Vitamin C vs Vitamin D for immunity
Short answer: For immunity, more users report improvement with Vitamin D — 98% of 94 reports, versus 90% of 40 for Vitamin C.
Vitamin C has 738 meta-analyses and 2,072 randomized trials on PubMed; Vitamin D has 3,251 and 4,560.
Based on 928 reports about Vitamin C and 3,058 about Vitamin D. Not medical advice.
| Vitamin C Supplement | Vitamin D Supplement | |
|---|---|---|
| Users say it helped | 64%helped204 reports · high confidence | 67%helped1,101 reports · high confidence |
| Verdict | Mostly positive | Mostly positive |
| Research | AResearch: Strong | AResearch: Strong |
| Meta-analyses / RCTs | 738 / 2,072 | 3,251 / 4,560 |
| Mainly used for | ||
| Mood % reporting improvement | 88% (25) | 88% (393) |
| Energy % reporting improvement | 94% (34) | 87% (255) |
| Sleep % reporting improvement | 73% (15) | 52% (119) |
| Immunity % reporting improvement | 90% (40) | 98% (94) |
| Anxiety % reporting improvement | 94% (17) | 64% (90) |
| Common side effects | kidney stones, stomach issues, insomnia, bone pain | insomnia, anxiety, hypercalcemia, nausea |
| Typical dose reported | 2000 mg / daily | 10,000-20,000 IU / daily |
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.”
These results indicate that the prevalence of vitamin D deficiency was more elevated in obese subjects. The vitamin D deficiency was associated with obesity irrespective of age, latitude, cut-offs to define vitamin D deficiency and the Human Development Index of the study location.
Obes Rev, 2015 ↗“First thing I noticed was my mood & libido, I have more 'feeling/sensitivity' down there.”
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