By: Thomas Pickering, MD, DPhil, FRCP, Director of Integrative and Behavioral Cardiology Program
of the Cardiovascular Institute at Mount Sinai School of Medicine, New York.

Experts at the National Institutes of Health made the following recommendations about the daily needs for vitamin C in April 1999. For the average person, 100 to 200 milligrams a day is enough. This amount can be obtained from five servings of fruit a day.

They also state that there is no good evidence that taking large amounts is effective in stopping colds or preventing heart disease and cancer. Taking more than 1,000 milligrams a day may cause nausea, stomach cramps, diarrhea and kidney stones.

Good sources of vitamin C are listed below:

Strawberries (1 cup)	95 mgs
Papaya (1 cup)	85
Kiwi (1 medium)	75
Orange (1 medium)	70
Orange juice (1/2 cup)	50
Cantaloupe (1/4 medium)	60
Grapefruit (1/2 medium)	40
Grapefruit juice (1/2 cup)	35
Pepper (1/2 cup) Raw	65
Cooked	50
Broccoli (1/2 cup)	60
Kale (1 cup)	55

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