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All you should know about Vitamin C

As far as humans go, the C Vitamin is indispensable. The English learned this long ago in the prevention of scurvy, by the use of limes given to sailors at sea. Our bodies

need Vitamin C for a variety of reasons and deficiency can cause numerous problems.
What does Vitamin C do?

Vitamin C is water soluble that we need for growth and repair of tissues in every part of our body. Vitamin C is responsible in collagen formation (and very important protein used to make skin, tendons, ligaments, scar tissue and blood vessels).

Vitamin C is crucial for wound healing, and the daily maintenance and repair of our bones, teeth, and cartilage. Vitamin C is basically another name for ascorbic acid.

Many animals (except rats and primates) make their own. However, as it’s so necessary,Vitamin C is an indispensable element of our daily diet.

What are the Symptoms of Vitamin C Deficiency?
The worst, it seems is the disease scurvy (cured by Lord Lister by the administration of limes in the diets of English sailors). However, there are minor to major symptoms of Vitamin C deficiency, which include gingivitis (inflammation of the gums), very dry, splitting and falling hair, dry and scaly skin, nose bleeding, very easy bruising and swollen and painful joints. For more serious symptoms you can have anemia, very decreased wound healing, easy weight gain, and a very decreased immune system.

How much of Vitamin C should you take?

A good recommended dose (after consulting a doctor, naturally) would be between 500 mg and 1000 mg daily. They can be found in tablets, but you can also get all you need from food.

Many fruits and vegetables have all the Vitamin C you need to stay healthy. These can be found in all citric fruits, but other foods, like the kiwi have huge amounts of available Vitamin C. Also, eat fresh (raw as Vitamin C is destroyed by heat) green peppers, watermelon,grapefruit, any yellow melon, strawberries, tomatoes, broccoli, spinach, cauliflower,cabbage, any forest berry (cranberry, blue berries, raspberry, etc) pineapple, turnip greens and mustard greens.

Are Tablets OK too?
Yes they are, but naturally, fresh food is more advisable. Choose a buffered form of Vitamin C, as its absorption is better, and will not upset your stomach. Some companies add bioflavonoid to their Vitamin C mix to make it even more potent. Remember, you need more of Vitamin C if you are ill, wounded, or run down. Try to get it from foods rich in the Vitamin C as mention above.

Food Sources
As shown in the table below different fruits and vegetables vary in their Vitamin C content, but five servings (2½ cups) of fruits and vegetables should average out to at least 200 mg of Vitamin C.

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