What it is
Regulatory status: essential nutrient available in foods and dietary supplements; oral supplements are not approved as treatments for tendon or post-surgical healing
Mechanism evidence: human
At a glance
What it is, why people use it, the evidence, and what to know before trying it.
Why people use it
- Preventing or correcting vitamin C deficiency
- Supporting normal collagen synthesis
- Post-injury connective-tissue healing
Evidence at a glance
Vitamin C is necessary for normal collagen formation and deficiency impairs wound healing. Evidence does not establish that extra oral vitamin C in a replete person improves tendon or post-surgical recovery; the musculoskeletal-injury literature is mainly preclinical with limited negative or inconclusive human evidence.
Confidence: moderate
Safety & interactions
Known side effects, interactions and use limits from reviewed sources.
Vitamin C has low toxicity, but high oral doses can cause diarrhea, nausea, and abdominal cramps. High intake may be a concern with hyperoxaluria, kidney disease or hereditary hemochromatosis, and high-dose use during chemotherapy or radiation should be discussed with the treating clinician.
- high-dose use with hyperoxaluria or significant kidney disease without clinical guidance
- high-dose use with hereditary hemochromatosis without clinical guidance
- diarrhea at high doses
- nausea at high doses
- abdominal cramps at high doses
- chemotherapy or radiation therapy
- niacin plus simvastatin antioxidant regimens
Forms and variants
This review does not automatically apply to:
- intravenous vitamin C
- liposomal vitamin C
- timed-release vitamin C
- topical vitamin C
- Ester-C branded mixtures