Best Time To Take Vitamin C: Morning Or Night In 2024?

Vitamin C deficiency, also known as scurvy, can lead to a range of health issues, including fatigue, weakened immunity, and impaired wound healing. To mitigate the risk of deficiency and promote optimal health, it’s essential to ensure adequate intake of vitamin C through diet or supplementation.

Vitamin C supplements are one of the most well-known and loved vitamin supplements and with good reason. It is an essential nutrient with many amazing functions.

Many different forms of water-soluble vitamin C are available, from ascorbic acid to mineral ascorbate. One of the primary debates is not what kind to take but when is the best time to take vitamin C and in what dose. So, let’s find out!

The Best Time Of The Day To Take Vitamin C

So is the best time to take vitamin C morning or night? While there is often the best time to take vitamins, you can take vitamin C supplements anytime, though it may be better tolerated in the mornings and not on an empty stomach.

Vitamin C should be taken in divided doses when supplementing with more than 1,000 milligrams daily, or the absorption could drop by fifty percent.^[1] Taking 500 milligrams morning and night, or morning, noon, and night, might be recommended, but it is best to check with your healthcare provider. Everyone is different! 

Can I Take Vitamin C At Night?

Yes, vitamin C can be taken at night, but a dose of 1,000 milligrams is better divided throughout the day rather than taken all at once, risking incomplete absorption. Be aware that vitamin C is acidic and may cause reflux, especially if lying down immediately after taking it.  

Why We Should Take Vitamin C

Vitamin C, also called ascorbic acid, is water soluble and therefore is not stored in the body like fat soluble vitamins. It needs to be replenished for optimal health benefits. 

Vitamin C supports the immune system, helps us absorb iron, promotes healthy skin and hair, assists with wound healing, reduces inflammation, and may even help to prevent certain types of cancer.

Immune System Support

Vitamin C is one essential micronutrient that helps support a healthy immune system.^[2] It does this by supporting various cellular functions of the immune system, such as phagocytosis, during which white blood cells destroy viruses, production of antibodies allowing your immune system to recognize and attack pathogens, and flagging antigens so your immune system can recognize them as a threat. 

Vitamin C has also been shown to have antioxidant properties that help protect the body from oxidative stress caused by harmful free radicals. This helps reduce the inflammation that leads to infection and illness. 

Since vitamin C and zinc improve the immune system, immune-stimulating supplements are often formulated with them. 

Improved Iron Absorption

Vitamin C improves iron absorption^[3] by increasing the amount of non-heme iron absorbed, but only when ingested with iron. Vitamin C increases the solubility of non-heme iron, allowing it to move through mucosal cells more easily. 

Vitamin C also reduces the number of dietary components that can inhibit iron absorption,^[4] such as phytates, oxalates, and calcium, and can help reduce oxidative stress in the body, leading to improved bioavailability of both heme and non-heme sources of iron.

Healthy Skin And Hair

Vitamin C can help promote skin health and hair health. It helps to protect the cells in the skin and hair from damage caused by environmental pollutants while stimulating collagen production, which gives skin its elasticity and helps keep hair strong and healthy. 

Vitamin C has been shown to reduce inflammation, dark spots, wrinkles, and discoloration, as well as helping to repair damaged hair follicles. As vitamin C is an antioxidant, it helps combat oxidative stress caused by environmental factors such as UV rays, smoke, and pollution.^[5] This makes it an important part of any skincare routine or diet for those looking to maintain healthy skin and hair.

Improved Wound Healing

Vitamin C can promote wound healing due to its involvement in collagen biosynthesis.^[6] Collagen is a major structural protein that forms the scaffolding for tissue repair, and vitamin C helps convert collagen precursors into mature fibers. 

Vitamin C has also been shown to increase blood flow to wound sites to promote faster and more successful healing.^[7]

Anti-Inflammatory

Vitamin C is a well-documented anti-inflammatory nutrient.^[8] Studies show it reduces inflammation by decreasing the production of pro-inflammatory cytokines^[9] and chemokines.^[10] 

Anti-Cancer

Vitamin C has been studied for its potential anti-cancer properties.^[11] 

Vitamin C also increases the activity of enzymes^[12] that inhibit cancer growth. It helps to detoxify carcinogenic compounds in the body and can help destroy tumor cells while leaving healthy cells alone. Pending further research, it possibly could play a significant role in preventing and fighting cancer, particularly at high intravenous doses.

Hormone Synthesis And Energy Production

Vitamin C helps make several hormones and chemical messengers^[1] in the brain and nerves. This includes the hormones epinephrine, norepinephrine, and serotonin. It also helps to produce carnitine,^[13] which is essential in energy metabolism. 

Carnitine transports long-chain fatty acids across cell membranes into the cell’s mitochondria, which are used for energy production. Vitamin C plays a vital role in cholesterol metabolism^[14] as well. It helps convert cholesterol into bile acids, essential for the proper digestion and absorption of fats.

How Much Vitamin C Should You Have Every Day?

For daily ingestion of vitamin C-rich foods, enough vitamin C is 90 milligrams for adult males and 75 milligrams for adult females, according to the dietary reference intakes. When vitamin C is prescribed as a supplement or as a treatment for a health condition, it will be in doses of over 400 milligrams.

Dietary supplements up to 2,000 milligrams per day are considered the safe upper limit; more may cause GI distress. 

Intravenous vitamin C can provide higher amounts as it bypasses the gastrointestinal system. Therefore, intravenous administration can be used therapeutically for conditions such as cancer, infections, or health issues requiring a high-dose vitamin supplement. 

Precautions & Safety Tips

It is important to note that while vitamin C is water soluble and considered safe, high-dose supplements can cause severe gastrointestinal upset. Therefore, it is advisable to consult with a doctor before taking large quantities of this or any other vitamins.

Adverse effects^[15] have been reported with intravenous vitamin C of headaches, nausea, dizziness, diarrhea, flushing, and even psychiatric effects on mood.^[16] 

Significant amounts of vitamin C may increase the likelihood of kidney stones and elevate uric acid, as it acidifies the urine.

Vitamin C supplementation may be contraindicated in some blood disorders such as thalassemia, sickle cell, and hemochromatosis. 

People with diabetes should talk to their healthcare provider before taking vitamin C supplements, as they may raise blood sugar levels.

Conclusion

Vitamin C is a great nutrient at any time of the day, with or without food, provided it doesn’t upset your stomach. Doses of 1000 milligrams per day should be divided to ensure maximum absorption and significantly high doses of vitamin C should only be administered intravenously.

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