If you're a traveler, hiker, or climber venturing into high-altitudes, you might be considering taking Emergen-C like some others. As a supplement maker with years of experience in the high elevations of Colorado, we'll reveal everything you need to about if Emergen-C is good for altitude sickness.
Emergen C is a dietary supplement often used for sickness that contains high doses of vitamin C — 1000mg per serving — along with other vitamins and minerals.
It is often marketed as an immune-boosting and energy-enhancing product. Emergen C comes in powdered form, which can be mixed with water to create a fizzy drink in flavors such as orange, raspberry, and citrus.
Is Emergen-C good for high altitude or can it help with altitude sickness?
In our review of research on Emergen-C for altitude sickness we found some evidence it could help, but also some concerns. By looking at the science, most of the evidence is rooted from one ingredient, the vitamin C in Emergen-C.
Here's the science of Vitamin C for altitude sickness:
To conclude, due to the high amounts of vitamin C in Emergen-C which is also considered an antioxidant, there's evidence to show some benefits to your body in high altitude conditions.
On the downside, we have some concerns over Emergen-C's formula including synthetic vitamins such as ascorbic acid.
Altitude sickness, also known as acute mountain sickness (AMS), is a result of lower oxygen in high elevations.
The body's inability to adapt, oxidative stress, depletion of nutrients, and dehydration combined lead to many symptoms including headaches and extreme fatigue.
Symptoms of Altitude Sickness:
As disclosed in the research above, vitamin C has some promising benefits to the body when exposed to high altitudes. Three studies showed some kind of relation of vitamin C to high altitude physiological effects.[³][⁴][⁵]
According to WebMD, Vitamin C is essential in many of the body's functions including the immune system, healing, maintenance, detoxification, and antioxidant protection.⁶
Emergen-C uses a high amount of synthetic vitamins, ascorbic acid as the source of vitamin C as being the most significant.
Synthetic vitamins such as ascorbic acid are missing important flavonoids and supporting nutrients leading to lower absorption rates and sometimes worse results than natural forms. Many of these synthetic vitamins are also sometimes derived from potentially harmful and GMO sources.
Synthetic Vitamins Used In Emergen-C:⁷
The amount of synthetic ingredients used in Emergen-C is concerning. We don't believe in using synthetic vitamins, and science even proves them questionable.
Many people avoid added sugars as there's so many negative health consequences of it in your diet.
Each packet of Emergen-C contains a high amount of sugar, 6 grams of sugar. On top of it, when you're taking multiple packs a day or week, this amount of sugar adds up.
Some of downsides of sugar include:⁸
For these reasons, we don't think added sugar is a good thing in any product. It's best to avoid sugar or at least minimize it in your daily consumption, especially in using drinks and powders such as Emergen-C for altitude sickness.
In addition to vitamin C, there's other vitamins, herbs, and antioxidants that can aid your body at high altitudes.
4 Vitamins For High Altitude:
Back by science, these ingredients are great to look out for in altitude supplements to help your mountain journeys.
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SOURCES:
1. Emergen-C Super Orange Original Immune Support Formula
https://www.emergenc.com/products/everyday-products/
2. Emergen-C Altitude Sickness - Dietary Supplement Vitamin
https://www.amazon.com/Emergen-C-Dietary-Supplement-Vitamin-Caffeine/dp/B00016RL9G/
3. Effect of Oral Vitamin C Supplementation on High-Altitude Hyperuricemia in Young Men Initially Migrating to High Altitude
https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/30358417/
4. Acute mountain sickness; prophylactic benefits of antioxidant vitamin supplementation at high altitude
https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/11252695/
5. Oxidative Stress and Diseases Associated with High-Altitude Exposure
https://www.mdpi.com/2076-3921/11/2/267
6. The Benefits of Vitamin C - What can vitamin C do for your health?
https://www.webmd.com/diet/features/the-benefits-of-vitamin-c
7. Natural vs. Synthetic Vitamins – What’s the Big Difference?
https://sunwarrior.com/blogs/health-hub/natural-vs-synthetic-vitamins
8. Chewable Electrolytes That Aren't Loaded With Sugar
https://zacalife.com/blogs/blog/chewable-electrolytes-that-arent-loaded-with-sugar
9. Emergen-c Ingredients
https://www.heb.com/product-detail/emergen-c-vitamin-c-1000mg-powder-raspberry/402890
10. Effect of high altitude (7,620 m) exposure on glutathione
https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/11320641/
11. Ginkgo biloba decreases acute mountain sickness in people ascending to high altitude at Ollagüe (3696 m) in northern Chile
https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/18076292/
12. Dihydromyricetin Improves Physical Performance under Simulated High Altitude
https://journals.lww.com/acsm-msse/fulltext/2014/11000/Dihydromyricetin_Improves_Physical_Performance.6.aspx
13. The Possible Importance of Glutamine Supplementation to Mood and Cognition in Hypoxia from High Altitude
https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC7760805/
