Many people are increasing their vitamin C intake amid the coronavirus outbreak to boost their immune system. Some people might need a “consumer’s guide”, however, as they may still have many questions about vitamin C.

Common questions include: If we can get our vitamin C from natural sources like fruits and vegetables, why do we need to take vitamin C supplements? How much vitamin C is too much?

Consumers need answers to these and other questions before starting any supplement regimen. On the one hand, we want to make sure we get enough vitamin C for our health, but on the other, we want to make sure we don’t take too much and adversely affect our health.

While the benefits of vitamin C are preached frequently, it can also do more harm than good. A Brown University study published on March 12, 2007, “Chromium 6: A Killer Compound With An Improbable Trigger”, found that “when vitamin C reacts with even low doses of Chromium 6 inside human cells, which creates high levels of cancer-causing DNA damage and mutations.” Chromium 6 is a known carcinogen.

But let’s just look at the basics on how vitamin C can help boost our immune system.

“In order for our bodies to counteract antigens – viruses, microbes and bacteria – our body needs a sufficient amount of lymphocyte. A high dosage of vitamin C is known to dramatically boost lymphocyte production. Vitamin C works like antibiotics to destroy disease-causing viruses,” IPB University public nutrition professor Ali Khomsan writes in a scientific paper recently made available to The Jakarta Post.

“Vitamin C can also boost the production of a substance called glutathione in the human body, an antioxidant that maintains human immunity,” he adds. Vitamin C can also improve lung function, with people who regularly consume vitamin C having reduced risk of developing chronic bronchitis.

How much is enough?

Nutritionists typically advise people to take 40 to 50 milligrams of vitamin C every day, depending on the person’s age. During the “special circumstance” of the coronavirus outbreak, consuming up to 500 mg of vitamin C per day is advisable, which could increase the glutathione level in the body by 50 percent.

During the COVID-19 crisis, the World Health Organization advises a daily vitamin C intake of 400 mg: 250 grams from fruits and 150 grams from vegetables.

Contacted separately, clinical nutritionist Fiastuti Witjaksono said that jambu biji (guavas) had a very high vitamin C content of about 228.3 mg per 100 grams of the tropical fruit. This is higher than kiwis, which had about 92.7 mg per 100 grams.

“Cassava leaves are [greens] high in vitamin C, containing more than 250 mg of vitamin C per 100 grams. Dark leafy greens, including papaya leaves, are also abundant in vitamin C,” Fiastuti told the Post over the phone.

If we can meet our daily intake of vitamin C from natural sources, why do we need supplements?

Staying healthy during the coronavirus outbreak requires a strong immune system, which requires a higher dose of the vitamin. The problem is that fruits with high vitamin C content means that they are highly acidic (the chemical name of vitamin C is ascorbic acid), and consuming too many acidic fruits like oranges and guavas could cause diarrhea, according to IPB University’s Ali.

Citing the late Robert F. Cathcart, formerly a member of the Independent Vitamin Safety Review Panel of the International Society for Orthomolecular Medicine (ISOM), a Canadian organization, Ali advised taking vitamin C supplements to avoid digestive problems while fulfilling the increased daily intake.

Ali cautioned that “getting 500 mg of vitamin C from oranges alone” would be enough to cause diarrhea. Small oranges typically weighed about 100 grams each and contained 50 mg of vitamin C, he said, so eating four oranges would mean consuming 200 mg of vitamin C. The remaining 300 mg could be consumed from vitamin C supplements.

Ali advised to look closely at the bottle label to see just how many milligrams a vitamin C tablet or capsule contained before buying it, as the dosage of supplements varied, and to choose the one that would supplement your daily intake of vitamin C from fruits and vegetables.

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