The Facts:
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874 elderly men and women had their vitamin C intake and bone health evaluated over a 4-year period.
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Higher vitamin C intake was linked with better bone health in men but had neutral effects in women.
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It was not clear whether the effects on bone strength were from vitamin C itself, or from other protective factors in fruit and vegetables.
Dr Shaun Holt: You probably knew that calcium and vitamin D were good for bones, but I bet you never knew that vitamin C was. The effect was not huge, but this is yet another reason to make sure that your diet contains enough vitamin C. Vitamin C was found to be the cure for scuvy in what was probably the first ever clinical trial, undertaken by James Lind, a British Royal Navy Surgeon in 1747. He added seawater, vinegar, cider or sulphuric acid to the sailors’ diet, without effect, but he observed large effects on scurvy in those who ate two oranges and a lemon a day.
http://jn.nutrition.org/cgi/content/abstract/138/10/1931