Q: What is vitamin C ester?

A: It seems like everyday there is a new health supplement on the market and keeping track of what each one is can be a headache. So what is the ester form and how does it compare to the regular type? Well let’s take a closer look…

The Basics About Vitamin C
It’s a vitamin which is naturally found in plants, primarily things like citrus fruits, berries, and vegetables. It is not an optional nutrient… humans need C to live. In fact, throughout history there have been many people who have died from not having it in their diets. For example, sailors would be at sea for weeks and months at a time without these foods and in turn would develop scurvy – a deadly disease which will eventually kill you if your diet doesn’t change. The same problem would occur in Europe during the winter month when people weren’t consuming fresh foods.

Today’s Vitamin C
Something that many people don’t realize is that heat kills this vitamin. Therefore it can only be found in uncooked foods. Once veggies are boiled or orange juice is pasteurized (as all of it is in the US) the vitamin C is destroyed.

So today we now consume ascorbic acid which is added to these things. What is ascorbic acid? It’s a synthetically created fragment of the entire vitamin C complex in its natural form. We add ascorbic acid in things like juice and others to replace that which is lost during manufacturing. Now that we know the benefits of vitamin C skin care products, it’s also being added to numerous creams and serums on them market today.

How Is Vitamin C Ester Different Than Ascorbic Acid?
You see ascorbic acid is in a water-soluble form. That means that it is capable of being dissolved in water. Because it is water based, it is disposed by our bodies when we urinate. Therefore, it is only in our system for a matter of hours. So now you know the answer to what is vitamin C ester!

Meanwhile vitamin C ester (ascorbyl palmitate) is a fat soluble form of vitamin C. To accomplish this, it is a combination of palmitic acid and ascorbic acid. There are some who claim this form is superior for various reasons, one of them being skin. Now ester C vitamins are becoming popular for both supplements and skin care.