rarely kidney stones.
Therefore, vitamin C supplementation can be useful in situations of nutritional deficiency or when a specific pathology requires not consuming certain fruits and vegetables.
In any case, whatever the reason, the first thing to do is to consult your doctor so he or she can recommend the necessary dosage.
