The effect of vitamin C supplementation on lactating women in Keneba, a West African rural community.

A study of vitamin C requirements was undertaken in the village of Keneba, The Gambia, during the rainy season, when the intake of vitamin C-rich foods is very low. The effect of four supplementary levels of vitamin C (0, 24, 47 and 60 mg/day), together with a milk and biscuit food supplement which provided 34 mg vitamin C/day, was studied for a five-week period. Plasma ascorbate increased from 0.25 to 0.72 mg/dl; buffy coat ascorbate increased from 14.7 to 24.3 micrograms/10(8) cells and breast milk ascorbate increased from 3.4 to 5.5 mg/dl as intake increased from 34 to 103 mg/dl. Breast milk ascorbate approached a plateau at the high intakes. A fasting plasma ascorbate of at least 0.3 mg/dl in 97.5% of the population of lactating women in Keneba would require a daily vitamin C intake of about 117 mg. No differences between vitamin C supplementation levels were observed with respect to changes in plasma iron, total iron-binding capacity or its percentage saturation. Whole blood histamine levels showed a slight downward trend as the vitamin C intake increased.