Vitamin C (Ascorbic acid)
December 27, 2011 by Linda Lazarides
Filed under Vitamins
Keywords: antioxidant, immune system, collagen health
Functions
- Aids the absorption of iron from vegetables
- Antioxidant
- Collagen formation (maintains healthy connective tissue and bone)
- Immune system
- Stress hormone production
- Wound healing
Good food sources
- Broccoli
- Brussels sprouts
- Cabbage
- Fresh fruit, especially citrus
- Green peppers
- Kiwi fruit
- Raw leafy vegetables
- Tomatoes
Deficiency signs and symptoms
- Bleeding gums or loose teeth
- Easy bruising
- Fatigue
- Frequent infections
- Fragile blood vessels
A chronic shortage of vitamin C, even if mild, can promote a wide range of illnesses and diseases since vitamin C is a vital nutrient for the immune system
Preventing deficiency
Fresh fruit and vegetables must be consumed regularly, preferably at the rate of five portions daily, to prevent vitamin C deficiency. Vitamin C is rapidly lost from vegetables when they are boiled, since it leaches out into the cooking water. Steaming, or cooking vegetables quickly, as in stir-frying, minimizes losses. Since the cooking water retains the lost vitamin C, this should also be used (e.g. made into soup or stock). The longer fruit and vegetables are stored before consumption, the more vitamin C is lost, for instance 30 per cent of vitamin C in potatoes is lost after 1-3 months’ storage. Vitamin C is also lost when the surface of fruit and vegetables is exposed to the air. To minimize this, do not chop them until just before consumption. By the same principle, vitamin C losses are also high from fruit juices. Losses of up to 100 per cent can occur once the container has been opened, shaken, and kept for a week in the refrigerator. Baking soda destroys vitamin C.
Vitamin C in the body is depleted by alcohol consumption, smoking, surgery, trauma, stress, exposure to pollutants, the use of certain medications such as aspirin-based pain-killers, antacids and the contraceptive pill, and by infectious illness. Most researchers now recommend a minimum intake of 200 mg vitamin C daily for smokers and those exposed to tobacco smoke.
Comments
Humans are virtually the only mammals who cannot make their own vitamin C from glucose in their liver. This is because we are lacking an enzyme which other mammals have. Other mammals can make the equivalent of 13 grams a day of vitamin C within their bodiy—more if under stress. This amount would be impossible to obtain from the diet. The roles of vitamin C in the body, its ready depletion by exposure to pollutants, smoking and stress, and the enhanced immunity afforded by a raised vitamin C intake have led many individuals to take a daily vitamin C supplement.
The view that, because the body excretes supplemented vitamin C, supplementation cannot make any difference to health, is now considered outdated. Supplementation results in high tissue saturation levels. Considerable research now supports the benefits of maintaining this degree of saturation in a variety of situations.
A severe deficiency of vitamin C (blood levels below 0.7 mg/100 ml) results in highly raised blood histamine levels. Vitamin C supplementation to 11 selected volunteers brought a reduction of the blood histamine level in every instance (Clemetson CA: Histamine and ascorbic acid in human blood. J Nutr 110(4):662-8, 1980).
Information compiled by Linda Lazarides
Naturopathic Nutritionist, Author, Educator
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