Everybody takes vitamin C daily because we know that it can potentially ward off diseases and can strengthen our immune system. Vitamin C is an essential nutrient found in various fruits and vegetables. Our body requires ascorbic acid to help form and maintain our bones, blood vessels, and skin. It also promotes healing and to prevent infections.
But there are vitamin C formulations in the market that claims that they are superior to the other. I'm talking about Sodium Ascorbate and Calcium Ascorbate. Are they really better than the good old Ascorbic Acid? Let's find out.
As per Wikipedia, Sodium Ascorbate "is one of a number of mineral salts of ascorbic acid." So it means aside from the two that I mentioned above, there are several other forms. But considering that the Sodium Ascorbate and Calcium Ascorbate are the most popular and available in the market, we'll focus on them. Sodium Ascorbate is a sodium salt of ascorbic acid, it is known as mineral ascorbate. Sodium Ascorbate has not been demonstrated to be more bioavailable than any other form of vitamin C. And there are these findings from Oregon State University's Linus Pauling Institute Micronutrient Information Center:
1,000 mg of sodium ascorbate generally contains 111 mg of sodium. Individuals following low-sodium diets (e.g., for high blood pressure) are generally advised to keep their total dietary sodium intake to less than 2,500 mg/day. Thus, megadoses of vitamin C in the form of sodium ascorbate could significantly increase sodium intakeOn the other hand, Calcium Ascorbate is the calcium salt of ascorbic acid and is also a mineral ascorbate, just like Sodium Ascorbate, and it is approximately 10% calcium by mass. We all know that Calcium is also a mineral that can help our body against bone density loss. In the stomach, Calcium lowers the acidity levels. The Micronutrient Information Center also has this to say about Calcium Ascorbate:
Calcium ascorbate generally provides 90-110 mg of calcium (890-910 mg of ascorbic acid) per 1,000 mg of calcium ascorbate. Calcium in this form appears to be reasonably well absorbed. The recommended dietary calcium intake for adults is 1,000 to 1,200 mg/day. Total calcium intake should not exceed the UL, which is 2,500 mg/day for adults aged 19-50 years and 2,000 mg/day for adults older than 50 yearsNatural and synthetic vitamin C such as Sodium Ascorbate and Calcium Ascorbate are chemically identical, and there are no known differences in their biological activity. But there are possibilities that the bioavailability of the natural vitamin C differs that of the synthetic ones might differ. Calcium Ascorbate appears reasonably well absorbed and does not contribute to sodium accumulation than that of Sodium Ascorbate. Although both Sodium Ascorbate and Calcium Ascorbate are less likely to contribute gastric irritation, Calcium Ascorbate appears superior than that of Sodium Ascorbate as an alternative to Ascorbic Acid because of the extra benefits it brings.
Sources:
1. Wikipedia - https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Vitamin_C
2. Oregon State University / Linus Pauling Institute - https://lpi.oregonstate.edu/mic/vitamins/vitamin-C/supplemental-forms
