Vitamin C and Caffeine: Can You Take Them Together?

  • By Performance Lab
  • 6 minute read
Vitamin C and Caffeine: Can You Take Them Together?

It’s no wonder why the vast majority of people start (and sometimes finish) their day with a steaming cup of coffee.

Between the everyday stress of life, having enough energy to work out, and the lack of sleep most of us get, there’s a desperate need for a zip of energy from a warm, comforting cup of joe. We love to talk about all the benefits of consuming caffeine - better performance, more energy, fat mobilization - but could your daily caffeine fix compromise other nutritional factors that support optimal performance?There’s a lot of talk about the adverse effects that caffeine may have on the absorption of specific vitamins and minerals, mainly due to its diuretic effect. Water-soluble vitamins could leach out of the body in urine and become depleted.So, what does the research say? We’re diving into the good and giving you the scoop on the link between caffeine and vitamin C and whether taking them together is a good idea.

The Basics Of Vitamin C

How many people know that vitamin C is essential for immune health? Its immune-boosting properties are its most well-known function, but it doesn’t stop there.

Vitamin C, also called ascorbic acid, is a water-soluble nutrient obtained through many plant foods that play a critical role in virtually all organ systems.

As humans, we’re also one of the only mammals that can’t produce vitamin C due to a series of genetic mutations that deprive us of the enzymes needed to do so 1. This means that 100% of our daily intake must come through diet or supplementation. While it can be tempting to lowball your needs for vitamin C in favor of other ‘more important’ nutrients, don’t. Vitamin C is essential for numerous physiological functions, and a deficiency can spell trouble.

For most people, diet doesn’t suffice to meet the intake requirements, which is where a good multi like Performance Lab NutriGenesis Multi comes into play. It provides highly bioavailable vitamin C that meets the RDI.

We say vitamin C is essential, but why do we need it?

For starters, it plays a crucial role in collagen production; collagen is a vital protein that forms the foundation of your body - joints, tendons, ligaments, cartilage, skin, bones, and blood vessels.

Vitamin C is a co-factor for proline and lysine hydroxylases that stabilize collagen structure and promote collagen gene expression 2. It’s also essential for producing L-carnitine and specific neurotransmitters like epinephrine that regulate mood and protein metabolism. But perhaps its most notable roles are as a powerful antioxidant and immune booster.

Vitamin C is one of the best free-radical fighters because it can neutralize radicals without becoming a radical in the process; compared to other radicals, the ascorbate radical is relatively stable and nonreactive3.

On top of that, it also offers a protective role as a physiological antioxidant and can support the regeneration of other antioxidants, such as vitamin E 4. Its role in the immune system is also another heavy-hitter for this vitamin.

It’s heavily involved in immune responses from both the adaptive and innate branches of the immune system, supporting the proliferation of white blood cells and promoting wound healing 5-7. There’s no end to the benefits of vitamin C, but here’s a quick recap of why it’s essential:

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  • Boost non-heme iron absorption
  • Supports collagen production
  • Enhances immunity
  • Fights free radicals and reduces oxidative stress
  • Supports catecholamine and neurotransmitter production
  • Enhances wound healing

Why Caffeine For Performance?

Knocking back a steaming cup of coffee or an energy-boosting pre-workout is a staple for most people before training.

You feel your heart pumping faster, the blood rushing through your veins, and you’re ready to power through your workout like an absolute animal.

Caffeine in some form is a must for most people because of its energizing effect on the body. It fends off fatigue to increase arousal, focus, and mental alertness.

But while several compounds can also do this, caffeine seems to be the best pick. It’s a natural plant alkaloid with a half-life ranging from 1.5 to 9.5 hours 8 - that is, how long it stays in your body and elicits effects. Like most other stimulants, caffeine results in:

  • Central nervous system stimulation
  • Enhanced wakefulness
  • Sustained intellectual activity and mental alertness
  • Decreased reaction times
  • Less fatigue

Whether you’re knocking caffeine back for performance or getting through a brutal day of meetings, the effects kick in quickly. It’s absorbed directly from the gut into the bloodstream, causing peak plasma levels about 15 and 90 minutes after consumption 8.

But why is caffeine the drug of choice for getting a pump?

Caffeine’s primary mechanism of action is on the central nervous system, where it up-regulates nerve activity to increase alertness and enhance aspects of cognitive function 9.

But it also serves as a potent adenosine antagonist, giving caffeine its classic “fatigue-fighting” property.

Caffeine looks structurally similar to adenosine a brain molecule responsible for drowsiness, so it binds to receptors in the brain and inhibits their actions 10. You’re left with energy, focus, alertness, and overall better physical and mental performance. Some research also points out another interesting role of caffeine for performance - catecholamine release.

