Vitamin C is one of the most popular vitamins among others. Mostly, people relate it to the body immune or orange fruit. When somebody gets unwell, people likely say that the one has lack of vitamin C and suggest to drink orange juice. The same condition happens when finding a relative or friend with bleeding lip, people would tend to relate it to the lack supply of vitamin C.
Vitamin C, according to people at general, also relates to the soar or fresh taste of fruit so it impresses that it is as if vitamin C can only be found at the soar or fresh fruit. It is fair to say that what common people generally believe is true, but it does not cover all true fact about vitamin C. Therefore, this writing would provide you complete and reliable information about vitamin C and its various aspects including and following this following order;
Topic in this sections, Â :
- Vitamin C at Glance
- Vitamin C Benefits
- Health
- Beauty
- Sources of Vitamin C
- Fruit
- Vegetables
- Proper Daily Dosage
- Disadvantages of Vitamin C Inadequacy
- Disadvantages of Vitamin C Excess
Those orders are intentionally designed to help you understand the material easier. First of all, you would get basic information about vitamin C then continued to the topic of its benefits. This topic would be divided into two parts; which is health and beauty benefit. You can simply pay attention to each subtitle to find and skim what information you exactly look for.
Next on, the the passage would provide you information about some fruits and vegetables containing vitamin C essences as well as the number of vitamin C in milligram. The information is particularly important as vitamin C itself has a certain rule in the sense of proper daily usage. Meaning to say, the consumption of vitamin C should not be above or below the proper portion. The consequences of the inadequacy and excess of vitamin C would later be will explained at the next passages which are the last two topics of the writing.
Vitamin C at Glance
Vitamin C is one of vitamins melting at the water. It is also well known with another name, which is ascorbat acid. Human body needs vitamin C essence, yet the body itself could not produce it anyway. It needs external supply from food and or drink containing vitamin C essence.
Human body’s need on vitamin C is very basic and essential that it becomes daily need. Vitamin C functions not only to protect the body from any threat, but also to improve its quality in doing body metabolism, for example, as well as ‘repair’ damaged condition of a body. Therefore, everyone is supposed to fulfill daily body needs of vitamin C by consuming any food or drink with vitamin C essence.
As slightly mentioned above, vitamin C mainly functions to support the ‘role’ of body and protect it from any threat. The explanation is actually so general because basically, vitamin C is so beneficial not only for body health, but also for body beauty.This information is perhaps surprising but it turns out to be true even scientifically proven that vitamin C has various types of benefits for both body health and beauty.
This also implies that what common people know about vitamin C benefit, which is to keep body immune stable, is just one of some true and real benefits. Therefore, it would be important for you to pay attention on the following details listing Vitamin C benefits. Some of these may be surprising.
Vitamin C Benefits for Health
1. Fighting Cancer
Vitamin C Benefits which very important is fighting cancer. People commonly think that vitamin C only deals with non-serious health problems like flu, fever or unwell condition. However, some scientific research revealed that vitamin C is significant in helping cancer patient in killing cancer cell. It may surprise you yet scientific researches found that vitamin C essence plays a role just like toxin for cancer cell. When this toxin takes a part, it could paralyze the cell even kill it which means very good news for cancer sufferers.
Other scientific researches also found that people, particularly women, who like to consume vitamin C essence from natural sources, i.e. from fruits and vegetables, instead of supplement, are resistance of cancer threat. This particularly applies for breast cancer who is known as one of the most killing diseases suffering women. Therefore, it would be better to soon change the lifestyle of eating by preferring natural vitamin C essences better than supplement, although supplements tend to be available easier.
2. Boosting Mood
It is commonly known that some kinds of food could boost the mood and make it good in any condition, just like chocolate. Unfortunately, there is only a few people who know that the benefit could also be available in vitamin C essence. It is even stated that the high tension of stress is closely related to the lack supply of vitamin C. A study conducted at McGill University released that the adequate supply of vitamin C (500 mg of vitamin C for twice a week) for those who suffer stress or frustration could significantly return the mood into a good condition. Vitamin C could do this function as it has ability to decrease the stress hormone called cortisol.
