If you’ve been loading up on vitamin C to reduce your risk of inflammatory arthritis, such as rheumatoid arthritis (RA), or skipping C entirely to prevent accelerated joint damage from osteoarthritis (OA), you can relax. The USDA’s recommendation of 75 milligrams (mg) per day for women and 90 mg per day for men remains the golden mean for vitamin C consumption.
Questions regarding the appropriate vitamin C amount for people with arthritis arose in 2004 when two back-to-back studies reported decidedly contradictory results. The first, an animal study at Duke University, Durham, N.C., found that very high levels of vitamin C triggered a protein that causes bone spurs, accelerating joint damage and pain in subjects who had OA. The second study, conducted in Great Britain, determined that people who had low levels of vitamin C were three times more likely to develop RA than people whose diets included foods rich in vitamin C.
Though the study reports reflected both ends of the C spectrum, they show that getting the right amount of vitamin C is key for both preventing inflammatory arthritis and maintaining healthy joints with OA.
Without a doubt, vitamin C benefits most people. So keep a happy balance of C-rich foods, including red peppers, strawberries and citrus fruits, in your diet.
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The Right Amount of Vitamin C
Vitamin C may help prevent some forms of arthritis, but too much of it may worsen other kinds. Here’s how to find a happy medium.
By Arthritis Today Staff
I will keep it on observation, but I am almost convinced that it was the excess of vitamin C what triggered the pain again.
Keep you posted on my findings.
V-C 500mg daily, 1 Centrum Silver, V-D3
2000mg, Calcium Citrate+D (630mg.Calcium, 500IU Vitamin D), V-E 1000 IU, Aspirin 81 mg., and Fish Oil 1000 mg. The best supplement that I take is the Super B-complex; contains the B Vitamins; I find the Super B's keeps my energy level at a good level all day. My family physician suggested I take them. I swim 3 days a week, watch my food intake, drink 8 glasses of water a day. I have osteoarthritis, had a total (R)knee replacement and both rotator cuffs repaired. The combination of diet, vitamins, and exercise keeps the discomfort at a minimun and my overall health at a good level. I do take meds for colesterol and Blood Pressure. My colesterol is within normal level and my blood pressure routinely runs 116/60 - 70. I think that as we get older, the exercise along with everything else is very important. A person has to find an exercise that they like and do it on a regular basis. It works for me. By the way, I am also 65 years old.
Thank you, Marilyn Asaro
Go to PubMed and type in Vitamin-C and Arthritis. Read it from the horses mouth! :-)
Peppers are a nightshade vegetable, which have been found to have a strong association with many types of arthritis.
You should avoid peppers at all cost, as well as potatoes, tomatoes, eggplants, cayenne pepper, etc. Do a web search for more information. Nightshades can RUIN your health.
Vitimin C is derived from several sources. Which works best for arthritic conditions?
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