The second
National Health and Nutrition Examination Survey reported that
a low intake of vitamin C is associated with blood concentrations
of vitamin C ≤ 0.3 mg/dL (17 mol/L) (31), whereas blood concentrations
in well-nourished persons fluctuate between 0.8 and
1.3 mg/dL (45 and 74 mol/L). Fruit and vegetables are the main
sources of vitamin C, but 25% of women and 33% men eat
< 2.5 servings of fruit and vegetables daily, which provides
80 mg vitamin C/d. Therefore, the objectives of this study were
to assess the bioavailability of vitamin C in orange juice and its
effect on concentrations of 8-epi-PGF2 (F2-isoprostanes) in a
healthy human population.