Raena Morgan: Hi, I’m visiting with Dr. Benjamin Weeks who is a Professor of
Biology at Adelphi University and we’re talking about vitamin C
and all of its benefits. Dr. Weeks, I’m sitting and having my
morning orange juice and it says on the carton that you get 100%
of your daily needs of vitamin C by that glass of orange juice, is
that really true?
Dr. Benjamin Weeks: Well, it may be—it may be true, however, as we’re discovering,
and as we’ve talked about now on several occasions, there are
increasing roles—we are discovering that vitamin C has increasing
roles in the body.
Raena Morgan: Right.
Dr. Benjamin Weeks: As we discover a greater number of roles for vitamin C in our
body, there’s actually a debate about how much vitamin C that you
need. So, when you drink your glass of orange juice in the morning
you may be getting 100% of your RDA, but who’s recommending
that level and what’s that recommendation based upon? Again, as a
scientist, you may be getting enough, however, as we discover
more roles for vitamin C, there’s actually a debate as to how much
vitamin C supplementation, or how much vitamin C you really
need to take in. And, you also need to remember to take in your
glass of orange juice everyday. So, it goes back to lifestyle as well.
Okay, so when you take your glass of orange juice in that may be
good for that time.
Raena Morgan: For that morning?
Dr. Benjamin Weeks: For that morning, but you need to maintain healthy levels of
vitamin C, and it’s really not clear how much. There are people
who take 3, 4, 5 times the amount of the RDA.
Raena Morgan: Is a common amount 500 milligrams to 1000 milligrams?
Dr. Benjamin Weeks: Generally people supplement with 500 to 1000 milligrams per day.
There are some firm believers in vitamin C who will go beyond
that.
Raena Morgan: Could you take too much?
Dr. Benjamin Weeks: Yes, you can take too much. Like anything, you can take too much.
If you get to 4 to 5000 milligrams per day, which is well above the
RDA, if you get to that level there are some indications there could
be kidney damage. So, you do need to be careful with any
supplementation.
Raena Morgan: With mega doses you mean?
Dr. Benjamin Weeks: Mega doses. Vitamin C is water soluble which means that when
you take it in you will be able to urinate it out and eliminate it from
the body, or should I just say, when you take it in you’ll be able to
eliminate it from your body very easily. So, it doesn’t accumulate
to high levels in the body and it’s relatively difficult to overdose on
vitamin C, but it can be done if you set out to do it.
Raena Morgan: So, we just need to be moderate?
Dr. Benjamin Weeks: Well, I can say that you may be getting enough with your morning
glass of orange juice—you may not be.
Raena Morgan: Okay. Well, maybe I will take a little more. Thank you Dr. Weeks.
Dr. Benjamin Weeks: You’re welcome.
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