The Essential Guide to vitamin C: Benefits and Power for Your Health

Introduction:

Vitamin C is an essential vitamin, meaning your body can’t produce it. Yet, it has many roles and has been linked to impressive health benefits.

It is a water-soluble vitamin, which means that an excess of vitamin C will be excreted from the body in urine.

While it’s commonly advised to get your vitamin C intake from foods, many people turn to supplements to meet their needs.

Here are scientifically proven benefits of taking a vitamin C supplement.

Benefits of Vitamin C:

1. Vitamin C is a powerful antioxidant that can reduce your risk of chronic disease. Antioxidants are molecules that boost the immune system. They do so by protecting cells from harmful molecules called free radicals.

2. Studies have shown that vitamin C may help lower blood pressure in both those with and without high blood pressure.

3. Vitamin C supplements have been linked to a reduced risk of heart disease. These supplements may lower heart disease risk factors, including high blood levels of LDL (bad) cholesterol and triglycerides.

4. Vitamin C can improve the absorption of iron that is poorly absorbed, such as iron from meat-free sources. It may also reduce the risk of iron deficiency.

5. Vitamin C may boost immunity by helping white blood cells function more effectively, strengthening your skin’s defence system, and helping wounds heal faster.

6. Low vitamin C levels have been linked to an increased risk of memory and thinking disorders like dementia, while a high intake of vitamin C from foods and supplements has been shown to have a protective effect.

7. Collagen formation: Without vitamin C, the body is unable to synthesize collagen, the main protein in connective tissue. As a result, deficiency affects your skin, tendons, ligaments and bones.

8. May reduce blood uric acid levels and help prevent gout attacks, it’s incredibly painful inflammation of the joints.

Vitamin C is believed to:

• have anti-ageing properties

• help the body absorb minerals

• protect the body from chemical toxins

• help the body ward off infection

Groups at Risk of vitamin C Inadequacy:

The following groups are more likely than others to be at risk of obtaining insufficient amounts of vitamin C.

• Smokers and passive smokers

• Individuals with limited food variety

• People with malabsorption and certain chronic diseases (with severe intestinal malabsorption, some cancer patients, with end-stage renal disease on chronic hemodialysis)

  
  

Side Effects and Toxicity:

Most people tolerate high doses of vitamin C without any side effects.

However, very high doses exceeding 3 grams per day cause diarrhoea, nausea and abdominal cramps. This is because only a limited amount of vitamin C can be absorbed from a single dose.

Taking high-dose supplements over 1,000 mg per day may also increase the risk of kidney stones in predisposed people.

Call to Action:

If you have any health problems or concerns, talk to your doctor first. They can help determine whether vitamin C is beneficial for you and in what doses.

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Used sources of information:

1. U.S. Department of Health and Human Services, Naional Institute of Health