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"Recommended daily allowances" for vitamin C.

Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences of the United States of America

|April 1, 1973

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This study suggests that the recommended daily intake of vitamin C (ascorbic acid) may be significantly underestimated. Guinea pigs required much higher doses than previously thought, especially under stress, indicating potential public health concerns for human needs.

Area of Science:

Biochemistry
Human Nutrition
Animal Models

Background:

The precise daily requirement of vitamin C (ascorbic acid) for human health remains undetermined 41 years after its identification.
Previous suggestions of significantly underestimated vitamin C needs have often been dismissed without rigorous scientific evidence.

Purpose of the Study:

To investigate the optimal ascorbic acid intake in young guinea pigs, using various physiological markers.
To compare the estimated human ascorbic acid needs based on guinea pig data with current recommendations.

Main Methods:

Young, healthy guinea pigs were fed a vitamin C-deficient diet supplemented with ascorbic acid at four different levels (0.05, 0.5, 5.0, and 50 mg/100 g body weight/day).
Physiological parameters including growth rates (pre- and post-surgical stress), anesthesia recovery, scab formation, wound healing, and hydroxyproline/hydroxylysine production were monitored.

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Main Results:

Guinea pigs demonstrated optimal health and healing at an ascorbic acid intake of approximately 5.0 mg/100 g body weight daily, a level far exceeding that needed to prevent scurvy.
Under surgical stress, ascorbic acid requirements were observed to be even higher.
Extrapolated to a 30-kg human child, this daily requirement is estimated at 1500 mg of ascorbic acid.

Conclusions:

The study concludes that the daily requirement for young guinea pigs is around 5.0 mg/100 g body weight, significantly higher than levels preventing scurvy.
The findings highlight a substantial discrepancy (nearly 40-fold) compared to current Food and Nutrition Board recommendations for humans.
This suggests considerable uncertainty regarding human ascorbic acid needs and points to a potential public health issue concerning optimal development, especially in young individuals.