Vitamin C is a water-soluble vitamin, and this means that your body gets rid of what it does not use. For this reason, it is rare to develop serious side effects from too much vitamin C. Taking an excessive amount can lead to stomach upset, but vitamin C is not known to harm your liver. Nevertheless, check with your health care provider before adding this or any vitamin to your diet or supplement regimen. Your body depends upon vitamin C for development and growth, and it also needs it for tissue repair. This vitamin aids in the production of collagen, healing wounds and maintaining your teeth and bones. It also acts as an antioxidant, which helps to ward off the damage that free radicals can cause in your cells, and therefore may help prevent certain cancers and diseases. Men need 90 mg a day, and women need 75 mg. Good sources include oranges, peppers, watermelon, grapefruit, tomatoes, potatoes, blueberries and pineapple. When a vitamin is water-soluble, this means that your body eliminates what it does not use through your urine, and therefore, the excess is not stored.
Because your body cannot store vitamin C, it is nearly impossible for you to overdose on it, and it is not likely to harm your liver or other organs. The tolerable upper limit of vitamin C has been set at 2,000 mg per day, notes MedlinePlus, and this is largely because high doses can cause diarrhea or other types of digestive upset. Because vitamin C is water-soluble, this also means that you need to continually supply your body with more to avoid becoming deficient. Many people may have a mild deficiency of this vitamin, and some of the symptoms include a compromised immune system, bleeding gums, nosebleeds, unintentional weight gain, rough skin, swollen joints and dry hair. If you become severely deficient in vitamin C, you may develop a condition known as scurvy, though this is rare in the developed world. If you choose to take vitamin C supplements, discuss this with your doctor before doing so, as it may interact with certain conditions and medications. Because vitamin C enhances your body's ability to absorb iron, you should not take a supplement if you have hemochromatosis, and people with kidney problems should discuss their use of vitamin C with their health care provider as well.
Also be aware that vitamin C has a diuretic effect, and it is therefore essential that you drink enough water while taking it to prevent dehydration. If you experience any side effects from vitamin C or suspect a problem with the functioning of your liver, seek medical attention. Gain 2 pounds per week Gain 1.5 pounds per week Gain 1 pound per week Gain 0.5 pound per week Maintain my current weight Lose 0.5 pound per week Lose 1 pound per week Lose 1.5 pounds per week Lose 2 pounds per week Vitamin C & Diarrhea Bad Side Effects of Muscle Building Supplements What Are The Effects of Eating Too Much Vitamin C? Is Expired Vitamin C Dangerous? Can You Overdose on Vitamin C Tablets? Should I Take Vitamin C in Powder or Pill Form? Does Drinking Too Much Water Wash Out the Vitamins? How Much Vitamin C Should You Take a Day to Keep From Getting Sick? Vitamin C & Gas Maximum Dosage of Vitamin C Can Kids Overdose on Vitamin C?
What Does High Vitamin C While Breast-feeding Do? Vitamin C in the Morning to Lose Weight Daily Water Intake and Frequent Urination Why Is Time-Released Vitamin C Better? Frequent Urination and The Effects of Dehydration Vitamin C in Mangoes High-Dose Vitamin C & Weight Loss Vitamin C & Hair Loss Are Oranges Good for a Cough & Phlegm? Vitamin C (ascorbic acid) is a water soluble vitamin found in citrus fruits and green vegetables and deficiency of which is the cause of scurvy. There is no evidence that vitamin C, in physiologic or in moderately high doses, causes acute liver injury or jaundice. Vitamin C is a water soluble vitamin known chemically as L-ascorbic acid (as kore' bik as' id). The major role of ascorbic acid is as an electron donor and intracellular antioxidant protecting critical intracellular molecules and enzymes systems against reactive oxygen species. Vitamin C also plays a role as a cofactor in many biochemical synthetic reactions, in collagen cross linking, the synthesis of neuropeptides and hormones, and in non-heme iron absorption.
Vitamin C is found in many foods, particularly citrus fruits, green vegetables, tomatoes and potatoes. The recommended daily allowance of vitamin C is 90 mg in adult men and 70 mg in women, an amount that is provided by most American diets. Intakes of more than 2 grams daily are considered excessive and should be avoided. Vitamin C deficiency is the cause of scurvy which is marked by fatigue, spongy gums, loss of teeth, ecchymosis, petechiae and excessive bleeding including bleeding from the gums, into joints and into internal organs. Scurvy is now rare in the developed world, seen predominantly with severe malnutrition and chronic alcoholism. Vitamin C is available in many over-the-counter forms in concentrations ranging from 25 to 1000 mg and is a component of virtually all multivitamins, typically in concentrations of 60 to 180 mg. Parenteral formulations are available for administration with parenteral nutrition. Despite many claims, there is no convincing evidence that vitamin C supplementation decreases the rate of cancer, heart attacks or strokes or prevents common colds or other viral infections.
