Vitamin C and Caffeine: Can You Take Them Together?

Vitamin C and caffeine are two of the world's most popular nutrients for supporting health and vitality. But can you take them at the same time?

In this article, we’re diving into the good and bad, giving you the scoop on the link between caffeine and vitamin C and whether taking them together in natural health products is a good idea.

Spoiler alert: Caffeine and vitamin C are great together in skin products but there may be some disadvantages when you take them at the same time as supplements. Let's get into why!

Key Takeaways

• Caffeine and vitamin C are often combined in topical skin care products, especially eye creams. Here, they work together to improve skin elasticity, firmness and a youthful appearance.
• Whether consumed from supplements or foods, caffeine does not significantly interfere with the absorption of vitamin C if you prefer to take them together.
• Note: caffeine is a diuretic that increases urine production and potentially lead to a slight increase in the excretion of water-soluble vitamins like vitamin C (as well as the B-complex).
• For best results with caffeine and vitamin C in supplements, it's most important to take high-quality forms at the right dosages.
• Caffeine and vitamin C can have acidifying effects that may lead to gastric distress in some individuals, especially those with sensitive stomachs.

Eye cream with caffeine and vitamin C

Vitamin C and caffeine are two potent ingredients commonly used in various skincare products. Each of these ingredients offers unique benefits, and when combined, they can provide a powerful boost to skin health, and they work for most skin types.

• Vitamin C: Vitamin C in eye cream brightens the skin by reducing pigmentation, stimulates collagen production to improve elasticity and firmness, and provides antioxidant protection against free radical damage, resulting in a more radiant, youthful, and even-toned appearance around the eyes.⁽¹⁾
• Caffeine: Caffeine in caffeine/vitamin C eye cream reduces puffiness, tightens the skin, and minimizes the appearance of dark circles for a refreshed and firmer look. It works by constricting blood vessels, which reduces blood flow and fluid retention, leading to decreased puffiness and dark circles.⁽²⁾

Eye creams may be the most popular products that include the vitamin C and caffeine combination. Some others are:

• Serums: lightweight, fast-absorbing liquids designed to deliver high concentrations of active ingredients directly to the skin.
• Moisturizers: A good moisturizer can hydrate and nourish the skin, maintaining its moisture barrier, and fighting dryness. Apply a moisturizer for softer skin overall.
• Face Masks: In face masks they deliver deep hydration, brighten the skin, reduce puffiness, and provide antioxidant protection for a revitalized and refreshed complexion.
• Toners: Vitamin C with caffeine in toners help to balance the skin's pH, tighten pores, brighten the complexion, and reduce puffiness while providing antioxidant protection.
• Mists: Caffeine and vitamin C in a mist provide instant hydration, antioxidant protection, and a refreshing boost to reduce puffiness and brighten the complexion throughout the day.

Additional possible benefits of caffeine with vitamin C in skin cream:

Anti-Aging: Reduces the appearance of fine lines and wrinkles. Shields the skin from environmental damage and free radicals to further fight the signs of aging in skin.

Brightening and balancing of skin tone: Reduces dullness and improves overall skin radiance. Brighter Complexion: A more radiant and glowing skin appearance. Reduces hyperpigmentation and evens out skin discoloration.⁽³⁾

Reduced Signs of Fatigue: Less noticeable under-eye bags and dark circles. Helps reduce puffiness. Fades dark circles; lightens skin under the eyes.

Firm, Supple Skin: Increased skin firmness and a tighter look. Smoother and more even skin texture. Youthful appearance: fewer wrinkles and fine lines.

Hyaluronic Acid support: Vitamin C affects hyaluronic acid by promoting its synthesis in the skin, which acts like a moisturizer -- helps retain more water and hydrate the skin, leading to plumper and more voluminous fat cells for a youthful appearance.⁽⁴⁾

Other ingredients often found in skin creams with caffeine and vitamin C include hyaluronic acid for hydration and plumping, green tea extract and maritime pine bark for additional antioxidants.

Learn more about the super-antioxidant maritime pine bark extract

Niacinamide may be used for brightening and soothing benefits, peptides for collagen production and skin firmness, antioxidants like vitamin E for protection against free radicals, glycerin for moisture retention, and aloe vera for soothing and calming the skin.

