How Vital is Vitamin C for our Daily Health?
Many of us will think that if we have an glass of fresh orange juice from time to time, that will provide us with sufficient vitamin C to keep us safe from colds and flu especially during the winter months.
But that occasional glass will probably be insufficient to provide us with enough vitamin C - and keeping us safe from colds and flu is just one small aspect of the importance of vitamin C.
Vitamin C has so much more to offer
- Vitamin C plays a critical role in the formation of collagen, which is the connective tissue that holds together the structures of your body. If you cannot make collagen, you end up with bleeding gums and aching joints. Collagen is so important because it is found in most of the tissues throughout the body. Because vitamin C helps encourage collagen production, it's an important nutrient for wound healing.
- Vitamin C protects many other nutrients that our bodies need such as vitamin E, folic acid and iron, helping them to work effectively.
- Vitamin C helps to protect us from the risks of stroke, heart and other cardiovascular disease. At the same time, vitamin C boosts our immunity systems – a strong immune system is so important to every aspect of our health.
- Vitamin C is a great antioxidant, helping clean up the damage caused by free radicals.
- Vitamin C is good for your skin too, fighting those wrinkles that are formed due to sunlight, smoke and pollution.
- Vitamin C reduces high blood pressure in those that are prone to hypertension.
- Vitamin C helps to strengthen our bones as well as making collagen. At the same time, vitamin C also stimulates bone building cells and enhances the effects of calcium and vitamin D.
- Vitamin C helps in the fight against bacteria, viruses and infection.
- Vitamin C contributes to good eye health. Studies suggest that vitamin C may help reduce the risk of age-related macular degeneration. Vitamin C is also one of the top antioxidants in your eye lens and it can help to prevent cataracts from developing. It also helps keep the shape of the cornea as the nutrient strengthens capillaries and builds collagen.
There are many foods that are high in vitamin C
It is not just oranges...
Make sure to include as many as possible of these other foods in your diet:
- Vegetables: cabbage, chili peppers, green leafy vegetables including spinach, peppers, potatoes, tomatoes, watercress, garlic and more.
- Fruits: grapefruit, guava, kiwis, mango, strawberries, watermelon, lemon, cherries, bilberries and most of the red fruits.
Many of our Beauty Formulas are high in natural Vitamin C
Simply Neck Firming Oil and many other Beauty Formulas contain Jojoba oil which is rich in vitamins and minerals , including vitamin C, B vitamins, vitamin E, copper, and zinc.
With its high content of Vitamin C, rosehip oil protects the skin from the aging effects of free radicals and this precious oil can be found in our H-Glow Formula for wrinkles.
It is so important to eat a diet that is high in fresh vegetables and fruits.
Vitamin C is more important than you think
The importance of vitamin C in maintaining optimal health cannot be overstated. For your health, it is crucial to get your daily dose of this power vitamin. Even if you are eating all those vitamin C enriched fruit and veggies, you will probably still need to supplement because in many cases there are less nutrients in the soil today as well as other contributing factors.
A good start when taking vitamin C supplements is 500 mg for children and 1000 mg for adults if they are non-smokers. Smokers will of course need more.
As soon as you suspect the first sign of a cold or other illness coming on, make the effort to take 1000 mg of vitamin C straight away and follow up with an additional dose every three hours or so to give your immune system a real boost. You will often find that the initial symptoms will disappear. You can safely keep on taking the extra vitamin C to bowel intolerance. In other words, a loose stool will tell you that you have had enough!
Sources
Donejko M, et al. (2014). Influence of caffeine and hyaluronic acid on collagen biosynthesis in human skin fibroblasts.
ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC4206198/. (Accessed, Feb 15, 2021)
El-Domyati M, et al. (2016). Microdermabrasion: A clinical, histometric, and histopathologic study. DOI:
doi.org/10.1111/jocd.12252 .(Accessed, Feb 15, 2021)
Kang S, et al. (1996). Topical tretinoin (retinoic acid) improves early stretch marks.
archderm.jamanetwork.com/article.aspx?articleid=557725. (Accessed, Feb 15, 2021)
Written by Jane Chitty
Jane writes for Healing Natural Oils, a producer and retailer of high-quality, all-natural treatments for a variety of conditions as well as a range of beauty products. Apart from writing about those various conditions, she also covers general health, environmental and other subjects of interest. She has lived in Kenya as well as Cape Town, South Africa and spent time in San Diego, USA. She now lives in Somerset, England with regular visits from her far-flung children and grandchildren. She is a keen gardener and enjoys growing fresh fruit and vegetables with her husband on their joint allotment. As a result, there is something available to use in the kitchen virtually all year round. Her regular posts can be found on our blog.