3. Improving Body Immune System
As commonly believed and known, vitamin C could improve the body immune so when consumed regularly, anyone would not easily be suffered by any health problem or even disease. However, there is only a very few people who know for detail how it could work, particularly how vitamin C essence could improve body immune system and avoid away any health problem. To make you pretty surer, it would be good for you to know how it works so you could conduct vitamin C treatment more regularly and more committed.
This is how; vitamin C contains anti-oxidant essence, which is said as the best anti-oxidant ever. It is also stated that anti-oxidant of vitamin C plays a role as if a fortress or security line to protect the body from free radical. The free radical coming into a body is inevitable in this nowadays world and vitamin C would automatically neutralize it before the free radical has a chance to damage the body cell. As for the status of the best anti-oxidant essence ever, here is the explanation.
- First, vitamin C could be so easily melted at the water and as water takes much part of a body, it could be quickly absorbed. This particularly applies when compared to other types of vitamin which could be melted at the fat, in which not every part of body contains fat essence. Meanwhile for water, it could be found almost anywhere at body part so the absorption of vitamin C would be very fast.
- Second, vitamin C also plays a role as a catalyst for the absorption of other types of vitamin, which are vitamin E, enzyme anti-oxidant, super oxide dismutase and glutathione. Besides implying that vitamin C does not need other essence for absorption, it also shows that the need of vitamin C is so big as it also helps other vitamins to have functions in the body. In other workds, those other essences could be useless for a body without the existence and the support of vitamin C.
- Third, vitamin C role is also highly needed by other enzymes to fight the toxin and pollutant. Some enzymes have particular function to collect and to filter those toxins—from pollution, the dirt, the dust or bad effect of climate change or big industry—so they would not have space to damage the body system. However, those enzyme still need vitamin C to do the role as well as to emit them from body. All by all, these explanation show that vitamin C does not only have one single function to support body health, but also help other good essences to function at maximum level.
By all of those functions, you could rely on vitamin C essence to fight against as well as prevent any health problems ranging from infection, bone and teeth problems, bacteria, viruses and the likes. Vitamin C even functions well also in recovering the wound.
4. Preventing Heart Problem
Heart or cardio is one of main pillars of a body as it is the center of blood which produces the blood (by pumping) and serves as a home of blood where the blood stream comes toward and comes from. Therefore, the body condition is greatly influenced by the heart condition. If any trouble is found at the heart, the blood distribution to every part of body would not run smoothly and therefore disturbs the body metabolism even possibly cause any danger or various types of disease. This makes the heart condition becomes really important to pay attention to.
One of the most common problems of heart is what is called by aterosklerosis. This condition happens when the heart artery get bolder—as filled by cholesterol—so that the blood stream could be blocked, or at least not running smoothly. The worst risk of this condition is the heart attack which could be very bad in some situation even causing the death. In this sense, vitamin C is proved to be effective in decreasing the possibility of aterosklerosis—which can lead to coroner heart disease—condition so it could assure that blood distribution runs well and stable.
In addition to its function in preventing aterosklerosis, vitamin C also plays a big role in process of collagen synthesis. Collagen itself is a strong fiber functioning as a tough tie for skin, muscle, blood artery and other important organs. It supports those organs to be in good condition and not contaminated by bad essences, such as cholesterol or other things causing any negative change on the shape and the normal function. In inadequacy of vitamin C, there possibly causes weakness in basic structure of blood vessel, heart as well as the heart muscle.
