ABSTRACT
Blood ascorbic acid levels are still lowest in the first 3 months of the year in the northern US, Canada, Britain, Finland, and other northern regions. Andrews et al. recorded a 5% fall in the mean leukocyte ascorbic acid level of 16 healthy volunteers, aged 22 to 49 years, between October and February in London. In a nutritional survey of representative households in the U.K., Allen et al. recorded an average ascorbic acid intake of 55 mg per person per day, but 15% of individuals consumed less than 30 mg/d and 3% received less than 20 mg/d. There were marked seasonal variations; 54% of those surveyed received less than 30 mg/d during the period from February to March. Plasma ascorbic acid levels were highest in October and lowest in April, but were still low in June, when the percentage of children with bleeding gums was at its highest, 18.6, 36.4, and 47.8% at three different schools.
