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Vitamin C Supplements: Everything You Need to Know

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What is Vitamin C? / Where does it come from?

Vitamin C, also known as ascorbic acid, is an essential, water-soluble nutrient and a powerful antioxidant with a wide range of functions for healthy people. It cannot be stored or synthesized in the human body, so your daily value must be consumed from fresh fruits and vegetables or vitamin C supplements. Because this is such a vital ingredient for the body, it's important you get the right absorption on a regular basis to help your immune system, skin health, collagen synthesis, and heart health.

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Best Vitamin C Foods

Most healthy adults can get their daily mg of vitamin C in the best way from a balanced diet. Check out some of these good sources of vitamin C:

  • Citrus fruits (oranges, orange juice, lemon, lime, etc)
  • Berries, especially strawberries
  • Broccoli
  • Leafy greens
  • Bell peppers
  • Tomatoes
  • Sweet potatoes
  • Brussel Sprouts

Many people struggle to get the five vegetables a day that nutrition experts recommend. Plus, cooking methods often deplete vitamin C levels and doses in your food. So, a dietary supplement is a fantastic way to increase vitamin C intake and optimize your overall health. Make sure you get your daily intake with high doses of vitamin C in supplement form.

How Vitamin C Works

Vitamin C is a cofactor in various enzymatic reactions in the body. This ascorbic acid is a necessary vitamin and essential nutrient needed for the synthesis of:

  • Neurotransmitters
  • Collagen: An abundant structural protein found in skin, bones, cartilage, tendons, ligaments, and blood vessels
  • Stress hormones
  • Immune system cells
The antioxidant properties of vitamin C allow it to scavenge unstable, harmful free radicals in the body, protecting your cells and molecules from oxidative damage. This is significant because low antioxidant levels result in cell damage, chronic inflammation, and eventually chronic disease. The effects of vitamin C are seen throughout your tissues and bloodstream, proving that a deficiency of this ingredient and low vitamin C levels will have a significant effect on your overall health and quality of life. Invest in high doses of this ascorbic acid when you invest in daily vitamin C supplements.

Risk Factors for a Vitamin C Deficiency

While acute vitamin C deficiency, or Scurvy, isn't common in developed countries, many people still struggle with low vitamin C levels. Poor immunity, fatigue, anemia, bruising, and slow wound healing are all red flags for chronically low vitamin C and a sign that you need to up your intake!

Before you catch these early symptoms, it's important to know if you may be at high risk or increased susceptibility to a vitamin C deficiency. Some of the factors that deplete vitamin C levels include:

  • Stress
  • Excessive sun exposure
  • Intense exercise
  • Pregnancy
  • Cigarette Smoke
  • Infections
  • Poor diet
  • Chronic illness/medical conditions

If you start to notice symptoms, speak to your healthcare provider or nutrition experts to see if a supplement may be right for you. Here at VitaRx, we offer excellent vitamin C supplements that can give you the protective effect you need for your body and help up your specific intakes when needed.

healthy happy running woman in sun getting vitamin d

Health Benefits of Vitamin C

It's clear that healthy individuals need vitamin C for all its beneficial effects. High levels of this vitamin play an important role in the formulation of human skin, bones, teeth, collagen, connective tissue, and red blood cells. That's just the beginning of the list of benefits of vitamin C. Let's dive more in-depth into the science-backed health benefits of vitamin C and why you should consider improving your daily value of this ascorbic acid.

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Immunity

Vitamin C helps you to fight off infections and reduces illness duration. It's involved in the production of infection-fighting white blood cells and protects immune cells from being degraded by unstable free radicals. This is one of the main reasons why healthcare providers may recommend a glass of orange juice at the onset of cold symptoms. This form of vitamin C is helpful for overall immune function.
A study on men with low vitamin C status found supplementing with vitamin C resulted in fewer colds and a 59% reduction in cold duration compared to a placebo group. Even a little vitamin C can help you eliminate nausea, coughing, and sniffling when you're fighting colds or trying to lower the severity of colds and flu cases.

Improved Iron Absorption

Vitamin C may reduce fatigue by enhancing iron absorption, making it a useful nutrient for people with anemia and those on a vegetarian or vegan diet. It transforms the poorly absorbed ferric form from plant sources into the ferrous form that is easily absorbed by mucosal cells in the gastrointestinal tract. So if you aren't eating as many animal foods, you can still reap the benefits of ferric iron in different ways. Improve your bloodstream with large doses of vitamin C that can help process other vitamins and minerals in more effective ways.

Healthy Skin

Vitamin C is found abundantly in skin cells where it promotes strong, elastic, and glowing skin. It protects the skin from free radical damage and signs of premature aging. Get rid of wrinkles and give your skin the moisture it needs with external sources of vitamin C.
This vitamin is a cofactor for collagen synthesis and maintenance. Collagen is the skin's structural protein found in human skin, bones, blood vessels, muscles, and tendons. This protein is especially important for your skin health. Without sufficient vitamin C, collagen strands become weak, resulting in loss of skin elasticity, firmness, and hydration. Clinical trials have also shown it also speeds up wound healing and reduces damage from sun exposure.

Eye Health

Vitamin C is one of several nutrients that play an important role in your eye health. Clinical research shows that so much vitamin C can help you avoid cataracts and vision loss for older adults. Because this vitamin helps you prevent tissue damage and eliminate harmful free radicals, a high dietary intake of vitamin C works with vitamin E to protect your eyesight for a long time to come. Protect against the progression of age-related macular degeneration when you start increasing your vitamin C supplements at an early age.

Cardiovascular Health

Research suggests the antioxidant properties of vitamin C protect the cardiovascular system and may reduce the risk of the world's number one killer, cardiovascular disease. Maintaining healthy vitamin C levels prevents the oxidation of cholesterol and lowers cholesterol levels, blood pressure, arterial stiffness, and inflammation—all major risk factors for heart disease.

If you are at high risk for cardiovascular disease, talk to your healthcare provider about the role of vitamin C in your preventative measures. Every step you can take to avoid high blood pressure and strengthen your heart will help you avoid an untimely heart attack or a fatal heart disease diagnosis.



    Make Vitamin C Part of Your Daily Diet

    Glass of water with lemon vitamin c on a wooden table

    Okay, you knew it was coming... time for a shameless plug. Do you think the benefits of adding vitamin c to your daily diet could help your overall health? Create a personalized daily vitamin pack that includes vitamin C and any other vitamins, minerals, or supplements you think could help you. Start by adding vitamin C to your customized kit here!

    Vitamin C


    Vitamin C

    Make Vitamin C a part of your daily vitamin and supplement routine

    • It's a powerful antioxidant that protects cells from free radical damage
    • Enhances the production and function of immune cells
    • Encourages optimal iron absorption

     

    Resources:

    1. https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/25010554
    2. https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/2507689/
    3. https://lpi.oregonstate.edu/mic/health-disease/skin-health/vitamin-C
    4. https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/15585762/
    5. https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/19674720/ 

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