8 vitamin C rich foods in your diet that you need right now:
When you think of vitamin C, many people think of citrus fruits. Specifically, they think about oranges. When you ask most people what vit C does or why vit C is important, most people don’t know. We will cover 8 of the best vitamin C foods with more vit C than oranges, and why it is important to include this powerful food in your daily diet. Let us study!
What is Vitamin C?
First discovered in 1932, citrus fruits have been used since the 1500s to 1800s as a treatment for scurvy among sailors and pirates. Since then, nutritionists have discovered that vitamin C is a water-soluble vitamin found in natural fruits and vegetables.
It is also known as ascorbic acid, but many people in everyday life call it vitamin C. As it is a water-soluble vitamin, it dissolves easily in water, but unlike other vitamins, it does not store well in water. the body. That’s why you need to get it from vit C-rich foods and vit C supplements.
Why Is Vitamin C Important?
Vitamin C is an essential nutrient that helps the body in many different functions from the immune system to healing wounds, even fighting bad conditions and periods of free radicals and oxidative stress. In addition, for athletes and active people, vitamin C is an important part of building and repairing damaged tissues such as muscles, cartilage, and even blood vessels.
When you apply this food several times, you give your body the best fighting chance to prevent unnecessary diseases and damage from hard work. Vit C also enables the body to absorb non-heme iron, an iron found in vegetables and green leafy vegetables, which has a protective effect against inflammation, free radical damage and chronic disease.
Vitamin C Benefits For Skin?
Vitamin C enhances physical health and is crucial for your body’s capacity to produce collagen. Collagen is a necessary, incomplete protein that is used to build and repair tissue like skin, tendons, ligaments, and even our hair and nails.
Vitamin C is one of the essential vitamins for the synthesis of collagen, especially when it comes to our skin. Some of vit C’s skin-related advantages include bettering things like slowing down the aging process of the skin, lowering the negative effects of sun exposure, and enhancing skin elasticity.
The ability to produce and maintain more collagen throughout aging will result in skin that looks younger. Overall, the benefits of collagen supplementation and vit C for skin are pretty great, and they should be taken regularly (along with including vitamin C-rich foods in your daily diet).
What Level of Vitamin C Is Too Much?
You might question whether you’re getting enough vit C from your vit C-rich foods when you eat a wide variety of fresh fruits and vegetables. The good news is that the daily upper limit of vitamin C for adults is 2,000 mg. If you supplement on top of that ( eat too many vit C dummies because they are delicious), you may also wonder just how much vit C per day is too much.
You’re probably in good shape if you consume a varied diet that includes foods high in vitamin C. We advise taking a vit C supplement in the form of vit C gummies if you don’t eat enough fruits and vegetables and/or you’re quite active.
Vitamin C Deficiency Symptoms:
Even though it is uncommon for someone to be vit C deficient in developed nations, it does not imply that it does not occur every day in the rest of the world. The most common cause of scurvy, also known as the “pirates disease” or a vitamin C deficiency, is the inability to regularly consume fresh/whole foods.
Socioeconomic status frequently affects this as well, which explains why developing and underdeveloped countries frequently have the highest risk factors and rates of vitamin C deficiency. To put this into perspective, rates in the US are as low as 71%, and in north India, nearly 739% of the population suffers from vit C deficiency.
Risk Factors For Vitamin C Deficiency:
- Alcoholism.
- Smokers.
- Babies who weren’t breastfed.
- Seniors who don’t consume fresh foods.
- People with low incomes who have little or no access to fresh foods.
- Those suffering from eating disorders.
Diabetics of the type 1.
- People who suffer from GI disorders (ex. bowel disease with inflammation).
- People on strict diets or who may have food allergies.
- Athletes of the highest caliber engage in rigorous training.
Symptoms of Vitamin C Deficiency:
- Splits and fractures.
- Inadequate absorption of iron.
- Quick to bleed.
- Anemia brought on by a lack of iron.
- Osteroporosis.
- Inadequate immune response.
- Being ill frequently or easily.
- A lack of development or health of the bones.
- Exercise recovery is poor.
- Wounds don’t heal well.
- Gums swell.
When the body is examined, it is important to keep in mind that vit C is frequently not the only vitamin that is deficient. B vitamins, folate, calcium, zinc, iron, and other vitamins are also frequently linked to deficiencies in vitamin C.
8 Vitamin C Rich Foods
Kiwi:
Nearly 70 mg of vit C are found in one medium-sized Kiwi. Pro tip: Don’t peel the fruit; instead, eat it with the skin on, just like an apple.
Brussels Sprouts:
Like other green vegetables, Brussels sprouts are a great vit C-rich food to include in your diet. When? Well, about one cup of these little vegetables contains about 100 mg of vit C.
Bell Peppers:
Red bell peppers provide exactly 190 mg per 1 cup of vit C, making this vegetable a vitamin C-rich food.
Tomatoes:
Tomatoes are a food rich in vit C, but this is more so after eating them rather than smelling them. In 1 cup of fresh tomatoes, you are looking to get about 40 mg of vit C.
Strawberries:
Strawberries are a wonderful and delicious food rich in vitamin C because they contain 85 mg of vitamin C per cup.
Broccoli:
When you come across this item in a supermarket, you might think twice. One cup of broccoli contains 100mg of vitamin C and is a great way to get vitamins and other essential nutrients.
