Vitamin C

Your Guide to Vitamin C

The vitamin c has got to be the most widely known vitamin these days. It is not surprising because the body needs vitamin c for over 300 functions. In fact, the c vitamin has been proved to help protect against heart disease, cancer and other serious illnesses. Without the c vitamin the body would not be able to heal itself either. This is because vitamin c is vital for the formation of collagen. Whenever a person has a cut or an injury it is the collagen that helps repair the damage and without sufficient vitamin c this would be almost impossible. Collagen has a multitude of functions in the body, including keeping the organs in place, and it would not be able to do this without sufficient vitamin c.

Vitamin C as antioxidant

The vitamin c is also an antioxidant for the body and helps other vitamins and minerals to be absorbed better. Folic acid and iron, for example, need vitamin c to maximise their usefulness. The more c vitamin that the body has, the better its defence against colds and other common ailments and vitamin c may not prevent a person catching a virus but it does help speed up the recovery process.

Food sources of Vitamin C

Vitamin c can be found in almost every fruit and vegetable, but some have far higher vitamin c content than others. Cranberries and melons have high vitamin c content. In fact, tropical fruits have the highest c vitamin amounts of all fruit. Hot peppers are amongst the richest sources of the c vitamin when it comes to vegetables. The hotter the pepper, the higher its c vitamin content is. Unfortunately, the c vitamin is water soluble so many vegetables lose their effectiveness as a vitamin c provider if they are boiled for a long time. Steaming or quick stir frying vegetables ensures that more of their vitamin c content is retained. The recommended daily amount of the vitamin c is easily obtained from eating five portions of fruit and vegetables a day if they are consumed raw or cooked quickly.

Vitamin C supplements

Vitamin c supplements are extremely useful to ensure that people obtain sufficient c vitamin. However, with a balanced diet the amount of vitamin c the body receives is likely to be sufficient. However, if a person begins feeling tired or lethargic then a vitamin c supplement will help overcome this. There is no danger of having too much vitamin c, as the body simply excretes the excess.

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