Study concludes “Vitamin C supplementation effectively increased work motivation and attentional focus and contributed to better performance on cognitive tasks requiring sustained attention”

Key Points

  • The brain has the highest concentrations of vitamin C than any other tissue in the body, and vitamin C is involved in multiple critical brain functions
  • Supplementation with vitamin C resulted in significant improvements in attention, work absorption, and shorter reaction times when solving mathematical problems, as well as a distinct improvements in fatigue and work engagement
  • Supplemental vitamin C intake has also been shown to affect how a person’s vitamin D level responds to vitamin D supplementation, such that those taking 1000 mg/day of vitamin [C] or more had a higher vitamin D level for any given vitamin D intake amount than those taking less supplemental vitamin C

Vitamin C has many health benefits, and from its immune-boosting properties to its anti-cancer actions, vitamin C can be a true life-saver.

Did you know that the brain has the highest concentrations of vitamin C than any other tissue in the body, and that vitamin C is involved in multiple critical brain functions?

Study Investigates Vitamin C’s Role in Mental Health and Vitality

In a two part study, Sim et al. looked at the relationship between vitamin C intake, vitamin C serum levels, and different aspects of mental vitality. The first part of the study, which included data from 214 healthy, young adults between the ages of 20 and 39 years, analyzed the association between vitamin C serum levels, vitality (as fatigue and attention), and mood status (as stress, depression, and positive and negative affect). The second part of the study was a double-blind randomized controlled trial (RCT) that included 24 healthy adults who were given 1000 mg/day of vitamin C (as two doses of 500 mg) for 4 weeks, compared to 22 healthy adults who were given a placebo. All participants had low vitamin C levels at enrollment, defined as less than 50 umol/L. Vitality measures for the trial included fatigue, attention, work engagement and absorption, self-control resources, and mood status, as well as attention capacity and processing speed.

Vitamin C Significantly Benefited Attention Levels

In all aspects of this study, vitamin C intake and levels were significantly associated with measured levels of attention. In the first study, while vitamin C serum level was not significantly related to fatigue or mood, attention levels significantly increased as vitamin C levels increased. The RCT found that, when compared to the placebo group, the vitamin C supplementation group experienced increased vitamin C levels along with significant improvements in attention and work absorption, and a distinct but non-significant improvement in fatigue (p=0.06) and work engagement (p=0.07). The vitamin C group also had significantly shorter reaction times when solving mathematical problems.

Those Taking Vitamin C Experienced Overall Improvements in Vitality

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When looking at changes in mental vitality only among the vitamin C supplementation group, compared to baseline, 4 weeks of supplementation resulted in significantly

  • decreased levels of fatigue
  • increased attention span
  • increased level of work engagement and absorption (suggestive of motivation)
  • increase in vigor
  • increased self-control resources

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