Vitamin C is an essential nutrient that humans must obtain from their diet. It acts as an antioxidant, helps form collagen, and supports brain and immune health. Deficiency can cause scurvy, with symptoms like bleeding gums, bruising, and fatigue. While rare today, scurvy was historically common among those with limited diets like sailors. The recommended daily intake is 75-90mg for adults, and deficiency is more likely in smokers, alcoholics, and those with poor diets or nutrient absorption issues. High doses from supplements can cause side effects like diarrhea.

1. ASCORBIC ACID

2. Basic Description
• Vitamin C may be the most familiar of all of the nutrients.
• Everyone can name citrus fruits as good sources of
vitamin c.
• It is also a commonly used nutritional supplement.
• The first use of modern scientific methods to assess
disease treatment was when the British navy used foods
containing vitamin c to prevent scurvy among sailors. This
nutrition experiment is among the most important
scientific findings in human history.

3. • Food intake of vitamin C by the average U.S. adult is not much
higher than the Dietary Reference Intake (DRI) level.
• For men in the U.S. 20+ years average intake is 96 milligrams
per day, and for women in the U.S. 20+ years, it is 82
milligrams per day.
• Some animals can make their own vitamin C, but people must
get this vitamin from food and other sources.
• Cooking significantly reduces the concentration of Vitamin C.
• Vitamin C is destroyed by the process of pasteurization, so
babies fed with ordinary bottled milk sometimes suffer from
scurvy if they are not provided with adequate vitamin
supplements.

4. Role in Health Support
• Protection Against Excess Free Radicals
• Vitamin C is probably best known as an antioxidant. This is a
word that we use frequently but don't always stop to think
about in terms of its meaning. Antioxidants are forms of
molecules that help keep chemical reactions in our body in
check.
• Collagen
• Vitamin C is required to produce collagen, a protein that plays a
critical role in the structure of our bodies. Collagen is the
framework for our skin and our bones, and without it, we
would quite literally fall apart.
• Brain Health
• Vitamin C is necessary to make certain neurotransmitters.
These neurotransmitters are the signals that carry thoughts,
feelings, and commands around our brains and throughout our
nervous system.

5. Other benefits of Vitamin C
• Preventing and treating the common cold
• Infections including
• Gum disease acne and other skin infections
• Bronchitis
• Hiv
• Stomach ulcers caused by bacteria called helicobacter pylori
• Tuberculosis
• Dysentery skin infections that produce boils (furunculosis).
Infections of the bladder and prostate.
• Depression, thinking problems, dementia, alzheimer's
disease, physical and mental stress, fatigue, and attention
deficit-hyperactivity disorder (ADHD).

6. • Vitamin C is also used for
• Glaucoma
• Preventing cataracts
• Preventing gallbladder disease
• Dental cavities (caries)
• Constipation
• Lyme disease
• Boosting the immune system,
• Heat stroke
• Hay fever
• Asthma
• Cystic fibrosis
• Infertility
• Diabetes
• Chronic fatigue syndrome (CFS)
• Autism
• Collagen disorders
• Arthritis and bursitis
• Back pain and disc swelling
• Cancer
• Osteoporosis.

7. Dietary Deficiency
• From this standpoint, there isn’t a significant risk for
vitamin C deficiency.
• A lack of vitamin C means that new collagen cannot be
formed.
• This causes various tissues in the body to start to break
down and the health and repair of the body becomes
affected.
• Chronic (persistent) vitamin c deficiency, usually over a
period of around three months or more, can lead to an
illness known as scurvy.

8. • The first symptoms of vitamin C deficiency tend to be:
• Tiredness and weakness.
• Muscle and joint pains.
• Easy bruising.
• Spots that look like tiny, red-blue bruises on the skin.
• Other symptoms can include:
• Dry skin.
• Splitting hair.
• Swelling and discoloration of the gums.
• Spontaneous bleeding from the gums.
• Nosebleeds.
• Poor healing of wounds.
• Problems fighting infections.
• Bleeding into joints, causing severe joint pains.
• Changes in the bones.
• Tooth loss.
• Weight loss.

