Calcium vs Vitamin C for anxiety
Short answer: For anxiety, more users report improvement with Vitamin C — 94% of 17 reports, versus 83% of 6 for Calcium.
Calcium has 3,919 meta-analyses and 10,361 randomized trials on PubMed; Vitamin C has 738 and 2,072.
Based on 182 reports about Calcium and 928 about Vitamin C. Not medical advice.
| Calcium Supplement | Vitamin C Supplement | |
|---|---|---|
| Users say it helped | 35%helped47 reports · medium confidence | 64%helped204 reports · high confidence |
| Verdict | Mixed | Mostly positive |
| Research | AResearch: Strong | AResearch: Strong |
| Meta-analyses / RCTs | 3,919 / 10,361 | 738 / 2,072 |
| Mainly used for | ||
| Immunity % reporting improvement | — | 90% (40) |
| Energy % reporting improvement | 67% (3) | 94% (34) |
| Skin & hair % reporting improvement | — | 97% (29) |
| Mood % reporting improvement | 75% (4) | 88% (25) |
| Anxiety % reporting improvement | 83% (6) | 94% (17) |
| Common side effects | soft tissue, constipation, chest pain, brain fog | kidney stones, stomach issues, insomnia, bone pain |
| Typical dose reported | 200 mg / daily | 2000 mg / daily |
In this meta-analysis of randomized clinical trials, the use of supplements that included calcium, vitamin D, or both compared with placebo or no treatment was not associated with a lower risk of fractures among community-dwelling older adults. These findings do not support the routine use of these supplements in community-dwelling older people.
JAMA, 2017 ↗“Within a week after taking it consistently, I always feel noticeably calmer, get better sleep, better muscle recovery and have smoother more elastic skin.”
The failure of vitamin C supplementation to reduce the incidence of colds in the general population indicates that routine vitamin C supplementation is not justified, yet vitamin C may be useful for people exposed to brief periods of severe physical exercise. Regular supplementation trials have shown that vitamin C reduces the duration of colds, but this was not replicated in the few therapeutic trials that have been carried out. Nevertheless, given the consistent effect of vitamin C on the duration and severity of colds in the regular supplementation studies, and the low cost and safety, it m
Cochrane Database Syst Rev, 2013 ↗“I know people say you get enough vitamin C from diet but I feel and look better when I supplement it.”
Related comparisons
Percentages come from first-hand user reports and are not clinical outcomes. Talk to a doctor before starting, stopping or combining anything. How we rate