Ascorbic acid also known as vitamin C is a water-soluble vitamin and functions as an antioxidant inside the body. Vitamin C doesn’t just work for recovering from a cold but also has a role in lowering cholesterol and prevents blood vessels from being damaged. Some long term benefits of Vitamin C are reducing the risk of type 2 diabetes, Alzheimer’s and some cancers.
In many cases people supplement vitamin C to keep from being deficient when they are not able to eat enough. It takes at least 3 months of little or no vitamin C to become deficient and become ill with scurvy. In many cases supplements will have 100% of the vitamin you need daily. The recommended intake for women is 75 mg and 90 mg for men, for those with illnesses or smokers the dose may be higher daily. There is the case of having too much vitamin C and the tolerable upper limit (TUL) is 2,000 mg per day. Having too much can lead to kidney stones and/ or kidney failure, but is rare to happen healthy people. Also, anyone with an iron accumulation condition may want to consult their doctor before taking a vitamin C supplement.
Vitamin C like Vitamin B is not stored in the body and has to be replenished daily. They are water-soluble meaning they dissolve in water. The amount you need gets sent to your tissues as you need them and what’s left over gets sent to the urinary tract to be flushed out of the body.
Tomatoes, bell peppers, broccoli, berries, kiwifruit, cauliflower, cabbage, cantaloupe, potatoes and citruses like oranges and grapefruit have the best natural sources of vitamin C.
Secret: Secret: It would take 29 oranges and 13 bell peppers to hit the tolerable upper limit (TUL) of vitamin C in a day.