How to Use Caffeine and Vitamin C Cream for Skin

Using just a pea-sized amount of a caffeine and vitamin C cream can be highly effective for improving your skin's appearance and health. Here’s a step-by-step guide on how to apply it properly, ideally as part of your morning routine:

1. Cleanse Your Face: Start with a gentle cleanser to remove any dirt, oil, and makeup from your face. This helps to ensure that the cream can penetrate your skin effectively. Rinse thoroughly with lukewarm water and pat your face dry with a clean towel.
2. Tone Your Skin (Optional): If you use a toner as part of your skincare routine, apply it after cleansing. Toners can help to balance your skin's pH and remove any remaining impurities. If you use any serums (such as a hyaluronic acid serum for hydration), apply them before your cream. Allow the serum to absorb into your skin for a few minutes.
3. Dispense a Pea-Sized Amount of Cream: Squeeze or scoop a pea-size amount of the caffeine and vitamin C cream onto your fingertip. A pea-sized amount is typically the perfect size for your entire face and neck.
4. Warm the Cream: Rub the cream between your fingertips for a few seconds to warm it up. This helps to activate the ingredients and makes it easier to spread evenly on your skin.
5. Dot the Cream on Your Face: Warm the cream by rubbing it between your fingertips. Then dot the under the eyes or on different areas of your face: forehead, cheeks, nose, and chin, and massage into skin.

Give the cream a few minutes to fully absorb into your skin before applying any additional products, such as sunscreen, moisturizer or makeup.

More tips:

• Know your skin type before you begin. If you have sensitive skin, the citric acid in some skin cream products and moisturizers may cause mild irritation or a stinging sensation.
• If you’re using the cream in the morning, follow up with a broad-spectrum sunscreen with an SPF of at least 30. Vitamin C can make your skin more sensitive to the sun, so protecting it from the sun's damaging UV rays is crucial.
• Vitamin C can cause photosensitivity: increased sensitivity of the skin to sunlight. Be mindful of light exposure when supplementing or using skin cream with vitamin C.
• Drinking more water in conjunction with skin creams and eye creams can help to maximize their skin-supportive benefits

Caffeine and Vitamin C in Foods and Dietary Supplements

Caffeine and C are perhaps most popularly known as a duo in skin creams. But Caffeine pills and vitamin C supplements also represent two of the most popular (and effective!) dietary supplements in the world. So it makes sense people are curious about taking these two nutritional powerhouses together.

Since caffeine and Vitamin C don't always coexist in the diet, it also makes sense to take them in supplement form. Let's dig into it, but first let's take a look at the major benefits of each nutrient in the context of supplementation:

Vitamin C supports:

• Healthy immune system function - Vitamin C helps immune function by stimulating the production and activity of white blood cells, enhancing the body's ability to fight infections and reducing the duration and severity of illnesses.⁽⁵⁾
• Collagen production for skin health - Aids collagen production and skin health by stimulating the synthesis of collagen, which maintains skin elasticity and firmness, and providing antioxidant protection that helps reduce skin damage and aging.
• Overall antioxidant status for healthy aging - Vitamin C acts as an antioxidant for anti-aging by fighting free radicals, protecting cells from oxidative stress, promoting overall wellness and reducing appearance of fine lines and wrinkles.
• Healthy cardiovascular performance - Vitamin C supports heart health by improving endothelial function, helping to maintain flexible blood vessels, and lowering oxidative stress, thereby enhancing overall heart health and circulation.⁽⁶⁾
• Vision health and eye health - Nourishes eye health by protecting the eyes from oxidative damage and maintaining the structural integrity of the eye's macula (yellow spot in middle of retina responsible for "high-definition" central vision).

Caffeine Supports:

• Mental clarity and alertness - Caffeine enhances mental clarity and alertness by stimulating the central nervous system, increasing the release of neurotransmitters, and reducing the perception of fatigue.
• Physical and mental energy boost - Caffeine boosts mental and physical energy by acting as a stimulant on the central nervous system, increasing the release of adrenaline, and enhancing the availability of energy reserves.⁽⁷⁾
• Intensified athletic performance - Caffeine intensifies athletic performance by increasing endurance, reducing perceived exertion, and enhancing focus and energy levels during physical activities.⁽⁸⁾
• Attention, reaction time, and cognitive function - Caffeine improves attention and reaction time by stimulating the central nervous system, enhancing alertness, and speeding up cognitive processing.

Despite all these benefits, there remain two primary concerns of taking the two nutrients together:

1. Digestive Issues: High doses of vitamin C are very acidic and can cause gastrointestinal disturbances, including diarrhea and stomach cramps.⁽⁹⁾ Combining high doses of vitamin C with caffeine, which can also affect the digestive system, might increase the risk of these side effects.
2. Depletion Issues: Because caffeine increases urination,⁽¹⁰⁾ it could lead to depleted B vitamins and vitamin C levels through associated fluid loss. However, most research points to the most pronounced diuretic effects in people who don’t consume caffeine regularly.

