Verified
“USP Verified for potency, purity and disintegration.”
USP's independent verification program confirms label-claim potency, absence of specified contaminants, and that the tablet disintegrates — an auditable, third-party mark.
Reviewed
Verified by SAC team
+20
XP on completion
Best Value
Nature Made
Nature Made Extra Strength Vitamin C 1000 mg Tablets, 300 Count Review
7.1/10SAC Product Score™
If your only question is 'give me a verified vitamin C for as little money as possible,' this is the answer. A 300-day supply for around $14, carrying the USP Verified mark that most cheap bottles can't. The catch is the form: plain, unbuffered 1,000 mg tablets are the harshest on your stomach here, and the 'Extra Strength' dose overshoots what your body can absorb.
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Read the complete Vitamin C guide →How we built the SAC Product Score™ — 7.1/10
Form & Bioavailability30%6.5/10
Plain L-ascorbic acid — the reference form, fully bioavailable within the body's saturable limits, but with no comfort or delivery upgrade. Bioavailability is identical to pricier ascorbic-acid picks.
Third-Party Testing & QA25%9/10
USP Verified for potency, purity and disintegration — the gold-standard independent check, and rare at this price. It confirms the label claim and that the tablet dissolves.
Dose Strategy vs. Clinical Range15%5.2/10
A single 1,000 mg tablet overshoots the ~200 mg absorption ceiling and is hard to split, so much of each dose is excreted. Convenient, but not the smartest dose design.
GI Tolerance & Suitability15%4.7/10
Unbuffered 1,000 mg is the harshest form in this set on an empty stomach. Taking it with food helps, but acid-sensitive users will feel it.
Value per Serving15%9.5/10
At roughly $0.05 per tablet across a 300-day supply, this is the lowest cost per milligram in the group by a wide margin.
The product at a glance
- Form
- Plain L-ascorbic acid (unbuffered)
- Dose
- 1,000 mg per tablet (1,111% DV)
- Count
- 300 tablets / 300 servings
- Testing
- USP Verified for potency, purity & disintegration
- Value
- 300-day supply, lowest cost/mg here
- Price
- ~$14
- Cost per serving
- ~$0.05 / tablet
Marketing claims vs. reality
Not verified
“'Extra Strength' 1,000 mg delivers extra benefit.”
Levine 1996 shows plasma saturates by ~200-400 mg/day; the extra 600-800 mg is largely excreted, so the higher dose is convenience, not proven added benefit.
Partial
“#1 Pharmacist Recommended brand.”
This reflects real pharmacist-survey rankings, but it measures brand recognition and trust, not a head-to-head test of this specific product's quality.
Verified
“Unbuffered 1,000 mg is harsh on an empty stomach.”
Plain L-ascorbic acid is acidic (pH ~2-3), and gram doses commonly cause GI upset when taken without food — a well-documented tolerance issue.
What our test actually found
01USP Verification is the headline
Most bargain vitamin C skips independent testing. This one carries USP's mark, which checks potency, contaminants and disintegration. At ~$0.05 a tablet, that combination is unusual and is the whole reason it ranks this high.
02The dose overshoots on purpose
1,000 mg is a marketing round number, not a physiological one. Your gut caps absorption near 200 mg per dose, so a large share of each tablet is excreted. It's not harmful — just not the extra benefit the 'Extra Strength' label implies.
03Your stomach is the real cost
Unbuffered ascorbic acid at a full gram is the least gentle option here. If you take it with a meal most people are fine; if you're acid-sensitive, step up to a buffered pick like NOW or Pure Encapsulations.
04Hard to split
A coated 1,000 mg tablet doesn't halve cleanly, so the smart split-dose strategy is awkward here. If you value that, a capsule (Thorne, Nutricost) is easier to divide.
Pros & cons, no sugar-coating
Pros
- USP Verified for potency, purity and disintegration — rare at this price and the gold-standard independent check
- 300-day supply at the lowest cost per milligram of the group
- Nature Made is the #1 Pharmacist Recommended brand
- 300-count bottle means you rarely reorder — close to a 10-month supply per purchase
Cons
- Plain unbuffered ascorbic acid at 1,000 mg is the harshest form on the stomach
- A single 1,000 mg tablet is hard to split and overshoots the ~200 mg ceiling — most is excreted
- The 'Extra Strength' dose is convenience, not proven extra benefit
Unbeatable verified value — mind your stomach
If you want a verified, no-nonsense vitamin C for pennies, nothing here beats it, and USP Verification is why it sits at #2 despite the harshest form on the list. The only real trade-off is your gut: unbuffered 1,000 mg can bite on an empty stomach. Take it with food, or step up to a buffered pick if you're acid-sensitive.
Check Nature Made on AmazonIf this doesn’t fit — try these
Thorne Vitamin C with Flavonoids
7.4/10A 500 mg dose built for split dosing with the strongest testing program here.
See it on the list →NOW Vitamin C-1000 Buffered
7/10Buffered and gentler if plain ascorbic acid upsets your stomach.
See it on the list →Nutricost Vitamin C with Rose Hips
6.2/10Even deeper per-capsule value if you don't need the USP mark.
See it on the list →Sources & further reading
- Levine M, et al. Vitamin C pharmacokinetics in healthy volunteers: evidence for a recommended dietary allowance. Proc Natl Acad Sci USA. 1996;93(8):3704-3709.Levine M, Conry-Cantilena C, Wang Y, et al. · 1996 · Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences USA · PMID 8623000
Vitamin C pharmacokinetics in healthy volunteers: evidence for a recommended dietary allowance
Plasma saturates around 200-400 mg/day with no added benefit above ~400 mg, so a 1,000 mg single dose is largely excreted.
- Hemilä H, Chalker E. Vitamin C for preventing and treating the common cold. Cochrane Database Syst Rev. 2013;(1):CD000980.Hemilä H, Chalker E. · 2013 · Cochrane Database of Systematic Reviews · PMID 23440782
Vitamin C for preventing and treating the common cold
Regular supplementation did not reduce cold incidence (RR 0.97) but modestly shortened duration; routine megadosing is not justified for most people.