![]() A systematic review found that a third of reproductive age women in resource-poor settings had dietary vitamin C intakes below the Estimated Average Requirements (EAR) rising to nearly 50% in Africa and South East Asia. ![]() There are scarce data on vitamin C deficiency in resource-poor countries where vitamin C deficiency might be expected to be more prevalent. In the US where supplement use is common among older people, vitamin C deficiency is lower than in younger age groups, , but in the UK with a lower use of supplements, higher vitamin C deficiency and lower dietary intakes have been reported in older people. Smokers, non-users of vitamin supplements and those consuming less than the recommended dietary intakes of vitamin C were subgroups shown to be at higher risk in these studies. Even in high income countries population-based studies have reported blood levels of vitamin C in the range indicating deficiency in around 1 in 5 men and 1 in 9 women in low income groups, ,. Humans are unable to synthesize vitamin C and are dependent on dietary sources, mainly fruit and vegetables. Vitamin C (ascorbic acid) plays a major role in human metabolism ranging from the synthesis of collagen, carnitine and norepinephrine to a large number of antioxidant activities.
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