5. Avoiding Stroke
Stroke happens when blood vessels could not distribute blood stream to the whole parts of body, particularly to the brain. This condition is commonly caused by the change condition of blood vessel which is getting bolder because of cholesterol essences or so called aterosklerosis. In addition to it, other problems or causes could also occur in preventing the smooth distribution of blood, such as high blood pressure (above 140/90). Vitamin C could help you minimizing the possibility of any cardiovascular problems including stroke as it effectively stabilize the blood pressure.
Additionally, some researches on dietary style of consuming much vegetables and fruit—which are rich of vitamin C—also show that it is effective in preventing cardiovascular problems, even stroke. Those with high essence of vitamin C consumption is also known as the lowest risk category on stroke threat, particularly to the women. This is closely related to the connection between cardiovascular and blood pressure. It is also known not elderly people who routinely consume vitamin C in high volume could live longer and healthier in comparison to those who do not or those with minimum supply of vitamin C.
In particular, the average different of blood pressure between those who consume vitamin C in high supply and with low supply is about 4 diastolic. The number may seem not much but it is actually essential and significant in influencing the work of heart, blood vessel and the health at general.
6. Lowering Chollestrol Level
As the blood pressure has close connection to cholesterol level, the function of vitamin C in lowering or stabilizing blood pressure also means its ability to decrease cholesterol level. Vitamin C can decrease the level of LDL (bad cholesterol) while increase the level of HDL (good cholesterol). Those two essences are so influential in determining the level of cholesterol.
The question then arises about whether vitamin C consumption could help in recovering cholesterol problem if anyone already has it above the normal level. The answer on the question really depends on the condition. If the one suffering high cholesterol already had high supply of vitamin C, the additional consumption of vitamin C would not help much, even endangering, because what he or she needs at that time is special recovery treatment. This particularly could become worse when the consumption surpasses the average supply need of vitamin C daily. It would be better then, for this case, to consult with doctor or medical staffs
However, if the consumption rate is still low, the addition on vitamin C consumption could work well in increasing the HDL and recovering the cholesterol problem. Another different between these two cases is about the level or stadium of cholesterol problem. The former case is likely about the high stadium (above 240 mg/Dl) or those who suffer cholesterol problem for long with not significant recovery. Meanwhile, the latter case is likely about those who have just suffered it so the condition is still controlled and not too bad because the cholesterol level is still low (above 220 mg/Dl yet below 240 mg/Dl).
7. Avoiding Cataract
People may assume that cataract and other eye problems is what vitamin A handles with and copes with. However, it turns out that some scientific researches reveal about the vitamin C benefit for avoiding cataract or a sort of eye disease which generally suffers elderly people. Lack of vitamin C would make eye lens plans and this could significantly decrease eyes ability to catch the light and any object. The object would look blur and could lead to the blindness. Vitamin C here functions well in assuring smooth blood stream to all parts of body, including the eyes. When the need could be well fulfilled by smooth stream of blood, the eyes would work and function well and any problem, including cataract which is very common by aging, could be avoided away.
8. Recovering Diabetes
If you have possibility to suffer diabetes because of the eating habit or genetic factor, you could try to minimize the possibility by consuming vitamin C.
Vitamin C is very helpful in managing the level of sugar fat and make it back to the normal position. It could even decrease the glucose level in all body cells to minimize diabetes risk.
9. Preventing Asthma
Asthma is a type of breathing disorders or problems which suffer all ages from children to elderly people. This disease is commonly caused by bacteria, climate change, genetic factor or others. However technically, asthma comes from the breathing organ inflammation which cause the lung not to work properly. Vitamin C could take a big part in solving the problem as well as in prevention effort as it has ability to decrease the production of histamine. The histamine itself is what causes inflammation and makes it worse.
10. Boosting The Energy
It is not only common belief saying that if you are going to have a long time trip, do extra time work or push your body to ‘work’ harder than usual, consume vitamin C as energy deposit. It is scientifically proved that vitamin C could balance systems at the body in the midst of climate change or the surrounding change.
