Looking for the best vitamin C supplement brands in Malaysia? Can Vitamin C actually protect you against the flu virus or even the current coronavirus? Are you taking enough of vitamin C? From the dozens of different brands and products, which one should you choose? Read more about vitamin C in this article. You might be surprised with what you may not know.
 |
While supplements are regulated in Malaysia, they aren’t held to the same safety standards as pharmaceuticals. Thus, it’s important to purchase supplements from reputable companies.
Some third-party organizations, such as NSF International, ConsumerLab and LabDoor test supplements for purity and label accuracy. You may want to choose a vitamin C supplement that has been tested by one of these companies.
Vitamin C – The Basics
Depending on the brand you purchase, Thai peanut sauce can include a lot of net carbohydrates. Thai Kitchen peanut satay sauce contains 7 grams net carbs per 2-tablespoon serving.
Best Vitamin C Supplements in Malaysia
We did our homework and have chosen the best for you. The list is based on suggestions from outside groups as well as popularity in local search results.
The top vitamin C supplements available in Malaysia right now are listed below.
Warning: The majority of vitamin C supplements have dosages that are higher than the Malaysian government’s suggested daily amount (Malaysia RDA). The recommended daily intake for adults in Malaysia is 70 mg for both men and women (Ministry of Health Malaysia).
1. NOW Foods Vitamin C Sustained Release Tablets (Best Bang for Your Buck)
Our take: Bargain-priced, potent vitamin C tablets featuring delayed release.
What we like: Each vitamin C pill costs five cents and includes 1,000 milligrams of the vitamin. Rose hips are included as an additional source of vitamin C. sustained release allows it to reach your body gradually. NOW Foods takes pride in its stringent testing procedures. The Food and Drug Administration has certified all of their manufacturing facilities, and each supplement is checked internally for efficacy and purity (FDA).
What we don’t Like: Some people find it difficult to take tablets (Best Reviews).
Highest Quality: Grade A (LabDoor)
2. Garden of Life’s Vitamin C Capsules
Our take: Vegetarian vitamin C capsules sourced from natural raw food.
We like that it is free of binders and fillers. contains probiotics, enzymes, and bioflavonoids for healthy digestion. simple to swallow Garden of Life’s manufacturing facilities are all FDA-certified, and all of its products are third-party evaluated for quality and purity.
What we don’t like: Expensive price tag for high-quality formula (Best Reviews).
Highest Quality: Grade A (LabDoor)
3. Dr. Mercola Liposomal Vitamin C (Vitamin C 1000mg)
Price in Malaysia: MYR 128 > Buy Now on Lazada Malaysia
Key Data from LabDoor (Labdoor is an independent company that tests supplements)
4. Scott’s Vitamin C Pastilles (Best vitamin C supplement for kids)
- 21mg of vitamin C per pastille
- Chewy & fun to eat
- Available in mango, orange, mixed berries & peach
Is your child a picky eater and as a result lacks vitamin C in his or her usual diet? You can supplement the missing vitamin C by giving them Scott’s Vitamin C Pastilles! The chewy texture of the pastilles makes it a favourite among children all around the world. Besides the usual orange flavour, you can also opt for other flavours like mango, mixed berries and peach.
5. Blackmores Vitamin C Malaysia
By gradually releasing nutrients over a sustained 8-hour period, Blackmores Buffered C Slow Release has been particularly developed to give a prolonged rate of absorption, ensuring that vitamin C is available when your body needs it. This low-acid formulation is mild on the stomach since it is buffered with mineral ascorbates. Additionally, it has bioflavonoids like rutin and hesperidin that help the body absorb vitamin C more effectively.
Each tablet has 500 mg of vitamin C (from 280 mg of ascorbic acid and 266 mg of calcium ascorbate) and bioflavonoids (hesperidin and rutin).
6. Berocca Vitamin C
Price: MYR 24.90 (promotion) > Lazada Malaysia
Each tablet contains Vitamins B1, B2, B3, B5, B6 ,B12, Biotin, Vitamin C 500mg, Calcium 100mg, Folic Acid, Magnesium, Zinc 10mg.
