Vitamin C is vital to the production of collagen, which is in the connective tissue of your skin, bones, teeth, tendons, ligaments, organs, cartilage, eyes, muscles, and nervous system. It is probably the best kept beauty secret.
Vitamin C is the best known anti-oxidant. It helps protect the fat-soluble vitamins A and E as well as fatty acids from oxidation – or in simple English, helps prevent cancer. It keeps your immune system strong. Vitamin C prevents and cures the disease scurvy (a gum disease), and can be beneficial in the treatment of iron deficiency anemia. Vitamin C is important for anyone with arthritis. Vitamin C and other anti-oxidants also improve brain function and memory – but they are not sure why yet.
An article at HowStuffWorks.com about Vitamin C said, “Recent research has indicated that the intake of antioxidants like vitamin C can prevent or counteract cell damage due to aging and exposure to antioxidants. However, studies have yet to prove that vitamin C’s effectiveness at the cell level translates to the prevention of or cure for chronic diseases.†In other words, they feel it’s a prevention, not a cure. Over the years there have been many studies to determine whether vitamin C cures certain diseases, or whether the conditions are caused by a lack of vitamin C in the first place. Oh well, an ounce of prevention is worth a pound of cure, right?
It takes a few months of taking vitamin C everyday to build up your reserves. It won’t help much if you wait until you have a cold. You need to keep your levels constant. The body discards any extra vitamin C in the form of diarrhea, so you’ll know when you’ve taken too much!
Vitamin C deficiency causes bleeding gums, easy bruising, your cuts won’t heal, you’ll be sick a lot more often, you’ll have aching joints, and your skin won’t look as good.
Where to get it –
Broccoli, Brussels sprouts, cantaloupe, cayenne, citrus fruits, dark leafy vegetables, grapefruit, hot peppers, kiwi, lemon, limes, oranges, papayas, peas, peppers, red peppers, spinach, strawberries, sweet potato, tomatoes, watermelon
While not toxic, doses over 1,000 milligrams a day of vitamin C will probably cause diarrhea in most people. Your body disposes of what it doesn’t need.