Vitamin C Overdose

Vitamin C is a very important nutrient that’s ample in many fruits and vegetables.

Getting enough vitamin C is very important for maintaining a healthy immune system. Vitamin C plays an important role in wound healing, stronger bones, and enhancing brain function.

One of the most common reasons people take vitamin C supplements is the point that they help to prevent the common cold.

However, many supplements contain very high amounts of vitamins, which can cause nasty side effects in some cases. Let's take a look at the undesirable effects of vitamin C overdose.

Vitamin C is water-soluble

Vitamin C is water-soluble, which means it gets dissolves in water and does not get stored within the body.

Instead, the vitamin C that you consume gets carried to your tissues via body fluids, and any extra gets excreted in the urine.

Since your body does not store any vitamin C or produce it on its own, it’s very vital to consume foods that are a rich source of vitamin C daily.

However, supplementing with a high dose of vitamin C can lead to adverse effects, such as digestive pain and kidney stones.

That’s because if you exceed your body with higher-than-normal doses of this vitamin, it will start to gather, potentially leading to overdose symptoms.

Most people don’t have to take vitamin C supplements, as you can easily get them by eating fresh fruits and vegetables.

Too much vitamin C cause digestive problems

The very common side effect of high vitamin C intake is digestive issues. In general, these effects do not occur from eating vitamin C rich foods, but rather from taking the supplements.

You’re most likely to experience digestive symptoms like diarrhoea and nausea if you consume more than 2,000 mg at once which is a tolerable upper limit (TUL).

If you’re experiencing digestive issues as a result of taking too much vitamin C, simply cut your supplement dose.

Vitamin C may cause iron overload

Vitamin C is known to boost iron absorption. It can bind to non-heme iron, which is found in vegan foods. Non-heme iron is not absorbed by your body as effectively as heme iron, the type of iron found in animal products. Vitamin C binds with non-heme iron, making it easier for the body to absorb it.

However, individuals with situations that increase the risk of iron accumulation in the body, such as hemochromatosis, should be very careful while taking any vitamin C supplements.

Under these conditions, taking too much vitamin C may lead to iron overload, which can cause serious harm to your heart, pancreas, liver, thyroid, and central nervous system.

How much vitamin C is too much?

As discussed, vitamin C is water-soluble and your body excretes more amounts of it within a few hours after you consume it, it’s very difficult to consume too much.

It is very much impossible for you to get too much vitamin C from your diet alone. In healthy people, any extra vitamin C consumed above the recommended daily amount gets flushed out of the body.

However, the risks of vitamin C overdose are higher when people take supplements, and it might be possible to consume too much of the vitamin in some circumstances.

For example, those with conditions that increase the risk of iron overload or are prone to kidney stones should be careful with their vitamin C intake.

All the adverse effects of vitamin C, including digestive issues and kidney stones, appear to occur when people take it in high doses greater than 2,000 mg.

If you choose to take a vitamin C capsule or tablet, it is advised to choose the best one which contains not more than 100% of your daily needs which is approx 90 mg per day for men and 75 mg per day for women.

There are multiple uses of Vitamin c tablets for skin as well. Vitamin C's skin-lightening qualities offer to erase dark spots & reduce hyperpigmentation. This best Vitamin C serum in India suppresses the process of aberrant melanin pigment formation to balance out skin tone & reduces the appearance of dark spots, sun damage, acne scars, pimples, and hyperpigmentation.

Unproven claims about vitamin C

Some unproven claims about vitamin C are:

Prevents the common cold. While vitamin C appears to reduce the severity of colds and recovery time by 8% in adults and 14% in children, however, it does not prevent them.
Reduces cancer risk. Some studies have related vitamin C intake to a lower risk of several cancers. However, most studies have found that vitamin C does not affect the risk of developing it.
Protects against eye disease. Vitamin C has been associated with reduced risks of eye diseases like cataracts and age-related macular degeneration. However, vitamin C supplements do not affect this.

Take Away

Vitamin C is normally safe for most people but this is especially true if you get it from foods, rather than supplements.

Individuals who take vitamin C in supplement form are at a higher risk of consuming too much of it and experiencing side effects, the most common of which are digestive symptoms.

However, more serious reactions, like iron overload and kidney stones, may also result from taking more amounts of vitamin C.

To prevent these possible side effects — simply avoid taking vitamin C supplements.

Unless being vitamin C deficient, which is rare in healthy people, you don't have to take large doses of this vitamin.