Vitamin C (ascorbic acid)
A vitamin essential for making collagen, healing wounds, absorbing iron and acting as an antioxidant. Severe deficiency causes scurvy — bleeding gums, poor healing and easy bruising — which is uncommon but still seen in poor diets, alcohol excess and smokers.
What it measures
Vitamin C (ascorbic acid) is a water-soluble vitamin the body cannot make or store for long, so a regular dietary supply from fruit and vegetables is needed. It is essential for building collagen (the protein that holds skin, blood vessels, gums and connective tissue together), for wound healing, for the immune system, as an antioxidant, and for helping the gut absorb iron from plant foods. Because it is not stored, deficiency can develop within weeks to a few months of very low intake. Classic deficiency — scurvy — is uncommon in well-fed populations but is still seen, particularly with a very poor diet (few fruit and vegetables), alcohol dependence, smoking (which increases requirements), eating disorders, and social isolation. It causes bleeding and swollen gums, easy bruising, poor wound healing, tiredness, joint and muscle aches, and, being a collagen problem, small bleeds around hair follicles. It is a satisfying diagnosis because it responds quickly to replacement.
What a high value can mean
- Supplementation — the usual reason; vitamin C is water-soluble and excess is largely excreted.
- Very high intakes — occasionally linked to kidney stones in susceptible people, and can affect some lab tests.
What a low value can mean
- Poor dietary intake — few fruit and vegetables; the main cause of deficiency.
- Smoking — increases vitamin C requirements.
- Alcohol dependence, eating disorders, social isolation.
- Effect (scurvy) — bleeding, swollen gums, easy bruising, poor wound healing, tiredness, aches.
When to discuss with a doctor
Vitamin C is not a routine test, but it is worth considering when there are suggestive features — bleeding or swollen gums, easy bruising, poor wound healing and tiredness — especially in someone at risk from a very poor diet, alcohol excess, smoking or an eating disorder. Recognising scurvy is rewarding because it corrects quickly with vitamin C replacement and a better diet. In practice, treatment is often started on the clinical picture. Because vitamin C also aids iron absorption, it is sometimes relevant in iron-deficiency situations. Mediora.AI shows vitamin C with related nutritional markers so the picture is read together; the interpretation and any treatment belong with your doctor.