Papaya:
Even if you have passed green papaya in the store without knowing that the orange fruit contains about 90 mg of vitamin C per cup, you should think about it next time. Give it a slice in the middle, remove the fruit, eat this food with vitamin C (they grow in summer).
Potatoes:
You probably won’t need another reason to eat potatoes, but if you do, the next time you eat a baked potato, you’ll get about 20 mg of vitamin C and fiber. and potassium. Be sure to eat the meat.
6:Impressive Ways Vitamin C Benefits Your Body
1:May lessen your risk of developing chronic diseases.
The natural defenses of your body can be powerful by the potent antioxidant vitamin C.
The immune system is strengthened by molecules called antioxidants. By defending cells against dangerous molecules known as free radicals, they are able to do this.
A condition called oxidative stress, which has been connected to many chronic diseases, can be exacerbated by an accumulation of free radicals.
According to studies, increasing your vitamin C intake can result in a 30% rise in the amount of antioxidants in your blood. Inflammation can be reduced as a result of the body’s natural defenses.
2:High blood pressure may be managed.
High blood pressure affects about one-third of adults in America.
You run the risk of developing heart disease, the world’s leading cause of death, if you have high blood pressure.
According to studies, people with and without high blood pressure may benefit from vitamin C’s ability to lower their blood pressure.
A vitamin C supplement was found to help relax the blood vessels that carry blood from the heart, lowering blood pressure levels, according to an animal study.
Additionally, a review of 29 studies on humans revealed that taking a vitamin C supplement decreased healthy adults’ average systolic blood pressure (the higher value) by 3 point 8 mmHg and diastolic blood pressure (the lower value) by 1 point 5 mmHg.
Supplemental vitamin C decreased systolic blood pressure by 4 point 9 mmHg and diastolic blood pressure by 1 point 7 mmHg, on average, in adults with high blood pressure.
While these findings are encouraging, it is unclear whether they will have long-term effects on blood pressure. Additionally, vitamin C should not be used as the sole treatment for people with high blood pressure.
3:May reduce your risk of developing heart disease.
Heart disease risk factors include high blood pressure, high triglyceride or LDL (bad) cholesterol levels, and low HDL (good) cholesterol levels.
By lowering these risk factors, vit C may also lower the risk of developing heart disease.
For instance, a review of 9 studies involving a total of 293,172 participants found that those who took a vitamin C supplement had a 25% lower risk of developing heart disease than those who did not, after ten years.
It’s interesting to note that a different analysis of 15 studies revealed a link between consuming vit C from foods rather than supplements and a lower risk of heart disease.
Scientists weren’t sure, though, whether people who ate foods high in vit C also led healthier lifestyles than those who took supplements. So it’s still unclear whether the variations were brought on by vitamin C or other dietary factors.
4:May lower blood uric acid levels and aid in preventing gout attacks.
4% of adult Americans in the United States suffer from gout, a form of arthritis.
Extremely painful inflammation has spread to the joints, especially those in the big toes. In addition to swelling, gout patients also experience sudden, severe pain attacks.
Gout symptoms start to appear when blood uric acid levels are too high. A waste product created by the body is uric acid. When levels are high, it may crystallize and deposit in the joints.
It’s interesting to note that research suggests vitamin C may help lower blood levels of uric acid and thereby help prevent gout attacks.
To ascertain whether vit C intake was related to the development of gout, another study followed 46,994 healthy men over the course of 20 years. A 44 percent lower risk of gout was discovered in those who took vit C supplements.
In addition, a review of 13 studies discovered that taking a vit C supplement for 30 days significantly reduced blood uric acid when compared to taking a placebo.
Although there seems to be a direct correlation between vit C intake and uric acid levels, more research is required to determine how vit C affects gout.
5:Helps prevent iron deficiency
One crucial nutrient, iron, is used by the body for a number of processes. It is necessary for the production of red blood cells and for the movement of oxygen throughout the body.
Supplemental vit C may enhance the body’s ability to absorb iron from food. Iron from plant-based sources, for example, that is difficult to absorb, can be made easier to absorb with the help of vit C.
Given that meat is a significant source of iron, this is especially helpful for those who avoid eating meat.
In fact, just 100 mg of vit C per day can increase iron absorption by 67 percent.
Therefore, those who are prone to iron deficiency may benefit from vit C by having less anemia.
In one study, vitamin C supplements were given to 65 kids who had mild iron deficiency anemia. Researchers discovered that the supplement alone helped control their anemia.
6:Boosts immunity
Increasing boosts immunity is one of the main reasons people take vit C supplements because vit C is involved in many immune system functions.In the beginning, vit C aids in promoting the development of lymphocytes and phagocytes, two types of white blood cells that aid in infection defense.
Second, vit C shields these white blood cells from damage caused by potentially harmful molecules like free radicals while promoting their improved performance.
Third, the skin’s defense mechanism depends heavily on vit C. It is actively transported to the skin, where it serves as an antioxidant and helps to fortify the skin’s defenses.Additionally, research has indicated that vit C supplementation may accelerate the healing process.
In addition, studies have linked inadequate vit C intake to negative health outcomes.For instance, vit C levels are frequently lower in pneumonia patients, and vit C supplements have been shown to hasten recovery.Increasing your intake of foods high in vit C or taking a vitamin C supplement may help raise your blood iron levels if they are low.
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