“Vitamin C is absorbed within the small gut, the place there is a group of various proteins there that may take it up,” explains Michels. That is straightforward sufficient—so what’s all of the fuss about vitamin C absorption, then?
Effectively, the vitamin C in foods (and lots of dietary supplements) is a kind known as ascorbic acid. In keeping with Michels, the potential problem with absorption of ascorbic acid (at excessive doses) is that it is simply saturated—take a concentrated quantity of vitamin C on this kind at one time and also you’re unlikely to soak up the surplus.
Nonetheless, here is the essential distinction: When the gut is confronted with decrease ranges of ascorbic acid (i.e., lower than about 400 milligrams), an energetic transport system absorbs the vitamin C (i.e., strikes the nutrient via the intestine and into the bloodstream, to the place it is wanted within the physique).
As quickly as these energetic transports change into overwhelmed, passive diffusion takes over to soak up the remainder of the vitamin C (which is a reasonably inefficient course of). The reality is that absorption is not as straightforward because it sounds, and the truth that ascorbic acid seems to have a ceiling for absorption, that may make it tough to glean all the advantages of upper efficiency formulation (in the event that they characteristic the ascorbic acid kind).
Plus, vitamin C is water-soluble, which means it dissolves in water (because the identify suggests), however one of these vitamin cannot be saved in your physique for later use.
You could be extra aware of the method of fat-soluble nutritional vitamins—together with D, E, A, and Ok—that are absorbed and stored in tissue. Alternatively, extra water-soluble nutritional vitamins are discarded, leaving you to start out contemporary each day.
Your physique can deal with round 300 to 400 milligrams of the purely ascorbic acid type of vitamin C at a time in keeping with Michels (which is a genuinely helpful, decrease dose present in meals, multivitamins, and different multi-ingredient complexes), however with greater doses, much less is absorbed.
“That is greater than sufficient capability to soak up many of the vitamin C you get from meals, however dietary supplements is usually a totally different story,” he explains. Due to the saturation phenomenon, the remainder of that invaluable vitamin C from an ascorbic acid complement, for instance, will theoretically be flushed down the bathroom (i.e., you will simply pee it out).
