Written by Steve Theunissen, PT
Last Updated on June 24th, 2022
Vitamin C is arguably the most popular vitamin. Ever since Dr. Linus Pauling published his groundbreaking book “Vitamin C and the Common Cold” in 1971, it has been one of the top-selling vitamin supplements in the world.
Vitamin C plays a vital role in supporting the immune system. It helps fight against viral and bacterial infections, as well as lung complications brought on by the flu and pneumonia. While Vitamin C will not prevent you from getting the common cold, research shows that it will reduce the duration and intensity of a cold.
For this article, we’ve waded into the vitamin C supplement market to separate the best from the rest. We’ll review the 10 best vitamin C supplements on the market, lay out the benefits and dosage recommendations, and answer some of the most pressing vitamin C questions.
Garden of Life Vitamin Code – Raw Vitamin C
Our best vitamin C supplement delivers 500 mg of vitamin C per serving. There are no artificial ingredients in the product, making this a pure, reliable, and safe vitamin C supplement.
Nature’s Bounty C delivers 500 mg of immunity-boosting vitamin C with every capsule. There are 250 capsules in each bottle. Nature’s Bounty recommends taking one cap up to four times daily. Following that recommendation would give you a two-month supply from each bottle.
Nature’s Bounty C is our pick for the best vitamin C supplement on the market. It is simple, high-quality, and does what it says on the box.
Ascorbic acid, or vitamin C, comes in different purities. The highest purity vitamin C supplement will have greater bioavailability and absorption.
Doctor’s Best is fortified with a form of ascorbic acid called Quali-C. It is manufactured in Scotland and is prized for its quality and reliability. There are 360 capsules in each bottle and contain 1,000 mg of vitamin C per serving. The capsules are gelatin-free, making them vegan-friendly.
Doctor’s Best Vitamin C is a high-quality vitamin C supplement that features quali-c. It supports numerous metabolic enzymes besides enhancing the body's total antioxidant potential.
A liposomal vitamin C supplement combines ascorbic acid with palmitic acid to boost the bioavailability and absorbability of the supplement, meaning more of the active ingredient gets into your system.
Nutriflair Liposomal Vitamin C provides you with 1,600 mg of vitamin C in liposomal form. Liposomal vitamin C is easier to absorb by the body. This form improves vitamin C absorption by making it more bioavailable.
Nutriflair Liposomal Vitamin C combines ascorbic acid with palmitic acid. This combination creates a more fat-soluble compound than regular Vitamin C, making it far more absorbable.
Nutriflair Liposomal Vitamin C is one of the best liposomal vitamin supplements on the market. It combines ascorbic acid with palmitic acid to boost the bioavailability and absorbability of the supplement. The product comes with a 30-day no questions asked money-back guarantee.
Gummies can come in handy for people who don’t like the citrusy taste of vitamin C tablets. Vitafusion Power C is one of the most popular vitamin C gummies on the market.
Vitafusion Power C gummies are a tasty way of meeting your daily vitamin C needs. Each serving provides you with 292 mg of vitamin C. The gummies are infused with natural orange flavors to please your taste buds. These gummies took out the 2021 Chef’s Best Awards for best-tasting vitamin C supplement.
There are no artificial flavors or sweeteners in this product. However, it does contain natural sugars and sweeteners.
Vitafusion Power C is arguably the best gummy vitamin C supplement on the market. It tastes great and has no artificial flavors, sweeteners, synthetic (FD&C) dyes, high fructose corn syrup, gluten, or dairy.
Rose Hip is the fruit of the rose flower. It is very high in antioxidants, making it a perfect addition to a vitamin C supplement.
Nature Made C is fortified with Rose Hip and contains 100 tablets per tablet. Each serving contains 1,000 mg of vitamin C. Nature Made recommends taking one capsule per day, which will make each bottle last for more than three months.
There are no artificial ingredients in this supplement. It is also gluten-free.
