Ascorbic acid is an essential nutrient required for good health in cells throughout your body. While there has been controversy regarding problems in taking ascorbic acid supplements, research shows this to be unfounded, even when taking high doses. Ascorbic acid can be obtained from citrus fruits or from dietary supplements.
Importance of Ascorbic Acid
Ascorbic acid is also known as vitamin C. It is essential to good health and since our bodies cannot make it is one of the nutrients we must obtain from the diet. According to the National Institutes of Health or NIH, ascorbic acid is needed for making proteins and neurotransmitters inside nerve cells. Ascorbic acid's antioxidant activity protects some molecules from being degraded by oxidation. Another vital role of ascorbic acid involves the synthesis of collagen, which is used to make connective tissues such as tendons, ligaments and muscles.
Beneficial Effects
Ascorbic acid is a key factor in keeping your heart healthy. The Linus Pauling Institute states that ascorbic acid can reduce the risk of having cardiovascular diseases, and also can lower the probability of having a stroke, cancer and cataracts. Ascorbic acid also helps to keep immune cells healthy, although studies on its effect on general immune function in humans still requires more investigation.
Deficiency
Not having enough ascorbic acid in the diet can lead to a problem called scurvy. The NIH says this condition is serious because it involves malformed connective tissue. The results start to manifest as fatigue. As the condition advances the skin and gums start to bleed because capillaries become fragile for lack of healthy collagen. Teeth become loose and the skin appears to degenerate.
Toxicity
The Linus Pauling Institute says that there is little or no evidence that too much ascorbic acid in the diet is harmful. It was long held by popular belief that too much ascorbic acid produced kidney stones but the Institutes says this notion is based on false assumptions and not substantiated by clinical studies. While extremely high doses of ascorbic acid, exceeding 10 g per day may have some harmful effects such as kidney inflammation, the Institute says no data exist to claim toxicity at doses up to that level.
RDA
As stated by Linus Pauling Institute, the benefits of taking large doses of ascorbic acid are much greater than having too little in your diet. The Institute says that most adults can tolerate up to 2 g of ascorbic acid per day. However, the Recommended Dietary Allowance or RDA of ascorbic acid is 75 mg per day for females and 90 mg per day for males.
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