Vitamin C is one of the most popular nutrients today. You’ve probably even seen it advertised on orange juice cartons. But Vitamin C isn’t just a clever marketing scheme for fruit juices. It’s a necessary component of every healthy lifestyle.
Find out if you’re getting enough of this crucial vitamin and what you can do if you’re low in Vitamin C.
What Is Vitamin C?
How can we describe Vitamin C? To start, it’s a water-soluble vitamin, along with all the B vitamins. This means that your body will eliminate any extra Vitamin C from your body to prevent toxic levels.
Therefore, if you’re wondering, ‘Can you have too much Vitamin C?’, then the answer is no. It’s nearly impossible to have too much Vitamin C in your body. In fact, it’s more usual that people have the opposite problem.
Vitamin C Benefits
In science class, you probably learned that Vitamin C was used to cure sailors of scurvy, a now-rare condition from extreme Vitamin C deficiency. Scurvy isn’t very relevant nowadays since you’d have to go a very long time without Vitamin C to end up with this disease.
Nevertheless, Vitamin C benefits are vast and extend to various aspects of your health. Here are just a few of the most common benefits of Vitamin C:
Vitamin C Is a Free Radical Fighter
The main Vitamin C benefits come from its antioxidant activity.
It fights against oxidizing agents, pollutants, and toxic chemicals that can damage and harm the body. Having too many free radicals within the body can lead to serious illnesses like cancer, heart disease, and arthritis.
Vitamin C and Your Skin
The body’s connective tissues all benefit from Vitamin C’s nourishment. That includes your skin.
In fact, one study that observed more than 4,000 women between the ages of 40 and 74, found that those who consumed more Vitamin C had fewer wrinkles, they had nourished skin, and they aged more slowly.
That’s why many facial creams and skin care products now include Vitamin C. However, it’s wise to nurture your skin from the inside out by consuming foods high in Vitamin C instead of only relying on creams and serums.
Your Heart Benefits From Vitamin C
Vitamin C can help prevent heart disease and cancer. Having Vitamin C in the body also aids in lowering not only cholesterol in general but LDL cholesterol, often called “bad” cholesterol.
Stronger Immune System With Vitamin C
You’ve probably been told to eat oranges or take a cold remedy when sick.
That’s because Vitamin C can assuage cold and flu symptoms by supporting your immune system.
Improved Digestion and Nutrient Absorption
There’s that old saying, “You are what you eat.” But that’s not exactly the case. Instead, you are what you absorb.
And if your body has difficulty absorbing all the nutrients within your diet, you won’t obtain the many benefits of a healthy, balanced diet.
This is where Vitamin C comes in, especially in helping your body absorb iron, as this study shows. Therefore, consuming enough Vitamin C can prevent iron deficiency and anemia, too.
In fact, to increase your iron levels, you should combine your iron with Vitamin C by including some Vitamin C foods together with your iron intake. For instance, having a lean beef steak with a side salad made of bell peppers and tomatoes is one example of combining Vitamin C and iron in a meal.
Vitamin C Deficiency Symptoms
Without this potent little vitamin, you can suffer from several conditions. Here are the most prominent symptoms of a Vitamin C deficiency.
- Bleeding gums and gingivitis
- Dry, brittle hair
- Wrinkles
- Bruising
- Eye disease
- Weakened immunity
- Slower recovery time
- Fatigue and muscle weakness
- Aching and swollen joints and muscles
- Nosebleeds
- Rashes, or dry and scaly skin
Luckily, it doesn’t take much Vitamin C to counteract these symptoms and get back on track. (Vitamin C deficiencies become much more problematic if you remain deficient for a long time.)
Here are some of the more severe problems related to low Vitamin C levels:
- Scurvy
- Some cancers
- Stroke
- Leaky gut
- Autoimmune diseases
- Hypertension
- Gallbladder disease
- Atherosclerosis
When your body goes without Vitamin C for too long, you put yourself at risk of developing some severe conditions.
We’re often told, “An apple a day keeps the doctor away”, but we could easily say this about oranges or grapefruit, too!
