The supplement of vitamin C is certainly a well-known one. It’s the main household remedy for strengthening the immune system, calming infections and fighting off the common cold…
…but the true potential of vitamin C is less famous. For skincare, vitamin C is a co-factor in the production of collagen, the structural protein which grants your skin tightness, firmness, elasticity, and in other words, youth. Collagen is the scaffolding laid down in an open wound, meaning that vitamin C can help old wounds and pimples to heal much more quickly.
Vitamin C is also miraculous for stress levels, clearing the stress hormone cortisol from the bloodstream and thus minimising its dangers like ageing and a racing heartbeat. Vitamin C’s stress reduction is particularly pronounced during intense exercise like marathon running.
Then there’s vitamin C’s antioxidant functioning, its ability to fight off crazed free radicals – the list of hidden powers never ends. That’s why today, we will discuss the 8 greatest natural vitamin C supplements money can buy.
The beauty of vitamin C compared to selenium or vitamin A is its huge potential for megadosing. The recommended daily intake is 60mg minimum, but taking 1000mg daily is perfectly safe. This small RDI is another area where mainstream opinion doesn’t do justice to vitamin C.
There’s also secret tricks for maximising your vitamin C absorption, whether it’s cooking the foods only lightly or combining the vitamin C with certain antioxidants, and those secrets are all found in these supplements.
Let’s get started:
One – Garden Of Life
We begin with 250mg of vitamin C per capsule, equivalent to 4 oranges or 4 servings of broccoli, with 120 capsules for a 4 month supply. We continue with organic rice hull and vegetable cellulose, for a capsule filler and the capsule itself respectively, and two of the safest vitamin additives.
We continue further with Garden Of Life’s bonus blend, a long list of highly condensed, 100% organic plant foods: green bell pepper, brussels sprouts, blueberry, ginger, garlic, green onion, and raspberry are but a handful of the selections. This acne-friendly blend adds up to 360mg per capsule in total.
Finally, we have a digestive blend, featuring protease and lipase, two enzymes secreted by your own stomach, and papaine and bromelain, which occur naturally in papaya and bromelain respectively. What about the vitamin C itself? Instead of being synthesised in a lab, this is manufactured naturally using the common brewer’s yeast found in kitchens everywhere, giving this vitamin C all of the co-factors and structural subtleties required for efficient absorption into the bloodstream.
Garden Of Life would already be an excellent supplement even if it only focussed on vitamin C, but the bonus nutrition makes it truly outstanding.
Amazon link: Garden Of Life Raw Vitamin C.
Two – Naturelo
Firstly, the vitamin C is all-natural, but where Naturelo really stands out is in its monstrous dosage of 500mg per capsule, with a capsule count of 90. Naturelo is far beyond the recommended daily intake of 60mg; getting to 500mg through food alone requires some strategic thinking, yet such a high amount has strong benefits.
The sources are all natural: Naturelo contains vitamin C sourced from organic acerola cherries, and l-ascorbate, which is produced by bacteria using fermentation. Naturelo also contains a 45mg dosage of citrus bioflavonoids extracted from bitter orange, a type of antioxidant which will only multiply the benefits of vitamin C. Interestingly, certain antioxidants such as quercetin found in onions have been found to increase the absorption of vitamin C in the gut, and in 1984, it was proven that these bioflavonoids do the same.
Naturelo’s additives are all safe, featuring organic acacia gum, ethyl cellulose, organic rice flour, and the vegetarian capsule. This supplement is explicitly free from any soy, corn, GMOs, gluten, and colourings. Interestingly, Naturelo is specifically stated to be produced in cold environments; this is important with vitamin C, as it’s a fragile molecule which is vulnerable to damage during boiling or microwaving, for example.
Naturelo’s only disadvantage compared with Garden Of Life is its lack of fancy extras, with no prebiotic blend or broader fruit and vegetable blend, but on the other hand, Naturelo’s dosage per capsule beats Garden Of Life by a factor of two.
For a pure vitamin C supplement, Naturelo is unbeatable.
Amazon link: Naturelo Vitamin C.
Three – Pure Synergy
What’s more, there’s a high quality fruit and vegetable blend of cranberries, blueberries, raspberries and more, which adds up to 650mg. Another feature which is instantly appealing is the almost total absence of additives, with only the vegetable cellulose capsule being listed.
