Make Your Own Whole Food Vitamin C Pills with Herbs

People commonly use Vitamin C as a supplement to support immune system health. However, while supplementation is sometimes necessary, it’s almost always better to get our nutrients from whole food sources.

This recipe is about making your own whole food Vitamin C Pills from herbs. These little pills are not only high in Vitamin C but also high in a plethora of important antioxidants and nutrients that work in synergy with the vitamin C.

Rose hips (Rosa spp.)

Rose hips are famously high in vitamin C. This was “discovered” in Britain during WWII when citrus foods were hard to come by and scurvy (extreme lack of vitamin C) was an increasing problem. Scientists began testing local food sources and found that rosehips actually have more vitamin C than oranges!

Acerola (Malpighia glabra)

Acerola is native to the tropics of South America and growers are now cultivating it as far north as Texas. This plant is famous for its high vitamin C content although it also contains other important nutrients such as B vitamins and bioflavonoids. According to the book Plants in Human Health and Nutrition Policy there are 1677.6 mg of vitamin C in 100 g of fruit.

Amla (Phyllanthus emblica)

Amla is a cherished herb from India where it is famously used in the Triphala formula. Like the other herbs in this recipe, amla has an incredibly high vitamin C content.

How Much Vitamin C Is In Each Vitamin C Pill?

Honestly I don’t know. Vitamin C content varies with the plant, the location where it grew, the way it was dried, the date it was dried and on and on. That’s why it’s a good idea to get a variety of vitamin C sources in your diet. Rest assured though, these pills do have a good amount of vitamin C as well as other important nutrients.

Whole Food Vitamin C Pills

What you’ll need…

• 1 tablespoon rose hip powder
• 1 tablespoon amla powder
• 1 tablespoon acerola powder
• Honey
• Orange peel powder (optional)
• Need herbs? Visit Mountain Rose Herbs.

1. Mix together the powdered herbs, breaking up any clumps.
2. Pour slightly warmed honey into the powdered mix. I never measure how much honey I use. Just pour a tiny bit, stir, add a bit more, stir. You want the final consistently to hold together but not be too moist or sticky.
3. Once you mix the powders with the honey, form the mixture into pea sized balls. You can then roll these in orange powder or another one of the powders in the mixture.

Yield: Makes 45 pea-sized pills.

Store in an airtight container. These should last a very long time.

To use: Take 1-3 balls per day. It’s safe to take more than 3 pills a day; the adverse effect from getting too much vitamin C is loose stools. If you get loose stools, then stop using them for the day and use less in the future.

Note: Vitamin C shouldn’t be taken in excess during pregnancy.

Written by Rosalee de la Forêt

Rosalee de la Forêt is an herbalist and author of the bestselling book Alchemy of Herbs: Transform Everyday Ingredients Into Foods & Remedies That Heal and co-author of Wild Remedies: How to Forage Healing Foods and Craft Your Own Herbal Medicine. She’s a registered herbalist with the American Herbalists Guild. Explore Rosalee's website and podcast. All content and photos in this article are © Rosalee de la Forêt.