How Do You Become Vitamin C Deficient?
Compared to other nutrients, such as iron, it’s relatively simple to become Vitamin C deficient. It all boils down to your dietary choices.
That’s because your body doesn’t produce Vitamin C on its own. And since it’s a water-soluble vitamin, your body also doesn’t store extra Vitamin C for later use.
Therefore, if you’re not eating foods high in Vitamin C regularly, it’s very easy to end up with low levels of this important nutrient.
Though scurvy as such may not be a rampant public health problem, Vitamin C deficiency is a common issue even nowadays, despite us having a huge selection of foods readily available. As reported in this study, about 41% of the population has insufficient levels of Vitamin C, whether that means a deficiency or an inadequate Vitamin C intake.
Best Vitamin C Foods
If you don’t want to end up inside the 41% earlier mentioned, it’s crucial to include foods high in Vitamin C in your daily diet.
You probably think you can only get Vitamin C from citrus fruits like lemons, limes, and oranges. But luckily, there are many other fruits and vegetables that provide this vitamin.
Here are some of the best sources of Vitamin C (Vitamin C content per 100-gram portion):
- Apples – 4.6 mg
- Asparagus – 5.6 mg
- Blueberries – 9.7 mg
- Broccoli – 91.3 mg
- Brussels sprouts – 85 mg
- Cabbage – 40.3 mg
- Cantaloupe – 10.9 mg
- Cauliflower – 48.2 mg
- Grapefruit – 31.2 mg
- Guava – 228 mg
- Honeydew – 18 mg
- Kale – 93 mg
- Kiwi – 92.7 mg
- Lemon – 53 mg
- Lime – 29.1 mg
- Mango – 36.4 mg
- Papaya – 60.9 mg
- Parsley – 133 mg
- Peas – 40 mg
- Potatoes (russet) – 10.9 mg
- Red bell pepper – 142 mg
- Tangerines – 26.7 mg
- Tomatoes – 27.2 mg
- Watermelon – 8.1 mg
In general, the best Vitamin C foods are fresh, colorful fruits and vegetables. Make a fruit salad for your morning yogurt bowl, and have some fresh vegetables as a side salad – foods high in Vitamin C are easy to find and even easier to incorporate into your daily lifestyle.
You may also opt for bread or cereal fortified with Vitamin C, but the best sources of Vitamin C are still fresh fruits and vegetables.
How Much Vitamin C Per Day Should Be Consumed?
Since your body eliminates excess Vitamin C in your urine, getting too much Vitamin C is nearly impossible.
If you do overdo it, you may experience some side effects of Vitamin C, such as diarrhea or digestive upsets.
So, try to stay within the Recommended Daily Allowance (RDA) as set by the U.S. Food and Nutrition Board of the Institute of Medicine:
RDA of Vitamin C for Adults:
- For men between the ages of 18 and 90 years old: 90 milligrams per day
- For women between the ages of 18 and 90: 75 milligrams per day
- For pregnant women above the age of 18: 85 milligrams per day
- For breastfeeding women above the age of 18: 120 milligrams per day
If you check the list of foods with Vitamin C, you’ll see that hitting the daily recommended Vitamin C level is not that hard at all. For an average adult, it would only take about 100 grams of broccoli or Brussels sprouts, 100 grams of kiwi, or about 150 grams of papaya, all of which are more than doable daily.
RDA of Vitamin C for Children:
- For infants between the ages of 0 to 12 months: naturally occurring Vitamin C in human milk
- For children between the ages of 1 and 3: 15 milligrams per day
- For children between the ages of 4 and 8: 25 milligrams per day
- For children between the ages of 9 and 13: 45 milligrams per day
- For teenage boys between the ages of 14 and 18: 75 milligrams per day
- For teenage girls between the ages of 14 and 18: 65 milligrams per day
As always, consult your primary care physician about the appropriate vitamin and mineral recommendations for you and your family.
Vitamin C is fundamental for a healthy body; luckily, it comes in various delicious fruits and vegetables. So, no matter what kind of diet you follow, you can easily get your daily dose and enjoy all the Vitamin C benefits.