Are there any flaws? Yes, for Pure Synergy’s vitamin C dosage of 120mg is the lowest on the list, beaten by Naturelo with its 500mg capsules. However, this is still double the recommended minimum intake. If purity and bonus nutrition are your top priorities, Pure Synergy is outstanding. All the necessary ingredients are organic, and hence there’s a USDA certification displayed on the bottle.
Garden Of Life wins among the spruced up vitamin C brands, but Pure Synergy’s slightly different fruit and vegetable profile, with greater focus on berries, makes it an excellent alternative.
Amazon link: Pure Synergy Pure Radiance C.
Four – Mother Nature Organics
This berry’s homeland stretches from Northern Peru to Southern Brazil, but the camu camu berry bush particularly favours watery landscapes, including swamps and the shores of the Amazon river, growing in the same areas that pink Amazon river dolphins and giant river turtles inhabit. The berries are small with a diameter of 1.0 to 3.2 cm. They’re unpleasant tasting, but Amazonian Indians have used the berry in medicine for hundreds of years, particularly for treating infections and promoting longevity.
Why? Almost certainly because, although they didn’t know it at the time, the camu camu berry is the richest fruit in vitamin C in the world. It is the amla berry of the Western hemisphere, and with all moisture being evaporated, camu camu powder is even more condensed.
Exact figures vary by company, but the results are always huge: a commonly accepted estimate is that camu camu powder contains 700mg of vitamin C per mere 5 gram teaspoon…
…which brings us to Mother Nature Organics. This bag contains 8oz of organic camu camu powder, and should you eat one 2.5 gram teaspoon per day, you will have a comfortable 90 day supply of 350mg daily. That beats both Naturelo and Pure Synergy easily. This brand (formerly called Madre Organics) is also certified organic with the USDA seal, a good assurance to have with health products sourced from South America.
Mother Nature Organics itself is sourced from the heart of a Peruvian rainforest, meaning that the plant is in its normal habitat and will produce all of its usual nutrients. The disadvantages are 1) the necessity of adding camu camu powder to water and drinking it, and 2) the pungent taste, which is more like half of a disadvantage, since you might like the challenge of drinking it.
Amazon link: Mother Nature Organics Camu Camu Powder.
Five – Nature’s Plus
With Nature’s Plus, the vitamin C is sourced specifically from amla berries. Amla is a medicinal plant also known as the Indian gooseberry, which occurs hundreds of times in the ancient textbooks of Ayurvedic medicine. The plant supposedly brings balance to both the mind and body, but more specifically, a study recently found that amla is rich in antioxidants like gallic acid, quinic acid, and quercetin, which add yet more steam to the vitamin C train.
As for the dosage, Nature’s Plus matches Garden Of Life with 250mg of vitamin C per capsule (and defeats Pure Synergy), but falls short with the 60 strong capsule count. Like Naturelo, there’s a bonus citrus bioflavonoid helping, with an identical dosage of 45mg per capsule.
Nature’s Plus is certified organic by the USDA, down to the finest detail. Every individual ingredient is organic, whether it’s the amla fruits themselves or bonus quercetin. Nature’s Plus is very pure, with the organic pullulan capsule as the sole additive.
Nature’s Plus is another top quality natural vitamin C supplement brand, with enough variation to make it uniquely interesting.
Amazon link: Nature’s Plus Organic Vitamin C.
Six – Viva Naturals
On the other hand, Viva Naturals contains 1000mg of vitamin C per single capsule, and 250 capsules per bottle. That’s easily the best value for money here. The vitamin C comes with a 25mg helping of rosehips and citrus bioflavonoids, possibly enhancing the absorption. The strength of Viva Naturals is such that it may override what little damage the vegetable stearate causes. Elsewhere, the only other additive is the hypromellose capsule.
But there’s another flaw, which is that unlike its amla berry or acerola cherry-sourced counterparts, the vitamin C is merely isolated ascorbic acid. It’s cleanly produced, made in Scotland through fermentation of glucose extracted from non-GMO corn, but it isn’t accompanied by the bonus nutrients and antioxidants of Pure Synergy.
If your priorities lie with high strength over complete purity and naturalness, Viva Naturals is the supplement for you. Both are worthwhile options, and this is supreme for a laser focussed supplement
Amazon link: Viva Naturals Vitamin C 1000mg.
