Do Vitamin C Supplements Help Reduce Anxiety?

What are the risks and benefits of using vitamin C for depression and anxiety?

“In adults, emerging evidence suggests that eating more daily fiber-rich fruits and vegetables is associated with reduced anxiety, increased happiness, higher life satisfaction, and better social-emotional well-being,” says a review in the journal. Nutrients. Thus, “encouraging people to eat more fruits and vegetables may not only benefit their physical health in the long run, but also their mental health in the long run,” concludes a study in Social Sciences and Medicine. Fruit consumption, for example, has a protective relationship with leading killers such as heart disease, stroke, diabetes, and cancer, as well as depression. The question is why?

Several methods have been suggested. For example, one states that it is the antioxidant and anti-inflammatory properties of the product, which remove free radicals involved in inflammation associated with stress. If so, what about just taking vitamin C supplements? The brain has the highest levels of vitamin C in the body, so it is thought that if more vitamin C is consumed, it can have some kind of therapeutic role in brain diseases, especially considering that it is not only an antioxidant, but also has other important functions in the brain, such as helping to create neurotransmitters such as dopamine. But you don’t know it really helps until you test it.

One study found a beneficial effect of vitamin C supplementation as an adjunctive antidepressant treatment, while another study found no benefit from vitamin C supplementation.

Therefore, there are mixed effects of vitamin C and depression. Some studies have found no benefit when it comes to depression, but those randomized to vitamin C instead of placebo pills have shown a significant decrease in anxiety levels. And this was not only observed in that study.

The effects of oral vitamin C supplementation on anxiety in high school students were studied in a double-blind, randomized, placebo-controlled trial. The teenagers were given 500 mg per day of vitamin C or a placebo. That daily amount of vitamin C is about what you’d get from five oranges, four yellow kiwifruit or guavas, or half a yellow bell pepper. In just two weeks, vitamin C reduced anxiety levels compared to placebo, and provided a significant reduction in heart rate.

Given the data showing that vitamin C may have an anti-anxiety effect, researchers wanted to find out if a single dose could significantly affect mood. And indeed, within only two hours of taking vitamin C, the study participants experienced a significant reduction in anxiety compared to the placebo, although only among those who started feeling more anxious in the first place, as you can see below and at 2:42 in my video. Do Vitamin C Supplements Help With Anxiety?.

As a bonus, vitamin C supplementation may lower our blood pressure a few points, but whole fruits and vegetables can do the same thing—and may do it even better for those who need it most, as shown below and at 2:53 in mine. video.

As I’ve shown before, just adding two servings of fruits and vegetables a day can have mental health benefits in just two weeks—and without the risk of kidney stones associated with vitamin C supplements, although that seems to be a problem only for men.

Doctor’s Note

For more on vitamin C and anxiety, see the related post below.