experts say vitamin c is one of the
safest and most effective nutrients out
there but what actually is it and why is
it so good let's find out
i'm kitty braun product developer at my
protein did you know that vitamin c is
actually just the recognizable name for
ascorbic acid which is essential for our
overall health and well-being humans
can't make it ourselves though so we
must get our daily fix through our diet
it functions as a co-factor a helping
hand so to speak which eats the reaction
of enzymes to maintain essential
biological functions lots of which we'll
cover when we go through the proven
benefits of vitamin c it is classed as
water soluble so it can dissolve in
water both outside the body in foods
which have a high water content and
within the body the downside to this is
that if we don't utilize it quickly we
can lose it through urine it can't be
stored if we consume enough however
you'll find it most commonly in our
bodies in areas like white blood cells
our eyes and our brain vitamin c is an
antioxidant which means it's
anti-oxidation basically it prevents
damage to cells caused by oxidative
stress from free radicals free radicals
are unstable atoms which are highly
reactive on a constant surge in our body
to find other atoms to bind with this
can cause pretty unfavorable reactions
though that can range from dna to
cellular damage in all parts of the body
this is why researchers have taken great
interest in vitamin c for decades based
on the evidence that oxidative damage is
associated with or even in some cases
the root cause of many diseases right
that's your crash course on what vitamin
c is so let's talk through some of the
proven benefits the first one is
immunity vitamin c contributes to the
maintenance of normal function of the
immune system as i said vitamin c is in
white blood cells or lymphocytes
lymphocytes are the overarching term for
a range of cells lymphocytes themselves
branded the natural killer cells which
respond to viruses t cells which are for
cell mediated immunity which doesn't
involve antibodies and b cells for
antibody driven immunity having an
adequate intake of vitamin c actually
aids the proliferation of lymphocytes
and this is where the connection with
immunity comes in more specifically on
immunity you may have heard a lot of
connections with vitamin c and the
common cold however research is still
pretty divided a scientific review which
examined doses of 200 mg a day concluded
vitamin c didn't prevent the common cold
however taking vitamin c on a regular
basis did reduce the average duration by
8 in adults and 14 in children and can
also reduce the severity of the colds
whilst it might not fight the sneezes
and sniffles from starting it could help
you ride out the common cold a little
easier since supplementing with vitamin
c is deemed safe can be done at
relatively low cost and has a range of
other benefits to your general
well-being if you're prone to the winter
woes it might be worthwhile to consider
supplementing and see if it works for
you the second benefit is iron
absorption vitamin c increases iron
absorption particularly important for
non-heme iron let's recap dietary iron
has two main forms heme and non-heme
plants and iron fortified foods contain
non-heme iron only this form must be
solubilized and hydrolyzed before
absorption is possible and vitamin c can
help this as well ascorbic acid also
works to mitigate the negative effects
on iron absorption of the compounds
phytates and tannins which hinder its
absorption these are compounds found in
plant foods and widespread in our diets
think beans and nuts plus tea in the
case of tannins this is why you might
see orange juice being recommended as an
alternative to a cup of tea in an iron
rich breakfast particularly if you're at
risk of iron deficiency vitamin c also
contributes to normal collagen
information for bones cartilage and skin
collagen is a structural protein that
our bodies produce breakdown over time
as we age and therefore supplementing
helps to boost our natural levels whilst
it does support muscle growth its
primary role is actually boosting the
health of these high turnover cells in
the body during collagen production
individual collagen subunits we describe
as pro-collagen are linked together in
threes by a molecule named
hydroxyproline to create the final
collagen fibers vitamin c is an
essential element in the levels of
hydroxyproline in the body so you can
see how our body supplies are essential
to facilitate this mechanism for
collagen production vitamin c also works
to improve energy levels and reduce
fatigue by supporting energy yielding
metabolism simply it helps our bodies
make the most of the energy we can get
from our food in particular it plays a
vital role in the production of
carnitine this is a molecule that
transports fatty acids to the
mitochondria the poor house of our cells
here they are converted to available
energy it also works to reduce fatigue
through its relationship with cortisol a
steroid hormone this is because your
adrenal glands contain high
concentrations of vitamin c when
consuming enough and they use it to
produce cortisol when your body is
subject to stress and that can be both
mental and physical like inflammation
adrenal glands release cortisol to help
the body cope less stress equals less
tiredness all in all studies have shown
that people who consume high amounts of
vitamin c have a lower risk of chronic
diseases like heart disease cancer and
neurodegenerative conditions however
it's worth remembering that on
population studies so the studies
examining everyday people like you and
me and relating their intakes of vitamin
c with the risk of disease in general
people with high vitamin c intakes are
going to tend to have a more balanced
diet and healthier lifestyle these
things go hand in hand so bear in mind
that the more healthy diet or lifestyle
they have in general that will be
contributing to the level of vitamin c
too remember too that high vitamin c
intakes often aren't a conscious choice
the makeup of our diets across
demographics cultures and geographical
locations as well as the accessibility
to foods like fresh fruit and vegetables
all impact our levels of macronutrients
and can be to a large extent out of our
control currently evidence from
controlled clinical trials so ones where
we give people specific vitamin c doses
and control other elements across the
groups like diets we haven't
conclusively established that higher
intakes of vitamin c alone will help
prevent chronic degenerative diseases
its role as an antioxidant however plus
all the benefits mentioned make us
pretty confident that vitamin c
has earned its place as the vitamin og
so that's vitamin c what do you think
have any more questions let us know in
the comments below and if you're new
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