It also stimulates body to produce an essence called dopamine in the nerve system. Dopamine itself could help the adrenaline function to increase metabolic energy. When this energy increases, you could invite your body to work harder than usual because you also fulfill what it deserves to get.
11. Loosing Weight
People like to think that diet program to loose weight has to do with the reduction of eating intensity. This is totally untrue because what a body needs to loose its weight and returning to the normal posture is actually healthy food particularly various types of food which could control the fat while assuring the absorption of food so the body could work as usual.
One of the essences which could control and decrease the fat level is vitamin C as dietary experts, medical staffs or successful diet practitioners always suggest about. This is related to some scientific researches revealing that fruit and vegetables which rich of vitamin C could gradually loose the weight by decreasing insulin hormone. This hormone enables body not to save any sugar essence. It even makes it converted to the fat to burn in the body.
12. Curing Vagina Problems/Infection
Vagina problems could lead to other problems even for sex life. That is why it becomes an interesting topic to study. Recently, a study in McGill University revealed that vitamin consumption (250 mg during six days) could significantly cure so called bacterial vaginosis and return the PH to the normal level.
13. Accelerating the Recovery Process
Even if you do not consume vitamin C regularly, vitamin C could still help you to accelerate your recovery process. This particularly happens when you suffer influenza, cough, fever, light headache or other diseases because of climate change or intense and direct contact with free radical. Consume vitamin C essence to help yourself recovered soon as it could control the development of a certain allergy which is the cause of fever and influenza. Additionally, as mentioned above, vitamin C is also needed by collagen which is basic structural protein found in the string net.
The same principle also applies in recovering any wound. If you got wound and find it too long to recover, you deserve to be curious on the portion of vitamin C consumption. Body needs vitamin C to recover and repair any damaged net including recovering any wound quickly. Vitamin C plays a great role in increasing skin elasticity and helping to create new ligament net as soon as possible.
Benefits for Beauty
14. Repairing Damaged Skin
Vitamin C contains anti-oxidant essence in which skin needs it at most. The essence would help the skin to neutralize bad effects of free radical because of pollutant, dust or direct contact of ultraviolet.
Therefore, vitamin C would be very effective and helpful in dealing with damaged skin because of common causes as mentioned above including softening, freshening and so on.
It was even stated by a dermatologist professor that mixture among vitamin C and other good essences would work very well in fighting aging symptoms such as wrinkle and the likes.
15. Protecting from the Sun
Before or instead of using sunblock cream to protect your skin, you could double the protection by firstly consuming Vitamin C foods. It would help protecting your skin from direct contact of ultraviolet, any dust, any dirt, any smoke and other pollutants.
If you use sunblock for outer protection, let say, then you consume Vitamin C for inner treatment.
16. Producing Collagen
Collagen is actually automatically created by the body itself. However, to accelerate the production process, body needs what are called by hydrocsiprolin and hydroxicilyn to tigh the molecule which produces collagen.
Vitamin C plays a role in this mission by producing those two bindery essence so the supply of collage would be always adequate.
This condition would support skin to look good, fresh and healthy as well as avoid away various types of skin problem such as darkened color or any aging signs.
17. Repairing Skin Texture
If you find your body texture not look good or healthy, Vitamin C essence could be your solution. This closely relates to the function of collagen, in which, one of them, is to provide structure for blood vessel in distributing the oxygen and food supply to every part of body.
If collagen supply is available, the small vessel below the skin surface would work well so the skin get nutrition it needs. It will automatically avoid the skin form any condition of rough or dry as well as repairing its texture.
18. Preserving Water on the Skin
This function is particularly needed for those who have dry skin. If you are one of them and would like to solve your problem soon, add your consumption on vitamin C because it could preserve water on the skin and make your skin wet and moist.
It would be far better for you, for this treatment, to prefer consuming fruits and vegetables instead of vitamin C injection.
Vitamin C injection must be conducted under the control of a medical staff because in certain condition, it could harm your kidney, particularly in over dosage cases.
