The recommended dietary allowance -- RDA -- is the amount of a nutrient that your body needs consistently on a daily basis. Each vitamin has an RDA. The RDA varies based on your gender and your age. Generally speaking, the RDA increases the older you get, when you are pregnant and if you engage in certain unhealthy lifestyle habits such as smoking.
RDA For Vitamin C
The RDA for vitamin C is 90 mg for adult men and 75 mg for adult women. You should get the majority of this amount from your diet. The RDA increases to between 80 and 85 mg if you are pregnant and between 115 and 120 mg if you are breastfeeding. The Harvard School of Public Health adds that if you smoke, you need to add an additional 35 mg to your daily intake, which comes to 125 mg if you are a man and 110 mg if you are a woman.
Why Does The RDA Increase?
Vitamin C is used by your body to heal wounds, form scar tissue and repair and maintain your cartilage, bones and teeth. It is also important in the production of proteins that are used to make your skin, tendons, ligaments and blood vessels. Your needs increase as you age, because your body is exposed to more stress, toxins and wear and tear due to the aging process. When you become pregnant or are breastfeeding, you are responsible for supplying your body with the vitamin C that it needs as well as that of your baby. When it comes to smoking, your needs increase because your body needs the extra vitamin C to counteract the free radicals that are created by smoking. Free radicals are extra electrons that can damage your cells. Vitamin C has antioxidant qualities that can help neutralize free radical damage.
Vitamin C and Your Diet
To meet your RDA each day, you should eat a balanced diet that consists of a variety of healthy foods. This includes foods that are good sources of vitamin C, such as fruits and vegetables. Some examples include watermelon, oranges, kiwi, grapefruit, broccoli, Brussels sprouts, cauliflower and tomatoes. If you do not eat these foods often, consider a daily multivitamin that supplies the RDA for your age group.
Considerations
If you consider adding a multivitamin or vitamin C supplement to your diet, avoid large doses. In fact, if you consume more than 2,000 mg in one day, you can develop a vitamin C toxicity. This is the tolerable upper level for vitamin C supplements. Instead choose one that meets that RDA and get the rest from natural food sources. If you are on medications such as Coumadin, you should talk to your pharmacist before adding vitamin C, because this may impact how your medication works.
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