Vitamin C is an essential vitamin, which means your body cannot produce it. However, it has many roles and is associated with impressive health benefits.

It is water soluble and is found in many fruits and vegetables including oranges, strawberries, kiwis, peppers, broccoli, kale and spinach.

The recommended daily dose for vitamin C is 90 mg - 100 mg (DGE recommendation) (source 1).

While it is generally recommended to get your vitamin C intake from food, many people are turning to supplements to meet their needs.

Here are 7 scientifically proven benefits of taking a vitamin C supplement.

Vitamin C is a powerful antioxidant that can boost your body's natural defenses (2).

Antioxidants are molecules that strengthen the immune system. They do this by protecting cells from harmful molecules called free radicals

When free radicals accumulate, they can promote a condition known as oxidative stress, which has been linked to many chronic diseases (3).

Studies show that consuming more vitamin C can increase antioxidant levels in the blood by up to 30%. This helps the body's natural defenses to fight inflammation (4, 5).

Approximately 44% of German adults have high blood pressure (6). (If you exclude the under 20 year olds from the survey, i.e. calculate the Germans over 20 years of age, even well over 50% of Germans would be hypertensive patients.)

High blood pressure puts you at risk for heart disease, the leading cause of death worldwide (7).

Studies have shown that vitamin C can help lower blood pressure in both patients with and without hypertension.

An animal study found that taking a vitamin C supplement helped relax the blood vessels that carry blood from the heart, which helped lower blood pressure (8).

In addition, an analysis of 29 human studies found that taking a vitamin C supplement increased systolic blood pressure (the upper value) by 3.8 mmHg and diastolic blood pressure (the lower value) by an average of 3.8 mmHg in healthy adults 1.5 mmHg lowered.

In adults with high blood pressure, vitamin C supplements reduced systolic blood pressure by an average of 4.9 mmHg and diastolic blood pressure by an average of 1.7 mmHg (9).

While these results are promising, it is not clear if the effects on blood pressure are long-term. Additionally, people with high blood pressure should not rely solely on vitamin C for treatment.

Heart disease is the leading cause of death worldwide (7).

Many factors increase the risk of heart disease, including high blood pressure, high triglyceride or LDL cholesterol (bad) and low HDL cholesterol (good).

Vitamin C may help reduce these risk factors, which may reduce the risk of heart disease.

For example, an analysis of 9 studies involving a total of 293,172 participants found that people who took at least 700 mg of vitamin C daily had a 25% lower risk of heart disease after 10 years than people who did not take a vitamin C supplement ( 10).

Interestingly, another analysis of 15 studies found that consuming vitamin C from food - not from supplements - was associated with a lower risk of heart disease.

However, researchers weren't sure if people who consumed foods rich in vitamin C also had healthier lifestyles than people who took supplements. It therefore remains unclear whether the differences are due to vitamin C or other aspects of their diet (11).

Another analysis of 13 studies examined the effects of daily intake of at least 500 mg of vitamin C on risk factors for heart disease, such as blood cholesterol and triglyceride levels.

Analysis showed that taking a vitamin C supplement significantly reduced LDL (bad) cholesterol by approximately 7.9 mg/dL and blood triglycerides by 20.1 mg/dL (12).

Gout is an arthritis. In Germany, 2.8 percent of men and 0.4 percent of women between the ages of 30 and 59 are affected. (13).

It is incredibly painful and involves inflammation of the joints, especially the big toes. People with gout suffer from swelling and sudden, severe attacks of pain (14).

Gout symptoms occur when there is too much uric acid in the blood. Uric acid is a waste product produced by the body. In high concentrations, it can crystallize and deposit in the joints.

Interestingly, several studies have shown that vitamin C can help reduce blood uric acid and thus protect against gout attacks.

For example, a study of 1,387 men found that those who consumed the most vitamin C had significantly lower blood uric acid levels than those who consumed the least (15).

Another study followed 46,994 healthy men over the age of 20 to determine if vitamin C intake was linked to the development of gout. It found that people taking a vitamin C supplement had a 44% lower risk of gout (16).

In addition, an analysis of 13 studies found that taking a vitamin C supplement for 30 days significantly reduced blood uric acid compared to a placebo (17).

While there appears to be a strong association between vitamin C intake and uric acid levels, further studies on the effects of vitamin C on gout are needed.

Iron is an important nutrient that has a variety of functions in the body. It's important for making red blood cells and transporting oxygen throughout the body.

Vitamin C supplements can help improve the absorption of iron from food. Vitamin C helps convert poorly absorbed iron, such as B. plant iron sources, in a form that can be more easily absorbed (18).

This is particularly useful for people on a meat-free diet, as meat is an important source of iron.

In fact, simply consuming 100 mg of vitamin C can improve iron absorption by 67% (19).

As a result, vitamin C may help reduce the risk of anemia in people with iron deficiency.

In one study, 65 children with mild iron deficiency anemia received a vitamin C supplement. Researchers found that supplementation alone helped control their anemia (20).

If you have low iron levels, eating more foods rich in vitamin C or taking a vitamin C supplement may help improve your blood iron levels.

One of the main reasons people take vitamin C supplements is to boost their immune system, as vitamin C is involved in many parts of the immune system.

First, vitamin C promotes the production of white blood cells known as lymphocytes and phagocytes, which protect the body from infection (21).

Secondly, vitamin C helps these white blood cells to function more effectively while protecting them from damage from potentially harmful molecules such as free radicals.

Third, vitamin C is an essential part of the skin's defense system. It is actively transported to the skin, where it can act as an antioxidant and strengthen the skin's barriers (22).

Studies have also shown that taking vitamin C can reduce wound healing time (23, 24).

Furthermore, low vitamin C levels have been associated with poor health outcomes.

For example, people with pneumonia tend to have lower levels of vitamin C, and vitamin C supplements have been shown to decrease recovery time (25, 26).

Dementia is a broad term that describes symptoms of poor thinking and memory.

It affects over 35 million people worldwide and typically occurs in older adults (27).

Studies suggest that oxidative stress and inflammation near the brain, spine, and nerves (collectively known as the central nervous system) may increase the risk of dementia (28).

Vitamin C is a powerful antioxidant. Low levels of this vitamin have been associated with impaired thinking and memory (29, 30).

In addition, several studies have shown that people with dementia may have lower levels of vitamin C in their blood (31, 32).

In addition, high vitamin C intake from food or supplements has been shown to have a protective effect on thinking and memory as you age (33, 34, 35).

Vitamin C supplements can help against conditions like dementia if you're not getting enough vitamin C from your diet. However, additional human studies are needed to understand the effects of vitamin C supplements on nervous system health (36).

Vitamin C is a water-soluble vitamin that must be obtained from food or supplements.

It has been linked to many impressive health benefits such as: B. increasing antioxidant levels, lowering blood pressure, protecting against gout attacks, improving iron absorption, boosting immunity and reducing the risk of heart disease and dementia.

Overall, vitamin C supplements are a great and easy way to boost your vitamin C intake if you're struggling to get enough from your diet