Healthy Choices

Vitamin C

Vitamin C – otherwise known as Ascorbic Acid is an essential nutrient for human beings. A lack of vitamin C can cause a deficiency disease called scurvy, which is characterized by pale skin, sunken eyes, tender gums, muscle pain, loss of teeth, and internal bleeding,

Vitamin C has many uses within the human body including:-

• It is an antioxidant
• It strengthens the immune system and fights infection
• It lessens oxidative stress
• It is required for 8 different enzymes
• It is required for the integrity of the artery walls
• It enhances the absorption of iron

Vitamin C is water soluble and is not stored by the body. Consequently we need to have a daily dose to ensure that we are not deficient. Vitamin C is found in fresh fruit and vegetables and in particular, peppers, watercress, cabbage, broccoli, cauliflower, strawberries, lemons, kiwi fruit, oranges, grapefruit, limes and tomatoes.

Most animals and plants have the ability to synthesize their own vitamin C by utilizing 4 enzymes to convert glucose to vitamin C. Humans do not have the ability to do this and instead they rely on a daily intake of vitamin C from their food sources. It is also possible to ensure that adequate vitamin C is absorbed on a daily basis by taking a supplement. This can be taken in the form of ascorbic acid, but as this can be mildly acidic it is often preferable to take it in the form of calcium or magnesium ascorbate. A therapeutic dose for an adult can be anything from 1000mg to 10,000mg. This may cause diarrhea if taken in excess of the bodies needs, but this soon subsides as the dose is reduced.

Because vitamin C is water soluble it is very easily lost from food when it dissolves into the cooking water. Vitamin C is leached from some foods more than others, but one way of ensuring you get the best from your fruit and vegetables is to eat it raw, preferably juiced to release the enzymes.

Over the years there has been much speculation about the therapeutic effects of Vitamin C ranging from curing the common cold to curing diseases such as cancer and heart disease. Although we can be sure that Vitamin C prevents scurvy the other claims on its efficacy are inconclusive and rely on anecdotal evidence. Many people find Vitamin C is helpful for a range of conditions and its ability to enhance the immune system would appear to be a likely fact. Despite the efforts of the renowned scientists such as Linus Pauling two times Nobel Prize winner, who wrote the book called “Vitamin C and the Common Cold” there will always be skepticism on behalf of the medical profession who seem reluctant to accept the validity of most natural remedies.

Janet L. Matthews
Skype ID: lindajanetmatthews

This entry was posted on Friday, March 27th, 2009 at 10:44 am and is filed under Vitamins. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.