Caffeine can trigger the release of catecholamines like epinephrine to, directly and indirectly, boost exercise performance by inducing secondary metabolic changes 11, 12.That said, mega-dosing caffeine isn’t the key to good performance. Going with low to moderate doses of caffeine appears to have more controlled and favorable benefits for:

  • Alertness
  • Attention
  • Focus and concentration
  • Energy
  • Cognitive function
  • Reaction time
  • Productivity
  • Fatigue
  • Mood

Want to avoid the nasty side effects of high-dose caffeine? Opt for Performance Lab Caffeine+.

It offers all the benefits of high-stim caffeine products without mega-dosing. It provides optimized stimulation for cleaner, healthier, and more relaxed energy with less burnout.

Should You Combine Caffeine And Vitamin C?

For anyone knocking back their multivitamin in the morning and chasing it back with a cup of coffee, we have some news for you - it’s probably not the brightest idea.

While coffee and vitamin C offer various health and performance benefits, they’re not the best combination to take together. Although there’s no evidence showing an interaction between vitamin C and caffeine, some research does suggest avoiding water-soluble nutrients alongside caffeine due to it’s diuretic effects and stimulatory properties.

Because caffeine increases urination, it could lead to depleted B vitamins and vitamin C levels through associated fluid loss. However, most research points to the most pronounced diuretic effects in people who don’t consume caffeine regularly.

One study found that acute ingestion of caffeine in large doses - upwards of 50-300 mg - leads to a short-term increase in urine output in people who have refrained from caffeine for a period of days to weeks 13.

With increased consumption, tolerance to the diuretic and other effects of caffeine develops, which means that fluid loss tends to decrease, as does the loss of essential water-soluble vitamins.

The Best Way To Optimize Intake

If you’re looking to optimize your vitamin C intake without falling trap to the potential water-soluble vitamin-depleting effects of caffeine, your best bet is to separate your doses.

Whether you’re popping back NutriGenesis Multi to meet your vitamin C requirements or taking a sublingual or liposomal form, don’t follow it up with anything containing caffeine.

Ideally, wait at least an hour before or after taking your vitamins to down a cup of coffee or pop back Caffeine+. That way, you can ensure you absorb nutrients and receive maximum ROI.

References

  1. Li Y, Schellhorn HE. New developments and novel therapeutic perspectives for vitamin C. J Nutr. 2007;137(10):2171-2184.
  2. Pullar JM, Carr AC, Vissers MCM. The Roles of Vitamin C in Skin Health. Nutrients. 2017;9(8):866.
  3. Njus D, Kelley PM, Tu YJ, Schlegel HB. Ascorbic acid: The chemistry underlying its antioxidant properties. Free Radic Biol Med. 2020;159:37-43.
  4. Niki E. Interaction of ascorbate and alpha-tocopherol. Ann N Y Acad Sci. 1987;498:186-199.
  5. Huijskens MJ, Walczak M, Koller N, et al. Technical advance: ascorbic acid induces development of double-positive T cells from human hematopoietic stem cells in the absence of stromal cells. J Leukoc Biol. 2014;96(6):1165-1175.
  6. Carr AC, Maggini S. Vitamin C and Immune Function. Nutrients. 2017;9(11):1211.
  7. Mohammed BM, Fisher BJ, Kraskauskas D, et al. Vitamin C promotes wound healing through novel pleiotropic mechanisms. Int Wound J. 2016;13(4):572-584.
  8. Institute of Medicine (US) Committee on Military Nutrition Research. Caffeine for the Sustainment of Mental Task Performance: Formulations for Military Operations. Washington (DC): National Academies Press (US); 2001. 2, Pharmacology of Caffeine. Available from: https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/books/NBK223808/
  9. Nehlig A, Daval JL, Debry G. Caffeine and the central nervous system: mechanisms of action, biochemical, metabolic and psychostimulant effects. Brain Res Brain Res Rev. 1992;17(2):139-170.
  10. Ribeiro JA, Sebastião AM. Caffeine and adenosine. J Alzheimers Dis. 2010;20 Suppl 1:S3-S15.
  11. Guessous I, Dobrinas M, Kutalik Z, et al. Caffeine intake and CYP1A2 variants associated with high caffeine intake protect non-smokers from hypertension. Hum Mol Genet. 2012;21(14):3283-3292.
  12. Heckman MA, Weil J, Gonzalez de Mejia E. Caffeine (1, 3, 7-trimethylxanthine) in foods: a comprehensive review on consumption, functionality, safety, and regulatory matters. J Food Sci. 2010;75(3):R77-R87.
  13. Maughan RJ, Griffin J. Caffeine ingestion and fluid balance: a review. J Hum Nutr Diet. 2003;16(6):411-420.

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