It had been a couple of years since I might had a typical blood check accomplished. I used to be going backwards and forwards between being pregnant and breastfeeding for about 5 years, so any weariness I used to be feeling I naturally attributed to these elements. 

To not point out, prenatal nutritional vitamins are filled with further nutritional vitamins and minerals of every kind. So if I used to be to check my blood on the time, my pure ranges would not be mirrored, anyway. Nonetheless, years later, I discovered myself feeling increasingly drained and not using a stable clue as to why. 

So off I went to the physician and obtained a full blood check—a lot to my shock, my vitamin C ranges had been exceptionally low. I had joined the whopping 42% of the U.S. grownup inhabitants1 that has inadequate vitamin C ranges (not a enjoyable membership you need to be a part of), although I prioritized every day fruit consumption. As soon as I realized the science behind how vitamin C is absorbed by means of meals, although, I am unable to say I used to be too shocked. 

See, the type of vitamin C present in meals (and plenty of dietary supplements) is a kind known as ascorbic acid. Your physique can deal with round 300 to 400 milligrams of purely ascorbic acid at a time, which is a helpful decrease dose present in meals, multivitamins, and different multi-ingredient complexes. However I realized that in case you are consuming ascorbic acid in excessive doses, it may be arduous to truly soak up greater than your physique can deal with. And since vitamin C is a water-soluble vitamin, your physique will not retailer that extra for later use (in contrast to its fat-soluble cousins nutritional vitamins D, E, A, and Okay). It merely will get flushed out, which is a serious bummer.

To say the very least, getting sufficient vitamin C was far more sophisticated than I believed.