How much vitamin C do you need while breastfeeding?

What does the evidence say about vitamin C while breastfeeding?

1. The vitamin C RDA while breastfeeding is 120 mg a day for ages 19 and over and 115 mg for ages 14 to 18, higher than the pregnancy figures of 85 mg and 80 mg. The tolerable upper intake level is 2,000 mg a day for adults and 1,800 mg for ages 14 to 18. 1
2. Average mature milk vitamin C concentrations are 50 to 90 mg/L in mothers consuming adequate vitamin C, and milk concentrations are not markedly increased with routine daily multivitamin supplementation. Mothers given 250 to 1,000 mg daily had milk levels between 100 and 120 mg/L. 2
3. The step up is real rather than a rounding difference. Official pregnancy figures are 80 mg a day for ages 14 to 18 and 85 mg for ages 19 to 50, so the lactation requirement of 120 mg is roughly 40 percent higher than what you were taking before delivery. 3
4. Very high intakes have a predictable downside. Excess vitamin C causes diarrhea, nausea, abdominal cramps and other gastrointestinal disturbances through the osmotic effect of unabsorbed vitamin C in the gut, and at doses above 1 gram a day absorption falls to less than 50 percent. 1
5. Vitamin C is a normal part of breastmilk, and breastfeeding people are advised to continue getting the daily recommended amount, with an upper limit of 2,000 mg a day across the 14 to 18 and 19 and over groups. 4

How vitamin C changes by nursing stage

• Early weeks. The early weeks. The requirement steps up the moment you start nursing, from 85 mg a day in pregnancy to 120 mg, and most postnatal supplements already cover it. Check the label before adding a separate vitamin C.
• Established nursing. Established feeding. Average mature milk concentrations run 50 to 90 mg/L in mothers eating an adequate diet, and routine daily multivitamin supplementation does not markedly increase them. Doses of 250 to 1,000 mg a day moved milk levels only to 100 to 120 mg/L.
• Weaning. Later feeding and weaning. The upper limit of 2,000 mg a day still applies, and above 1 gram a day absorption falls below 50 percent with the rest excreted in urine, so a very high dose mostly ends up in the toilet rather than in your milk.

Vitamin C while breastfeeding, by the numbers