Vitamin C (Ascorbic Acid) is a water-soluble nutrient that can’t be produced or stored in your body.
The requirement of this essential nutrient is therefore fulfilled by eating nutritious food daily. The food and fruits rich in Vitamin C should be included in your diet.
It helps in normal growth and development in individuals and protects you from cough and cold.
Ascorbic Acid is the most-effective nutrient increases your immunity, helps in wound healing, and gives protection against diseases related to immune system deficiencies.
It is beneficial for other diseases related to cardiovascular, prenatal health, eye, and skin problems.
This nutrient plays a vital role in your body’s metabolism. So it is necessary to get your required vitamin C through dietary sources like fruits and vegetables.
Best Sources
- 177 ml of Orange juice contains 93 mg
- One medium-sized Guava contains 165 mg
- 1 cup of Strawberry contains 98 mg
- Medium-sized Papaya contains 95 mg
- ¼th of a medium-sized Cantaloupe contains 95 mg
- ½ cup of red Bell Pepper contains 95 mg
- 1 cup of cooked Kale contains 53 mg
- ½ cup of cooked Broccoli contains 50 mg
- ½ cup of Lemon juice contains 30 mg
- 1 medium-sized Mango contains 30 mg
- ½ cup of Kiwi fruit contains 64 mg
- ½ cup of cooked Brussels sprouts contains 48 mg
These are a few of the great food sources of vitamin C. You can easily incorporate these nutritious and healthy items in your everyday diet.
How Much Vitamin C is Enough for Your Body?
The toxicity risk of vitamin C is quite low though too much of it might bring some gastrointestinal complications.
It is unlikely that your dietary source of vitamin C will cause any harm, but a mega-dose of its supplements might bring symptoms like nausea, vomiting, diarrhea, heartburn, headaches, abdominal cramps, and insomnia.
As you know, this micronutrient increases the body’s absorption power of non-heme iron; people may suffer from hemochromatosis due to overconsumption of vitamin C. It is the condition when your body retains more iron.
Suggested dose of vitamin C for different age group –
- Kids (1–3 years) – 400 mg
- Kids (4–8 years) – 650 mg
- Adolescents (9–13 years) – 1,200 mg
- Teens (14–18 years) – 1,800 mg
- Adults (aged 19 and older) – 2,000 mg
The Role of Ascorbic Acid in Your Body
As it is found in most of the fruits and vegetables, the intake of Vitamin C is easier if you can track the amount.
For women, the recommended daily intake is 75 mg, while for men, it is 90 mg.
It advised to allow vitamin C intake only through your diet but many people start taking supplements to meet their needs.
Below are some of the most prominent health benefits of Vitamin C –
Immunity Booster
One major reason why people should eat vitamin C rich food is that it helps to increase your immunity.
C micronutrient is responsible for the production of white blood cells in the body which are, in turn, protect the body against all infections.
The free radicals enter your body and damage these white blood cells. So, vitamin C helps the WBC’s to function more effectively. It protects WBC’s from those potentially harmful molecules.
This essential nutrient helps in the skin’s defense mechanism as it can be actively transported to the skin. It acts as antioxidants and makes the skin’s barrier strong. C vitamin also has wound healing capacity and shortens the time to heal fast.
The poor health conditions show that the person has lower levels of this dietary nutrient. The pneumonia patients tend to have lower levels of vitamin C.
Reduces the Occurrence of Chronic Diseases
The presence of powerful antioxidants helps your body to build its natural defense system.
If your immune system is strong, your body can defeat the free radical that enters and make you sick. The accumulation of free radicals in your body brings oxidative stress that is directly connected to chronic diseases.
When you increase the levels of vitamin C in your body, studies show that the body’s antioxidant levels increase by 30%.
Naturally, your body fights against all inflammations and infections.
Beneficial for Heart Diseases
Vitamin C reduces the risk of heart diseases related to high blood pressure and high LDL (bad cholesterol).
Scientists have found that those who consumed ascorbic acid rich food along with a healthy lifestyle are linked to lower risk of any kind of heart ailments.
Studies have also shown that consuming 500 mg of C vitamin daily may reduce the bad cholesterol and blood triglycerides by approximately 7.9 mg/dL and 20.1 mg/dL respectively.
Manages Blood Pressure
The present-day lifestyle and food habits bring complications related to high blood pressure to maximum individuals.
It relaxes the blood vessels carrying blood from the heart thus reducing the systolic and diastolic blood pressure in patients.
It is advised not to depend only on this nutrient for any blood pressure related issues as it is not sure for long term effects.
Reduces Uric Acid in the Blood
Due to too much uric acid in the blood, one can suffer problems from gout. Gout, a type of arthritis, can cause painful conditions and inflammations on the joints.
Uric acid is a waste product that your body should get rid of. It gets crystalized and starts depositing in the joints when accumulated in excess.
Vitamin C is an important element to reduce the quantity of uric acid in the blood giving relief from gout attacks.
Prevents Iron Deficiency
Ascorbate helps in the absorption of iron in your body from the diet.
100 mg of ascorbic acid helps in improving 67% of iron absorption in the body, thus reducing the risk of anemia.
Consuming vitamin C rich food helps to increase hemoglobin levels in children.
Works for your Memory
Impaired thinking and memory loss can be an outcome of low levels of vitamins. Being a strong antioxidant, intake of ascorbate provides a protective effect on memory and thinking capacity.
There are numerous and impressive health benefits of vitamin C.
This is a great and simple method to boost your immunity and it can be obtained easily from all fresh fruits and vegetables.
Hope, this guide helped you to stay aware about this immunity boosting nutrient.