Physiologic and even excessive intakes up to 2 grams daily have virtually no side effects. Higher doses of vitamin C can be associated with diarrhea, nausea, abdominal discomfort, flushing, dizziness and headache and may be associated with transient serum aminotransferase elevations. Neither normal nor moderately high intakes of vitamin C are associated with liver injury or liver test abnormalities. In long term clinical trials, serum enzyme and bilirubin elevations were no more frequent with vitamin C therapy than with placebo. Indeed, in many animal models, vitamin C is protective against hepatotoxic substances and provides antioxidant and cytoprotective activity to hepatocytes. Single large doses of vitamin C, however, can cause symptoms of nausea, abdominal pain and diarrhea and higher doses have been reported to result in serum ALT elevations, but not to clinically apparent liver injury with jaundice. Likelihood score: E (unlikely cause of clinically apparent liver injury).
The serum ALT elevations that occur with extremely high doses of vitamin C are likely due to a direct but minimal toxic effect on the liver. The injury is, however, short lived and has not been linked to cases of acute or chronic hepatitis, acute liver failure or cirrhosis. Other Drugs in the Class: Vitamin A, Vitamin B, Vitamin D, Vitamin E, Vitamin K, Folate, Niacin Vitamin C – Generic, Combination Products Product labeling at DailyMed, National Library of Medicine, NIH CHEMICAL FORMULA AND STRUCTURE References updated: 30 April 2016Hepatotoxicity: the adverse effects of drugs and other chemicals on the liver. 2nd ed. Philadelphia: Lippincott, 1999. (Expert review of hepatotoxicity published in 1999; does not discuss vitamin C). Seeff L, Stickel F, Navarro VJ. Hepatotoxicity of herbals and dietary supplements. In, Kaplowitz N, DeLeve LD, eds. Drug-induced liver disease. 3rd ed. Amsterdam: Elsevier, 2013: pp, 631-57. (Review of hepatotoxicity of dietary supplements; does not discuss vitamins and minerals).
In, Shils ME, Olson JA, Shike M, Ross AC, eds. Modern nutrition in health and disease. 9th ed. Baltimore: Williams & Wilkins, 1998; Food and Nutrition Board, Institute of Medicine. DRI dietary reference intakes: for vitamin C, vitamin E, selenium and carotenoids. Washington DC: National Academy Press, 1998. (Reports from the Food and Nutrition Board of the Institute of Medicine on dietary reference values for vitamin C intake, replacing the previously published Recommended Dietary Allowances). Vitamin C. https://ods.od.nih.gov/factsheets/VitaminC-HealthProfessional/ (Fact sheet on vitamin C maintained and regularly updated by the Office of Dietary Supplements, National Institutes of Health). Dykes MH, Meier P. Ascorbic acid and the common cold. Evaluation of its efficacy and toxicity. PubMed Citation (Review of the literature on the safety and efficacy of high doses of vitamin C in prevention and treatment of the common cold found little or no evidence of either efficacy or significant toxicity).
Safety of high-level vitamin C ingestion. Ann N Y Aca Sci 1987; PubMed Citation (Review of literature on toxicity of high doses of vitamin C focusing on calcium-oxalate stones, uric acid excretion, iron overload and increased mutagenic activity; no mention of ALT elevations or hepatotoxicity). Bendich A, Langseth L. The health effects of vitamin C supplementation: a review. J Am Coll Nutr 1995; PubMed Citation (The safety of higher doses of vitamin C has been shown in 8 placebo controlled trials). Levine M, Rumsey SC, Daruwala R, Park JB, Wang Y. Criteria and recommendations for vitamin C intake. PubMed Citation (Review of the role of vitamin C in metabolic pathways, its absorption and pharmacokinetics, adverse events and beneficial dose effects). Shekelle P, Morton S, Hardy ML. Effect of supplemental antioxidants vitamin C, vitamin E, and coenzyme Q10 for the prevention and treatment of cardiovascular disease. Evid Rep Technol Assess (Summ) 2003; PubMed Citation (A systematic review of four placebo controlled trials of vitamin C for its effects in decreasing the rate of cardiovascular disease showed no evidence of benefit, but also no evidence for toxicity of vitamin C).
Shekelle P, Hardy ML, Coulter I, Udani J, Spar M, Oda K, Jungvig LK, et al. Effect of the supplemental use of antioxidants vitamin C, vitamin E, and coenzyme Q10 for the prevention and treatment of cancer. PubMed Citation (A systematic review of placebo controlled trials of vitamin C for its effects in decreasing the rate of cancer showed no evidence of benefit, but also no evidence for toxicity of vitamin C). Reuben A, Koch DG, Lee WM; Acute Liver Failure Study Group. Drug-induced acute liver failure: results of a U.S. multicenter, prospective study. PubMed Citation (Among 1198 patients with acute liver failure enrolled in a US prospective study between 1998 and 2007, 133 were attributed to drug induced liver injury, but none were attributed to vitamins including vitamin C). Chalasani N, Bonkovsky HL, Fontana R, Lee W, Stolz A, Talwalkar J, Reddy KR, et al.; United States Drug Induced Liver Injury Network. Features and outcomes of 899 patients with drug-induced liver injury: The DILIN Prospective Study.