Berocca Vitamin C review ratings: 5.0/5 (Lazada)
7. Flavettes Vitamin C
- A daily dietary supplement of Vitamin C Vitamin C (Ascorbic Acid)
- For healthy bones, teeth, gums as well as general make-up and maintenance of the body.
- Each Tablet contains 250mg Vitamin C (Blackcurrant flavor)
- Dosage: 1 tablet daily or as advised by physician.
- Tablets to be dissolved in the mouth or chewed
8. Kordel Vitamin C for Kids
Price: MYR 26 (promotion 27% discount) > Lazada Malaysia
Kordel’s Kid’s Vitamin C + Bioflavonoids helps build a strong immune system. Each chewable tablet provides 250mg of vitamin C. It is the only children’s high strength vitamin C supplement that contains 25mg of lemon bioflavonoids, a compound that maximizes the benefits of vitamin C.
According to research, vitamin C and bioflavonoids work together to provide a synergistic antioxidant defense that not only prevents gum bleeding but also strengthens the immune system’s ability to fight off colds and flu.
9. Amway Vitamin C
Price: MYR 123.65 > Lazada Malaysia
A nutritional supplement called AMWAY NUTRILITE Bio C Plus All Day Formula aids in the daily replenishment of vitamin C. Your body can absorb and use vitamin C more effectively thanks to Bio C Plus All Day Formula’s constant delivery of the nutrient. Additionally, it offers a quick and easy solution to promote a balanced diet every day.
NUTRILITE Bio C Plus All Day Formula contains 500mg of vitamin C per tablet, and zero artificial colourants, flavours or preservatives. The Bio C Plus All Day Formula also contains phytonutrients from acerola cherries, which are grown on our organic farm.
Vitamin C is one of the most important elements in our diet, regardless of lifestyle. It is crucial for athletes and those who lead hectic lifestyles in addition to keeping us healthy and powerful. You have a natural and practical approach to close the nutritional gap in your everyday diet with Bio C Plus All Day Formula. Since acerola cherries are your finest source of vitamin C, Bio C Plus All Day Formula was specifically created with an extended release mechanism to guarantee you a suitable daily dose.
10. Vitamin C Shaklee (Shaklee Sustained Release Vita C Plus)
- Rediscover feeling healthy. The right nutrients are important for overall health and well-being.
- Vitamin C is an essential water-soluble vitamin that has a wide range of functions in your body, with its primary function being a good antioxidant.
- It also plays an important role in promoting the health of teeth, gums, bones and basically, for everything that makes-up your body
- Suggested use: For adults only. Take 1 tablet a day with a meal
Disclaimer: The prices might vary based on the e-commerce promotions, deals or campaigns that are launched on a regular basis in Malaysia.
What You May Not Know about Vitamin C
Do you know that Vitamin C supplements can come in many forms? Supplements typically contain vitamin C in the form of ascorbic acid, which has equivalent bioavailability to that of naturally occurring ascorbic acid in foods, such as orange juice and broccoli. Other forms of vitamin C supplements include sodium ascorbate; calcium ascorbate; other mineral ascorbates; ascorbic acid with bioflavonoids; and combination products, such as Ester-C®, which contains calcium ascorbate, dehydroascorbate, calcium threonate, xylonate and lyxonate.
If the different forms of vitamin C have different levels of bioavailability, it has been investigated in a few human trials. In one study, ascorbic acid and Ester-C® produced the same levels of vitamin C in the plasma, but Ester-C® produced noticeably higher levels of vitamin C in leukocytes 24 hours after consumption. According to a different study, there are no differences between the three vitamin C sources ascorbic acid, Ester-C®, and ascorbic acid with bioflavonoids in terms of plasma vitamin C levels or urinary excretion of vitamin C.
Liposomal vitamin C supplements are encapsulated in pockets of fat cells called liposomes (hence the name). Liposomal vitamin C supplements don’t use capsules or tablets or powders to deliver nutrients. Apparently this is the most effective way of ensuring the vitamins in the supplement actually get absorbed into your body.
