What To Look For

You care about staying healthy and giving your body the tools it needs to survive and to thrive. That’s why picking a quality vitamin C supplement is important to you.

Vitamin C is also known as ascorbic acid and is a nutrient found in many foods, most recognizably in citrus foods.¹ Vitamin C supports your health by acting as an antioxidant and protecting you from free radical damage. It also makes a protein called collagen, that helps you heal faster. There are so many benefits to vitamin C, you certainly don’t want to short change your body and miss out.

The problem comes when you go to the store or shop online and are suddenly confronted by all the vitamin C options available. That’s why our team of ShopOwl researchers put together this quick guide to help you choose a vitamin C supplement that supports your health the right way.

How Do Vitamin C Supplements Work?

Vitamin C comes naturally from many fruits and vegetables, but it can be difficult to get the appropriate amounts of vitamin C on a daily basis without a carefully constructed diet or a supplement. It’s also important to note that just storing or cooking a food can reduce the amount of vitamin C it contains—so even that carefully planned diet can fall short without a supplement.

Vitamin C as a supplement can come in the form of ascorbic acid, sodium ascorbate, calcium ascorbate or others and they all appear to provide virtually the same benefits.

While vitamin C deficiency in the United States is rare these days, it can occur and cause scurvy and the following symptoms associated with scurvy: inflammation of the gums, skin spots, joint pain, poor wound healing, depression, bleeding gums, and loose teeth.

Scurvy is fatal if not treated. Of course, unless you are a pirate, this is not going to be much of a problem. The problems for most Americans in lacking vitamin C are more chronic and less obvious than teeth falling out.

Beyond the worries of vitamin C deficiency, high intake of vitamin C may decrease your risk of certain types of cancer, cardiovascular disease, age-related eye issues, the common cold, and other illnesses.²

While the benefits of a vitamin C supplement are easily identifiable, picking which supplement to take is not as easy. How do you decide what’s right for you, and what are important features when selecting a vitamin C supplement?

Beware Of Dosing And Price

Not all vitamin C supplements are straightforward in the amount of vitamin C in each dose, sometimes a dose is more than one pill or gummy. The number of vitamins in each container needs to be considered and the prices can vary widely by product or name brand. Make sure you’re comparing apples to apples, and you’re looking at the dosing amounts and the price.

As an extra note of caution, make sure you know what your daily recommended dietary allowance for vitamin C is. ³ This changes for men and women as well as at different stages in your life.