Seven – Terrasoul Superfoods Camu Camu Powder
Terrasoul Superfoods is guaranteed to contain 8.6% vitamin C by weight, amid an assortment of promising camu phytonutrients that haven’t been research yet. It’s gently dehydrated rather than blasted into oblivion with chemicals. Consumer reports are all in order: camu camu powder should taste as strong as moss on a boulder in the woods, but only smell mild.
Terrasoul Superfoods is certified organic by the USDA, meaning that no pesticides or herbicides were sprayed onto the berries and every process in the factory was performed cleanly. This is particularly important with a health product which is exclusive to South America; if you can import it from both South America and Africa like with cocoa powder, the competition makes things much safer, but when South America is the exclusive source, the poor farmers or greedy local businesses may succumb to the urge to dilute it or cut corners with the production. The glorious USDA seal bypasses this.
The downside with Terrasoul Superfoods is its lower weight of 7oz compared to Mother Nature, but this is an excellent back up brand. Terrasoul Superfoods is sourced from Peruvian rainforests again, from the shores of the Amazon river. It’s a highly pure brand, with a laboratory report available on request.
Amazon link: Terrasoul Superfoods Camu Camu Powder.
Eight – Sunfood Camu Camu Powder
This camu camu powder comes in a convenient sealable bag to prevent it from spilling everywhere. Aside from the commitment to the natural lifestyle, or being unable to resist an unpleasant tasting challenge, is there any reason to take camu camu powder over vitamin C capsules? Yes, because camu camu berries contain a unique antioxidant profile of their own, being particularly rich in anthocyanins and proanthocyanidins.
With such a strong taste, they could be rich in rare antioxidants as well. None of the vitamin C capsules recommended above contain camu camu powder as their source (apart from Pure Synergy) – they rely on acerola cherries or amla – meaning that camu camu powder is a separate path to take and could have unique effects. I used to take camu camu powder daily and I always noticed sharper and clearing thinking immediately after downing the glass. The only downside is a higher cost on average than taking pills.
Regardless, Sunfood meets every requirement for a camu camu powder and every requirement for a vitamin C supplement.
Amazon link: Sunfood Superfoods Organic Camu Powder.
Bonus time
Another source listed in several of these supplements is the acerola cherry. The acerola cherry is a large, edible, tomato sized fruit which grows in South America, and is extraordinarily rich in vitamin C, with 1677mg per 100 grams according to one analysis, compared to just 53mg in the widely hailed orange.
Like amla berries, the acerola cherry is rich in numerous other antioxidants such as cyanidin-3-α-O-rhamnoside, pelargonidin-3-α-O-rhamnoside, quercetin-3-α-O-rhamnoside, kaempferol glycosides, astilbin, and proanthocyanidins (study).
One particularly interesting study fed acerola cherry juice to rats, which caused their skin to develop greater resistance to UV radiation in sunlight. This was from drinking the juice, rather than applying it topically.
Conclusion
There’s a vitamin C supplement in existence to meet every requirement. Garden Of Life is unbeatable, but Naturelo has a higher dosage, while Pure Origins is entirely organic, with a slightly different selection of bonus foods.
Underlining vitamin C’s importance is the drastic decline in food content over decades of heavy agriculture. Since 1975, the US Department of Agriculture’s own official vitamin C content of broccoli has fallen from 113mg per 100 grams to 93.2mg; the vitamin C content of watercress has fallen from 79mg to 43mg, and with cabbage, the figures are 47mg to 32.2mg. Soil depletion particularly affects minerals, which are taken up through the plant’s roots whereas vitamins are synthesised by the plants themselves, but the figures don’t lie. It’s likely that the plants lack the raw materials to pump out as much vitamin C compared to the 1950s.
What’s more, it’s also believed that prehistoric humans ate a fruit-rich diet, particularly in tropical countries with pineapples and mangos growing on trees all around, and therefore ate hundreds of milligrams of vitamin C per day without trying, and indeed, without knowing what vitamin C was. Getting carbohydrates from root tubers like ancient potatoes as opposed to bread would have helped the caveman’s vitamin C intake too.
With these high-strength supplements, which are gaining popularity monthly, you can now mimic a caveman’s vitamin C intake from the comfort of your own home.
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