Additionally, 2,000 mg is the Upper Limit (UL) for supplemental vitamin C, which most people can ingest each day without experiencing any side effects (nih.gov).
Most vitamin C supplements provide a daily dose of anywhere from 250–1,000 mg, so it can be easy to exceed the UL if you’re not careful. Be sure to read the packaging and take only the recommended dose to avoid complications.
Additionally, vitamin C may conflict with chemotherapy, radiation therapy, or medications used to decrease cholesterol (nih.gov).
However, very high dose vitamin C therapy used to treat critically ill patients in clinical settings are secure and have little to no side effects (Critical Care).
Can Vitamin C Protect You Against COVID-19?
Effects of High Dose Vitamin C Supplementation on Severe Covid-19 Patients In The ICU was the title of a Malaysian retrospective study carried out by staff members from the Health Ministry at the Raja Permaisuri Bainun Hospital in Ipoh, Perak, and the Kuala Lumpur Hospital.
Even though this study’s results indicated that high vitamin C doses decreased mortality rates and resulted in shorter hospital stays, its cohort of only 14 patients made it too small to be regarded as a reliable study.
Vitamin C should be used as an adjunctive therapy for respiratory infections, sepsis, and COVID-19, according to a review that was published on December 7, 2020, in the journal Nutrients.
The Alliance for Natural Health’s founder and scientific director, Rob Verkerk, Ph.D., announced the beginning of a global vitamin C campaign on December 16, 2020, in reaction to the Nutrients review, which “puts all the arguments and science in one, neat location.”
Interestingly, many of the risk factors for COVID-19 overlap with those for vitamin C deficiency. Certain sub-groups (male, African American, older, those suffering with co-morbidities of diabetes, hypertension, COPD), all at higher risk of severe COVID-19, have also been shown to have lower serum vitamin C levels . Average plasma vitamin C levels are generally lower in men than women, even with comparative intakes of vitamin C, which has been attributed to their higher body weight.
In the first RCT (Randomized Controlled Trial), 56 ventilated COVID-19 patients in Wuhan, China, were given either sterile water as a placebo or 24 g/day of intravenous vitamin C over the course of seven days. Due to a shortage of fresh admissions, the experiment was underpowered with only 54 patients although it was originally intended for 140 participants. The authors came to the conclusion that patients with COVID-19 who are critically ill may benefit from HDIVC (high dose intravenous vitamin C).
The Lessening Organ Dysfunction with Vitamin C-COVID (LOVIT-COVID) trial in Canada, which is enrolling 800 patients, is the largest registered trial. Participants are randomly assigned to receive intravenous vitamin C (50 mg/kg every 6 hours) or a placebo for 96 hours, which is equivalent to 15 g/day for a 75 kg person (NCT04401150).
The Randomized, Embedded, Multifactorial Adaptive Platform Trial for Community-Acquired Pneumonia (REMAP-CAP; NCT02735707) now includes this protocol as a vitamin C arm. Further support for the use of vitamin C in COVID-19 patients is provided by the study design.
In the UK, the Chelsea and Westminster hospital ICU has reported 29% mortality, compared to the average 41% reported by the Intensive Care National Audit and Research Centre (ICNARC) for all UK ICUs. Adult ICU patients were given 1 g of intravenous vitamin C every 12 hours along with anticoagulants.
It should be noted that other clinical factors and procedures may also account for the improved mortality, and that the Chelsea and Westminster ICU serves a more affluent sector of the population with less deprivation based on the Index of Multiple Deprivation, despite the authors’ claim that the addition of an antioxidant in the form of vitamin C may have contributed to the lower mortality rate (IMD).
While a risk factor for COVID-19 mortality, deprivation also indicates a lower level of vitamin C status. According to estimates, 16% of women and 25% of men in the low-income/materially deprived population in the UK have vitamin C deficiencies greater than 11 mol/L.