9. Scurvy
• Disease resulting from a deficiency of vitamin C
• Scurvy was at one time common among sailors, pirates and
others aboard ships at sea longer than perishable fruits and
vegetables could be stored and by soldiers similarly
deprived of these foods for extended periods.
• Scurvy does not occur in most animals as they can
synthesize their own vitamin c
• Symptoms
• Malaise and lethargy
• Pain in a section of the gums which interferes with digestion
• After 1–3 months, patients develop shortness of breath and bone
pain.
• Myalgias may occur because of reduced carnitine production

10. • Other symptoms
• Skin changes with roughness
• Easy bruising and petechiae
• Gum disease
• Loosening of teeth
• Poor wound healing
• Emotional changes
• Dry mouth and dry eyes
• Jaundice
• Generalized oedema
• Oliguria
• Neuropathy
• Fever
• Convulsions
• Death
• Treatment
• Scurvy can be treated by eating vitamin C rich foods, and by
ingesting vitamin C tablets.
en.wikipedia.org

11. How common is vitamin C deficiency?
• Scurvy due to vitamin C deficiency is now thought to be rare in
the UK.
• There are certain groups of people who are more at risk of
vitamin C deficiency. They include:
• Victims of famine, and refugees.
• People dependent on drugs and/or alcohol who may not have a
healthy, balanced diet.
• People who go on fad diets.
• People living on a low income who tend not to buy foods with a high
vitamin C content.
• People with a medical condition that affects the body's ability to
digest and absorb food such as Crohn's disease and ulcerative colitis.
• Older people who may eat a less varied diet.
• Smokers.
• Pregnant and breast-feeding women because they need higher
amounts of vitamin C.

12. Treatment
• The treatment for vitamin C deficiency is to replace the
vitamin C that is lacking in your diet. This can be achieved
by taking vitamin C supplements and by eating a diet rich
in vitamin C.
• However, it is important to continue to eat a diet rich in
vitamin C after the supplements are stopped to make
sure that we do not become deficient in vitamin C again
in the future.

13. Dietary Toxicity
• The National Academy of Sciences has established a
Tolerable Upper Intake Level (UL) of 2000 mg per day for
adults.
• While it is plausible that in rare situations—particularly
with a rich intake of citrus juices—an individual could be
above this UL from foods alone.
• The most common side effects from high doses of vitamin
C are upset stomach and diarrhoea. Other gastrointestinal
symptoms have also been reported, such as abdominal
cramps, headache, heartburn and vomiting.

14. Public Health Recommendations
• 0-6 months: 40 mg
• 6-12 months: 50 mg
• 1-3 years: 15 mg
• 4-8 years: 25 mg
• 9-13 years: 45 mg
• 14-18 years, female: 65 mg
• 14-18 years, male: 75 mg
• 19+ years, female: 75 mg
• 19+ years, male: 90 mg
• Pregnant women, 14-18 years: 80 mg
• Pregnant women, 19+ years: 85 mg
• Lactating women, 14-18 years: 115 mg
• Lactating women, 19+ years: 120 mg

15. SOURCE per 100 gms
1. Peppers (Yellow Bell Peppers) 183.5mg
2. Guavas 228.3mg
3. Dark Green Leafy Vegetables 120mg
4. Kiwi (Green) 92.7mg
5. Broccoli 89.2mg
6. Berries (Strawberries) 58.8mg
7. Citrus Fruits (Oranges) 53.2mg
8. Tomatoes (Cooked) 22.8mg
9. Peas (Mange Tout) 60mg
10. Papaya 60.9mg

16. www.healthaliciousness.com
nutritiondata.self.com
www.whfoods.com
patient.info
Webmd.com
References