How does vitamin C keep you healthy?

Are you getting your daily vitamin C?  Growing up everyone had juice glasses in their homes and almost everyone drank some real, 100% juice for breakfast.  This could be orange juice, tomato juice or grapefruit juice.  Now, juice glasses are a rarity in people’s home.  And, rather than real, 100% juice, the people that do drink “juice” often choose a fake juice or a fruit drink that contains little or no juice.  But you do not have to drink juice to get enough vitamin C.  Many fruits and vegetables are rich in C.

What is vitamin C?

 Vitamin C is an essential vitamin that is also known as ascorbic acid.  What does “essential” mean?  It means your body does not make vitamin C and you need to “eat it to get it”. Since it is water-soluble vitamin, your body does not store it and you should eat some vitamin C rich foods every day. 

How does vitamin C help keep you healthy?

Some people hear “vitamin C” and they think of colds.  And vitamin C does help your immune system but it has so many roles to play in your body including helping keep your skin, bones, and eyes healthier. 

  •  Fighting disease and protecting your cells
    • Antioxidant – vitamin C is an antioxidant, a chemical that is good for you.  Vitamin C helps protect your cells from damage that can “increase signs of aging”.  
  •  Good for your eyes
  • Healthy skin
    • Want healthy skin?  Then eat foods rich in vitamin C as vitamin C helps our bodies boost collagen production.  To make collagen, your body needs vitamin C. A study by NIH indicates that improving your vitamin C status may help prevent wrinkles as you age because vitamin C helps with collagen formation.  Vitamin C not only supports collagen production, it helps stimulate collagen production.  Vitamin C also protects your skin from damage from the sun.  Kind of like a natural sunscreen.
    •  WebMD notes, “Research suggest that people who eat more vitamin C have fewer wrinkles”.
  • Vitamin C helps your body absorb iron
    • I like to ask my students what should you add to a breakfast of Cheerios to help absorb the iron in Cheerios?  I get a lot of answers like “milk”.  Milk is good for you but it will not help you absorb iron.  The correct answer is foods rich in “C”.  Adding strawberries or some sliced bananas to Cheerio or drinking a glass of real, 100% juice are good ways to help your body absorb the iron in foods.
  • Vitamin C helps your wounds heal
    • Cut yourself?  Add some more “C” to your day.  How about those creams you put on your skin that contain vitamin C?  They help too.  The topical creams made with “C” can help “slow signs of aging, reduce dark under-eye circles and even bolster the effects of sunscreen”.  One study also showed applying a topical vitamin C gel helped with reduction in formation of scars.
    • NIH states,   Of all the effects of vitamin C on skin health, its beneficial effect on wound healing is the most dramatic and reproducible.  Why?  Because vitamin C helps collagen production that is needed when wounds heal. 
  • Other benefits of vitamin C
    • Although vitamin C may not prevent heart attacks, studies have shown vitamin C “may help protect arteries against damage”.  
    •  Cancer - vitamin C helps prevent some cancers and may lower your risk of cancers of the “breast, colon and lung cancers”.
 
  • How much vitamin C do you need each day?
    • Adults 18 and over
      • Men:  90 mg/day
      • Women:  75 mg/day
    • A female student in my nutrition class noted her vitamin C intake was 80 mg a day.  She asked if she needed to cut back on vitamin C foods in her diet.  Absolutely not.  The amounts recommended per day “are a minimum to prevent deficiency … and some experts believe the recommendation should be higher”.  If you eat more vitamin C than your body needs, your body gets rid of the excess.  Note:  Smokers need more “C”, an extra 35 mg a day.
  • What foods are rich in vitamin C?
 
o   Fruits and veggies are the way to add “C” to your day.  If getting your “C” from juice, be sure it is real 100% juice.    

o   Citrus fruits – a great way to get your daily dose of vitamin C is from citrus fruits.  Enjoy a glass of 100% OJ or grapefruit juice at breakfast.  Or a half grapefruit or an orange.  Be sure the juice is real juice and not a fake juice drink (see Are you drinking real juice or fake juice?).     

o   Peppers – red bell and green peppers are loaded with vitamin C.  In fact, “a cup of chopped red bell pepper contains nearly three times mor vitamin C than an orange – 190 mg.)   And red bell peppers are a great source of vitamin A, another vitamin that promotes eye health. 

o   Broccoli – some people aren’t fans of broccoli but it is a good source of vitamin C.  It is also low in calories at about 30 calories per serving. 

o   Strawberries, cantaloupe, watermelon, honeydew – all provide good amounts of vitamin C. 

o   Tomatoes – not just fresh tomatoes but foods made with tomatoes like salsa, spaghetti sauce, and tomato soup. 

o   Other vegetables – enjoy a baked potato, some cauliflower, Brussels sprouts, cooked cabbage, cooked spinach – NIH indicates these are all good sources of vitamin C. 

Conclusion:  Are you getting the vitamin C your body needs? Do you eat a vitamin C rich food every day?  Is the juice you are drinking real juice or a fake juice?  Every morning I drink a glass of real OJ or real grapefruit juice as I want my daily “C”.  We also try to buy our juice in a glass container or a paper container to help get some of the plastic out of our diet.  (See:  How much plastic are you eating? ) Summer is coming and so many fresh fruits will be available.  Most people love watermelon and that is a great way to add some “C’ to your day and your kid’s day.  Find some vitamin C rich foods you like and be sure to include them in your day, every day.  Your body does not store vitamin C and it does not make vitamin C.  You and your children need vitamin C rich foods in your diet every day.  


 

Sources:  roles , damage , may, age-related macular degeneration , collagen production , NIH , notes , Cheerios , topical creams , states ,  heart attacks , cancers , need , Smokers , fact , broccoli , Strawberries, cantaloupe , salsa , Other vegetables , good sources , How much plastic are you eating?    Image Sources:  Vitamin C , Vitamin C Skincare   , Vitamin C Foods


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