The Frontline COVID-19 Critical Care Expert Group (FLCCC), a group of emergency medicine experts, has reported that mortality was 5% in two ICUs in the US (United Memorial Hospital in Houston, Texas, and Norfolk General Hospital in Norfolk, Virginia), the lowest mortality rates in their respective counties, with the use of 6 g/day intravenous vitamin C (1.5 g every 6 h), steroids, and anticoagulants.
Word of Caution – The U.S. Recommended Dietary Allowance (RDA) for vitamin C is 75 to 120 milligrams per day. Taking large doses of vitamin C (ascorbic acid) on a regular basis lowers your level of copper, so if you are already deficient in copper and take high doses of vitamin C, you can compromise your immune system.
Although vitamin C is typically regarded as safe even in high amounts, taking more than 2,000 mg per day can result in migraines, sleeplessness, gastrointestinal discomfort, diarrhea, heartburn, and other problems.
Temporarily taking megadoses of vitamin C supplements to combat a case of the cold or flu is likely not going to cause a problem.
Many vitamin C supplements that are above the US RDA are sold in the market. It’s important to seek a physician’s advice if you intend to take high dose vitamin C on a long term basis. High doses of vitamin C (over 500 mg per day) over the long-term may increase the risk of cataracts. High-dose vitamin C can also reduce the effectiveness of certain medications and interfere with certain blood tests.
You can also ask to have your kidney functioning checked out of caution.
Your best hope is to consume a diet rich in high-quality, minimally processed organic fruits and vegetables on a daily basis. You will also receive all the other supplementary nutrients and micronutrients required to maximize vitamin C.
That said, there are also several reasons to consider taking supplemental vitamin C. First, your body cannot make it. Second, most people do not get sufficient amounts from their diet and, third, your body’s requirement for vitamin C can increase 10-fold whenever your immune system is challenged by an infection, disease or physical trauma.
Editor’s note: In general, vitamin C therapy is a very low-risk procedure. It’s simple for me to say, “Wait for more information unless the patient has scurvy,” as I sit here. Would you request vitamin C for a loved one who was in the ICU with COVID-19, though? It’s challenging to dismiss it without giving it proper thought.
How to choose your Vitamin C supplement in Malaysia
Selecting the right vitamin C supplement depends on a variety of factors, including the form, quality, dose, and price.
You can get started by thinking about how you’ll use the supplement. For instance, you can look at encapsulated vitamin C supplements if you prefer to consume pills.
You should think about liquid or powdered vitamins if you dislike taking pills or wish to mix them into drinks.
The quality of the supplement should then be examined. Investigate a brand’s ingredient sourcing and manufacturing practices to determine its reputation. Third-party organizations like USP, Consumer Labs, or NSF International will also test a good product.
Examine the additional substances as well. Choose a supplement without sugar if you’re attempting to reduce your intake of added sugars.
Another factor to consider is the dosage. The recommended daily amount of vitamin C for adults is 90 mg for men, 75 mg for women, and up to 120 mg for women who are pregnant or breastfeeding. However, certain medical conditions may require that you take much higher doses (nih.gov).
Children have lower vitamin C requirements, which range from 25–75mg per day, depending on their age. However, it’s not generally advised to give children a vitamin C supplement unless their pediatrician has recommended it.
Note that the Tolerable Upper Intake Level (UL) for vitamin C for men, as well as women ages 19 and above, is 2,000 mg. Meanwhile, the UL for children ranges from 400–1,800 mg, depending on age. Daily intakes at or below these amounts are unlikely to result in any adverse health effects (nih.gov).
Although vitamin C is a natural compound, getting too much of it can cause uncomfortable and potentially serious side effects.
Some of the most common reported side effects include headaches, flushed skin, nausea, and vomiting.
Consuming high doses of vitamin C for prolonged periods may also increase your risk of kidney stones.
Finally, keep your budget in mind. Although certain professional-grade products can be pricey, remember that a higher price does not always imply a better quality. At a range of price points, there are many high-quality possibilities.