The Benefits of C Vitamin
C vitamin has got to be the most widely known vitamin these days. It is not surprising because the body needs c vitamin for over 300 functions. In fact, c vitamin has been proven to help protect against heart disease, cancer, and other serious illnesses. Without the c vitamin, the body would not be able to heal itself either. This is because c vitamin is vital for the formation of collagen.
Whenever a person has a cut or an injury it is the collagen that helps repair the damage and without sufficient c vitamin, this would be almost impossible. Collagen has a multitude of functions in the body, including keeping the organs in place, and it would not be able to do this without sufficient c vitamin.
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C vitamin is also an antioxidant for the body and helps other vitamins and minerals to be absorbed better. Folic acid and iron, for example, need the c vitamin to maximize their usefulness. The more c vitamin that the body has, the better its defense against colds and other common ailments the c vitamin may not prevent a person from catching a virus but it does help speed up the recovery process.
Vitamin C Foods
There is c vitamin in almost every fruit and vegetable but some have far higher c vitamin content than others. Cranberries and melons have high c vitamin content. In fact, tropical fruits have the highest c vitamin amounts of all fruit.
Hot peppers are amongst the richest sources of c vitamin when it comes to vegetables. The hotter the pepper, the higher its c vitamin content is. Unfortunately, the c vitamin is water soluble so many vegetables lose their effectiveness as a c vitamin provider if they are boiled for a long time.
Steaming or quick stir frying vegetables ensures that more of their c vitamin content is retained. The recommended daily amount of c vitamin is easily obtained from eating five portions of fruit and vegetables a day if they are consumed raw or cooked quickly.
C vitamin Supplements
C vitamin supplements are extremely useful to ensure that people obtain sufficient c vitamins. However, with a balanced diet, the amount of c vitamin the body receives is likely to be sufficient.
However, if a person begins feeling tired or lethargic then a c vitamin supplement will help overcome this. There is no danger of having too much c vitamin as the body simply excretes the excess.
Writer: Hudalil Mustakim