19. Protecting the Skin from any Color Change
Those with fair skin are generally afraid of the color change because it does not only show the decrease of health, but also the performance quality. However, some people do not have too many choices to avoid sun light as they have to go to work by walk or other condition.
If you are one of those people, you could rely on vitamin C in keeping your skin color fair and fresh. Vitamin C could protect DNA from photo chemist reaction which could cause many bad impacts, ranging from change of skin color to tumor even cancer. This is particularly important for those who live at tropical area or when the summer comes.
20. Stimulating Hair Growth and Avoiding Hair fall
Hair is the crown, a saying said. It is totally true as how one looks like is influenced by some factors and hair is one of them. Damaged hair from the problem of dry hair, unhealthy, hair fall, slow growth, dandruff and others could harm the performance.
Therefore, people are willing to pay some money to have hair treatment. You yourself do not have to worry if your could not afford the cost, because you can still rely on the natural essence such as vitamin C. As mentioned before, vitamin C is rich of anti-oxidant to fight free radical, while free radical is one of the common causes beyond the damaged hair.
Moreover, the free radical would be automatically recreated when the body changes food we consume into glucose to produce energy to do daily activities. If this free radical is not well controlled, it could damage organs of body including hair by making it unhealthy, fragile, thin even not growing well. Therefore, you need vitamin C to minimize the creation of free radical inside the body as well as preventing it comes from outside.
After paying much attention on the details mentioned above, you may want to take action soon to consume vitamin C. Again, it is advisable for you to consume Vitamin C from natural sources instead of any packaged products. Following is the list of natural source of vitamin C you could take a look before deciding which one you are going to consume it at most or most often;
Sources of Vitamin C from fruit
At the category of fruit, it is assumed that general people only know a few fruit with vitamin C, such as orange, tomato and guava. However, it turns out that many types of fruit are also rich of vitamin C. Pay attention to these details and do not miss any important information.
1. Banana
A middle sized banana contains 9.3 mg vitamin C. This fruit is particularly important in preventing stomach problems, fighting free radical and any virus or bacteria. The vitamin C essence it has is strengthened by magnesium in maximizing those functions.
2. Pear
This native China fruit has 9.4 mg of vitamin C in its 50 g. In addition to the bunch of water, pear is also good in avoiding any infection and inflammation organ as its vitamin C essence merges with vitamin K in making those functions work well.
3. Tomato
Tomato is one of multi-purpose fruits (some people consider it as vegetable) as it could eat in raw, juice, mixed in salad, be a flavor essence or mixed at a spicy sauce. 50 g tomato contains 14,5 mg vitamin C and well function in fulfilling daily need particularly for improving body immune power.
4. Green Wine
There is 15 mg vitamin C in every 100 g green wine showing that this somewhat soar fruit is also rich of vitamin C. It functions well in preventing body infection, including the growth of cancer cell when combined to other anti-oxidant essences.
5. Lime
In addition to its soar taste and fresh smell, a small lime contains 18,7 mg vitamin C. The vitamin C itself is so helpful in recovering the wound caused by the lack of vitamin C supply. Other than that, combination of vitamin C and flavanoid—which is also found in lime—could recover any stomach wound and therefore avoid any types of body infection.
6. Avocado
People like to consume avocado juice with chocolate or milk as it offers delicious taste. Some others like to consume it at raw just by adding some sugar. It is also rich of vitamin C as a small avocado has about 21 mg of vitamin C and particularly helpful in controlling some aging signs ranging from wrinkle, small black spot and other skin problems because of the sun light direct contact.
7. Melon
As everyone could imagine, the huge bunch essence of water in melon shows its richness of various good essences, including vitamin C. A small piece of melon contains about 26,3 mg vitamin C functioning very well in helping to avoid any bad effects of free radical, improve body immune and prevent any disease because of body infection.