Nature Made is the United States Pharmacopeia (USP) verified, number one pharmacist-recommended vitamin and supplements brand. C 500 mg is a high-quality product that helps with the immune system and antioxidant support.
Probiotics promote gut health, improve digestion, and offset gastric side effects. When taken as part of a vitamin C supplement, it can help to improve absorption and prevent symptoms of vitamin C overuse.
Garden of Life Vitamin Code – Raw Vitamin C contains live probiotics and enzymes designed to promote gut health and digestion. It also boosts skin, heart, and eye health. In addition to the 60 mg raw probiotic and enzyme blend, you get 500 mg of vitamin C and a 720 mg raw fruit and vegetable blend. Each bottle of Garden of Life Vitamin Code Raw Vitamin C contains 120 vegan capsules.
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Each capsule of the Garden of Life Vitamin Code - Raw Vitamin C is made of whole foods and supports the immune system, heart, skin, and eye health. Plus, it contains probiotics and enzymes for better digestion.
Chewable Vitamin C tablets are the best option for people who don’t like to swallow capsules. Our best chewable vitamin C supp delivers a pleasant texture and taste at an affordable price.
NOW Foods is a well-known and respected player in the supplement industry. Their chewable C-500 supplement provides you with a tasty chewable vitamin C tablet. It contains a single gram of sugar per capsule and is vegan-friendly.
Like all other NOW products, Chewable C-500 is manufactured in FDA-certified production facilities.
Due to its naturally sweetened tablets with orange juice flavor, NOW Chewable C-500 is one of the best-tasting chewable vitamin C tablets on the market.
Kids need vitamin C too. Our best supplement designed for kids provides a kid-friendly dose that is fortified with other immunity-boosting compounds and delivered in a tasty gummy bear form that children love.
Each serving of the Llama Naturals Elderberry Gummies provides a kid-sized dose of vitamin C. You get nine mg of vitamin C, along with elderberry and zinc for immunity support. They are sugar-free and don’t contain any preservatives or additives.
All products produced by Llama Naturals are third-party tested. They also provide a 30-day money-back guarantee.
Llama Naturals Elderberry Gummies are arguably the best vitamin C supplement for children. The whole fruit gummies contain no added sugar and are organic, plant-based, vegan, and Non-GMO.
A spray provides a great option for those who don’t like to consume vitamin C capsules, pills, or gummies. With this supp, you spray the vitamin C into your mouth, and it will absorb into your system. Our ‘best of’ in this category represents the purest spray on the market.
Garden of Life Vitamin C Organic Spray delivers 60 mg of vitamin C in a five-spray dose. The vitamin C in this product is sourced from blueberries, strawberries, and tart cherries. This spray is available in two flavors and can be taken by adults and children four years and older. There are no sugars or artificial sweeteners in this product.
Garden of Life Vitamin C Organic Spray is third-party tested and produced in a GMP-certified facility. This is, however, a relatively expensive supplement.
Garden of Life Vitamin C Organic Spray is the best alternative for folks who are not a fan of the capsule or chewable supplement form of vitamin C. The spray contains amla powder, one of the richest food sources of vitamin c.
A powdered vitamin C supplement allows you to mix the vitamin into your favorite juice, pre or post-workout drink.
Swanson Vitamin C Powder is a pure Vitamin C product that contains nothing but 100% vitamin C. The product has no sweeteners, fillers, or preservatives. It mixes well to produce a smooth, clump-free drink.
All Swanson supplements are third-party tested for purity so you can have complete confidence in this product.
Swanson Vitamin C Powder is great for people who like to mix their vitamin C in water. The supplement mixes well in water and is suitable for adding to your favorite beverages.
There are four major health benefits of supplementing with vitamin C. Let’s drill down on each.
Vitamin C is a very powerful antioxidant and protects the human body from free radical damage that results from oxidation. Free radical damage contributes to aging, so vitamin C supplementation can help us stay younger. Free radicals also contribute to a range of illnesses within the body.
