Normal Circulating Level Of Ascorbic Acid

Ascorbic acid is another name for vitamin C. A water-soluble essential nutrient, you need to ingest vitamin C every day in order to maintain adequate levels. If vitamin C falls below the recommended daily levels, a deficiency could result, which causes several health complications. Extremely high doses of vitamin C can cause gastrointestinal disturbances and thus, aren't advisable. However, the body discards excess vitamin C with urine, negating toxic effects from sustained high blood levels.

Normative Vitamin C Blood Levels

Although the body uses vitamin C throughout, serum levels of the nutrient is an adequate indicator that the necessary amounts appear elsewhere. The optimum concentration of vitamin C in the blood is 50 micromoles per liter, according the Bandolier, an independent medical journal. This concentration is based on levels recommended by the Institute of Medicine. Although the body excretes excess vitamin C with urine, blood levels can stack to reach high levels if you take repeated doses over a short period of time. Specifically, blood levels plateau at approximately 250 micromoles per liter if you take doses of the vitamin within less than 3 hours of each other.

Vitamin C Intake

The recommended daily intake of vitamin C is 75 mg per day for women and 90 mg per day for men. The Institute of Medicine derives the recommended daily amount of vitamins and minerals on the minimum required to prevent health complications resulting from deficiency. However, some nutrients, including vitamin C, can potentially prevent chronic disease and promote optimum health when you ingest greater portions than recommended. Moreover, some lifestyle choices, like tobacco smoking, and conditions, like pregnancy, increase the required amount per day. Whereas smokers require at least 45 mg more per day than those who don't smoke and pregnant women require 5 mg more, different lifestyle choices and conditions require different amounts of additional vitamin C. Moreover, the Linus Pauling Institute avers several health benefits from daily doses exceeding the recommended amount, including prevention of the common cold, heart disease, cancer, stroke, gout and cataracts. Speak to your doctor or nutritionist to find out the best daily intake of vitamin C for you.

Vitamin C Deficiency

Deficiencies in vitamin C cause health complications that rise in severity in proportion with the severity of the deficiency. Specifically, inadequate levels of vitamin C can result in bleeding gums, decreased healing rate, reduced immunity, easy bruising, weakened tooth enamel, gum inflammation and bleeding, hair damage, anemia, nosebleeds, dry or scaly skin, inflamed joints and an impaired metabolism. Severe vitamin C deficiencies are called scurvy, which causes tooth and hair loss, join swelling and pain, weakened blood vessels, bruising, hemorrhaging and bleeding.

Considerations

The body absorbs vitamin C through mucous membranes in the mouth, stomach and small intestine, according to John Kirschmann in the book "Nutrition Almanac." The larger the dose, the less the body absorbs. For example, the body absorbs 80 percent of doses up to 250 mg, but only 50 percent of doses up to 2 g. The body excretes the majority of the vitamin C it absorbs from food within 3 to 4 hours. Therefore, you would ideally extract vitamin C in appropriate doses from every meal. Although your daily dose of vitamin C should not exceed 2 g, the body contains approximately 5 g when fully saturated. Evidence exists that extremely large doses of vitamin C can produce toxic effects, but the Linus Pauling Institute asserts that this evidence is not scientifically substantive and requires further research for confirmation. Nonetheless, determine the best approach to including this nutrient in your diet with your health care provider.