There are potential problems surrounding taking vitamin C + caffeine together... and there aren't any special advantages to taking them together.

So while it may seem like an appealing stack, unless it's for the sake of convenience, know that you're not getting much of an advantage out of combining these two nutrients.

And if you do try this combo, start with low doses to assess your tolerance before incorporating them into your supplement regimen.

How to Optimize Caffeine & Vitamin C Intake

If you’re looking to optimize your vitamin C intake without falling trap to the potential water-soluble vitamin-depleting effects of caffeine, your best bet is to simply separate your doses. Some additional options to consider:

Just wait! Ideally, wait at least an hour before or after taking your vitamins to down a cup of coffee or take a caffeine pill, energy drink or whatever. That way, you can ensure you absorb nutrients and receive maximum ROI.

Regulate caffeine dosage:Downshifting caffeine dosage can reduce the diuretic effect that may have a negative impact on vitamin C levels. We recommend a caffeine pill below that enables precision dosage for greater control over nutrient status.

Take high-absorption vitamins: NutriGenesis is your best bet. This form of cultured (lab-grown) vitamins is designed for easy, complete and comfortable absorption. They are ultra-clean B-vitamins and Vitamin C used in top-shelf multivitamins, immune stacks and more.

Learn more about NutriGenesis vitamins and minerals

Let's check out some of the top stacks that can help you take caffeine and vitamin C most comfortably, safely and effectively.

Performance Lab® Caffeine 2

This "smart caffeine" delivers precision stimulation in a cleaner, healthier format.

Ingredients: Natural Caffeine (from Coffea robusta seeds), L-Theanine, L-Tyrosine, NutriGenesis® Caffeine Balance B-Complex.

Caffeine 2 is a great product that enhances all caffeine advantages and benefits -- alertness, mental clarity, physical and mental energy -- while reducing jitters, crashes and other unpleasant side effects.

The end result is performance-tuned stimulation: Cleaner, healthier, sharper vitality that's easy and convenient to take every day.

It's also the only caffeine pill to restore what caffeine flushes away, supplying B-Vitamins and L-Tyrosine to help maintain a healthy balance during stimulation.

Shop Performance Lab® Caffeine 2™

Performance Lab® NutriGenesis Multi

NutriGenesis® nature-identical vitamin and mineral essentials for healthy biological performance.

Ingredients: 24 cultured essential vitamins and minerals complexed with cofactors for optimal potency.

Performance Lab®'s ultramodern multivitamin in customized formulas for men's and women's distinct nutritional needs. Featuring advanced form NutriGenesis® lab-grown vitamins and minerals with cofactors, enzymes and probiotics -- the natural goodness found in whole foods that enhances nutrient bioavailability, metabolism and utilization. Take this supplement for foundational support for healthy performance across all body systems.

Shop Performance Lab® NutriGenesis®

Performance Lab® Immune

Today’s most dynamic immune performance formula: Broad-range support for complex immune challenges.

Ingredients: Vitamin D3 (liposomal from lichen), Vitamin C (via NutriGenesis®), Selenium (via NutriGenesis®), Zinc (via NutriGenesis®), Lactococcus lactis strain Plasma (Postbiotic), Glutathione.

Performance Lab® Immune first helps restore immune defenses that are weakened by nutritional shortfalls, stress, toxins and overtraining. Then it activates 5 types of immune cells, helping them to coordinate, multiply and perform. From day to day and season to season, Performance Lab® Immune is formulated to help your immune system to fight, adapt and evolve to best defend your health.

Shop Performance Lab® Immune

Conclusion

Skincare products ranging from eye cram to moisturizer containing vitamin C with caffeine can offer a range of benefits, from brightening the complexion and reducing puffiness to providing antioxidant protection and firming the skin.

When considering supplements, caffeine with vitamin C can enhance energy levels and provide antioxidant benefits, but it's important to be aware of the potential risks, such as overstimulation and digestive issues.

If you're looking to purchase caffeine pills or Vitamin C supplements, we've given you some great options to consider in this article

Although there’s no evidence showing an interaction between caffeine and vitamin C, some research does suggest avoiding water-soluble nutrients alongside caffeine due to its diuretic effects and stimulatory properties.

Always consult with your doctor before starting any new supplement routine to ensure it is appropriate for your individual health needs.