Vitamin C works in concert with vitamin E, lipoic acid, and glutathione to immobilize free radicals and turn them into non-threatening compounds.
Vitamin C is involved in the production of collagen, a protein that forms into connective tissue throughout the body. Collagen is abundant in the skin, cartilage, bones, ligaments, and teeth. It can be linked to a glue that provides shape to the skin and bones and keeps our teeth firmly fixed in our gums.
Recent research suggests that vitamin C can help prevent the formation of cataracts in the eyes. [1]
Supplementing with vitamin C may reduce blood pressure, lowering your risk of heart disease. A meta-analysis of 29 studies showed an average lowering of diastolic by 3.8 mmHg and a reduction of 4.8 mmHg in systolic blood pressure.
Taking vitamin C can boost your body’s production of white blood cells, protecting the body against infection. At the same time, vitamin C protects the white blood cells from free radical damage.
Vitamin C supplements are available in several forms, including:
The National Institute of Health (NIH) has stated that all forms are equally effective. Most supplements deliver vitamin C in the form of ascorbic acid. Some, however, provide it in other forms, such as sodium ascorbate, or calcium ascorbate.
Look for a buffered form of vitamin C. This form is prepared from beets and has an acid-alkaline buffering action that controls the increased acidity that can cause an upset stomach.
Notably, the vitamin C market is not regulated by the FDA. As a result, there is a wide range of quality and purity on the market. Make sure you purchase your vitamin C supplement from a reputable company that undergoes third-party testing to ensure product quality.
We used the following criteria to narrow down our selection:
To ensure what the manufacturer stated on the label was in the product, we favored brands that employed third-party testing to test every batch for purity.
The mixability of powder versions of vitamin C was important to us. The last thing you want is to have to gulp down a clumpy vitamin C drink that leaves a nasty residue in the glass and taste in your mouth.
We focused on products that clearly stated all ingredients and dosages on the label rather than hiding behind proprietary blends that only give you a combined dosage.
The value represents the best combination of pricing, ingredients, mixability, and effectiveness. Check our handy table above for a breakdown of the overall and per-dose costs of our top 10 vitamin C supplements.
Per NIH, women should take 75 mg of vitamin C daily. For men, the recommendation is 90 mg per day. Many people, however, believe that much higher doses are beneficial for the body. The vitamin C consumption upper limit before side effects begin to occur seems to be 2,000 mg per day.
People who are eating a balanced diet that includes the American Heart Association’s recommended nine daily servings of fruits and vegetables will not need to take a vitamin C supplement. However, many people struggle to meet those levels. For them, a vitamin C supplement can help make up for the shortfall.
People who are on diets that restrict fruits or vegetables should also supplement with vitamin C.
Yes, it is good to take a vitamin C supp daily. The daily recommended amount is 75 mg per day for women and 90 mg per day for men. The upper limit is 2,000 mg for adults. So, supplementing will ensure you get your daily requirement without exceeding the safe limit.
If you exceed 2,000 mg of vitamin C per day, you may experience nausea, diarrhea, bloating, gas, stomach cramps, fatigue headaches, and skin flushing.
The ideal way to take vitamin C in supplement form is in a time-released formulation. Vitamin C is best absorbed in small doses over the day. A time-release capsule allows you to do this without taking multiple capsules every day.
The five best fruits to eat for vitamin C are guavas, which contain 126 mg of vitamin c per medium-sized guava, kiwifruit, at 70 mg per fruit, papaya at 94 mg, strawberries at 89 mg, and oranges at 70 mg.
No, vitamin C will not make you gain weight. It can actually help you lose weight by slowing down glucose metabolism.
A daily vitamin C supplement will help keep your body healthy, optimize your immune system and supercharge your antioxidant defenses. Our favorite overall vitamin C supplement is Nature’s Bounty C which provides a pure 500 mg dose in every capsule.
Go here for the best price on Nature’s Bounty Vitamin C.
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