Vitamin C

Vitamin C (also known as ascorbic acid) is super important for your body. It helps you create blood vessels,, muscle, & collagen in bones., it plays a crucial role in healing.

As an, vitamin C protects your cells from free radicals. Free radicals are bad molecules that appear when your body breaks down food or is around things like tobacco smoke and sun rays. These molecules might be linked to heart issues, cancer, and other diseases. Oh, and vitamin C also helps you absorb and keep iron in your body.

Since your body can’t make vitamin C by itself, you need to get it from what you eat! You can find it in lots of yummy foods like citrus fruits (think oranges!), berries, potatoes, tomatoes, peppers, cabbage, Brussels sprouts, broccoli, & spinach. If you want more convenience, vitamin C is available as a supplement too — usually in capsules or chewable tablets.

Most folks get enough vitamin C just from a healthy diet. But some people are more likely to miss out on it. For example:

• People who smoke or breathe secondhand smoke
• Those with certain stomach issues or specific types of cancer
• Folks who don’t eat fruits & veggies regularly

If someone has a severe lack of vitamin C, they could develop scurvy. This can cause symptoms like anemia, bleeding gums, bruising easily, & slow healing wounds.

If you’re taking vitamin C for its antioxidant benefits, remember this: the supplements might not work the same way as the antioxidants found in food.

The daily recommended amount of vitamin C is 90 milligrams for adult men & 75 milligrams for adult women.

What does the research say?

When researchers look at vitamin C for specific conditions:

• Cancer: Eating lots of fruits and vegetables might lower your risk of cancers like breast or lung cancer. However, it’s not clear if vitamin C specifically is what helps. Taking supplements doesn’t seem to provide the same protection.
• Common cold: Taking oral vitamin C won’t prevent colds. Studies show that using supplements may only slightly reduce how long or severe a cold can be.
• Eye diseases: Taking vitamin C along with other vitamins may help stop age-related macular degeneration (AMD) from getting worse. Some studies suggest that getting more vitamin C through diet can lower cataract risk.

Our view? Green light: it’s generally safe!

Most people get their fill of vitamin C when they’re eating balanced meals. Are you worried about deficiency? Then you might benefit from taking supplements.

Safety and side effects:

When taken correctly, oral vitamin C supplements are thought to be safe. But too much can cause some problems like:

• Nausea and diarrhea
• Heartburn
• Stomach cramps or bloating
• Feeling tired or sleepy (and sometimes trouble sleeping)
• Headaches
• Flushing skin

Some people may even end up with kidney stones if they take high doses consistently. Taking more than 2,000 milligrams daily over time could raise the risk of serious side effects.

Before any medical tests, always tell your doctor if you’re taking vitamin C supplements. High levels can mix things up with certain tests — like those for blood in stool or glucose levels.

Interactions to watch out for include:

• Aluminum: Vitamin C can help absorb aluminum from certain meds which could be harmful if you have kidney issues.
• Chemotherapy: There’s some worry that antioxidants like vitamin C could weaken chemotherapy drugs.
• Estrogen: If you’re on birth control pills or hormone therapy & take vitamin C, it might increase your estrogen level.
• Protease inhibitors: Using oral vitamin C could lessen how well these antiviral medications work.
• Statins and niacin: These might not be as effective when taken alongside vitamin C for people with high cholesterol.
• Warfarin (Jantoven): High doses could impact how well this blood thinner works.

So stay informed & keep healthy!