8. Mango
Having 58.2 mg vitamin C in its each 100 gram, mango could help those with high cholesterol level to lower it. It also strengthens body health, avoid infection and keep the health of skin.
9Â Pineapple
100 g pineapple has 77 mg vitamin C which could help to strengthen body immune, lower cancer risk and minimize the bad effect of free radical.
10. Orange
Among all, orange would be likely the most often related fruit to vitamin C. It turns out to be true although the volume of vitamin C is actually not that high (100 g orange has 79 mg vitamin C). In addition to improving body immune system, orange could avoid any bunch of plaque in artery, heart attack and strengthen blood vessel.
11. Strawberry
People like strawberry for its somewhat sweet as well as soar taste. They commonly do not know that strawberry also has vitamin C essence, which is 83 mg for each 100 g of the fruit. Vitamin C in strawberry helps body to avoid any inflammation symptom, lowering heart disease risk even cancer.
12. Papaya
In addition to its vitamin A essence, papaya also contains vitamin C in relatively big number (85 mg vitamin C in its 100 g). In particular, vitamin C of papaya works very effectively in preventing some aging signs and care the skin health.
13. Guava
It may surprise many people but guava, compare to other fruits, contains Vitamin C at its hugest volume. 60 gram guava has 378 mg vitamin C which works very well in keeping the body immune strong and avoid the body from any disease because of bacteria. Therefore, it is advised to consume guava for accelerating recovery process.
Following is the list of vegetable with vitamin C essence as well as information about the main function of each.
- Taro (3,4 mg vitamin C in its each 100 g, functioning to avoid the cancer cell growth and keep the heart healthy)
- Seaweed (12,3 mg vitamin C in its 100 g), mainly functioning to avoid any type of infection as well as cancer
- Radish (22,1 mg vitamin C in its 100 g), helping in avoiding any bone diseases or problems.
- Pumpkin (23 mg vitamin C in its 100 g), good for minimizing aging signs
- Broccoli (49 mg vitamin C in its 100 g), a very good essence of anti-oxidant and to avoid cancer threat
- Green paprika (56,5 mg vitamin C in its 50 g), preventing teeth and gums problems as well as blood vessel troubles.
- Cabbage (92,6 mg vitamin C it its 100 g), assuring smooth process for body growth and preventing any common diseases such as eyes problem and digestive disturbance.
Proper Daily Dosage
If you wonder about the average or proper portion of daily vitamin C supply so you do not give too much or too less vitamin C, here is the point you need to pay attention; The average portion is still debatable. WHO said it was 45 mg vitamin C a day, English used 40 mg while USA had it between 65-90 mg a day. Based on data, you could predict that at least, you consume 40 mg vitamin C a day and the maximum portion is about 90 mg. For your preference, it would be better for you to consult with your doctor or other medical staffs you trust.
Disadvantages of Vitamin C Inadequacy
As you already know the average portion of vitamin C a day, you also have to know some bad consequences if you do not fulfill your body need of vitamin C. Following is the list of some bad effects of Vitamin C inadequacy in which most of them are cause by the the repeatedly blocking of blood stream, weak immune system or improper work of body organs.
- Muscle problem (Cramped)
- Dry skin
- Damaged hair
- Bloody Gums
- Lost of Appetite
- Anemia
- Infection
Disadvantages of Vitamin C Excess
In addition to vitamin C inadequacy, you also have to pay attention and avoid vitamin C excess as they both could harm your body. At least, some of the bad effects of vitamin C excess are as follow;
- Diarrhea
- Stomach Acid
- Problems of Urination
- Problems of Kidney Stone
One other thing that you have to know is that in some cases, someones is even required to consume vitamin C above normal average, usually on the advice of physician. At opposite, some types of patient are fully prohibited to consume vitamin C, such as those with hematochromatosis. Therefore, if you suffer certain type of disease, make sure to consult with your doctor before consuming any vitamin or supplement, particularly if you prefer to take packaged product rather than natural one.