Vitamin C: Everything You Need and Want To Know

Vitamin C: Everything You Need and Want To Know Especially During Respiratory Virus Season

By: Natalie Morrow

It’s winter time, and with the cold comes viruses! It is incredibly important to protect one’s health and build immunity for this time period. There’s one vitamin in particular that seems to be a great help to your health overall: Vitamin C!

The Positive Effects of Vitamin C

Boosts the Immune System

Vitamin C’s most essential benefit is its ability to reinforce the body’s immune system. According to studies, vitamin C helps the immune system in mounting and sustaining defenses against pathogens at the same time as avoiding damaging its host. This helps enforce the body’s immune system to fight illnesses such as viruses or bacterial infections.

Powerful Antioxidant

Vitamin C has numerous benefits to the body. According to the Mayo Clinic, vitamin C is useful in combating radicals, which are produced by the breaking down of food or exposure to radiation and tobacco. These radicals can cause cancer, heart disease, and more, making vitamin C a wonderful antioxidant for your body.

Eye Health

In addition to combating radicals, studies show that those with higher percentages of vitamin C in their diets are less likely to develop cataracts. 

Iron Storage

The Mayo Clinic also states that vitamin C helps with the absorption and storage of iron, which helps with transferring oxygen throughout the body.

Collagen Production

What’s more, one study shows that vitamin C aids in maintaining collagen production, which enforces the body’s defense against scurvy, gingiva, bone pain, impaired wound healing, and overall bone health.

Reproductive Functions

In addition to the maintenance of collagen production, vitamin C aids in collagen hydroxylation, which is essential for “ovarian functions like follicle growth, formation of the corpus luteum, and the repair of the ruptured follicle following ovulation.” This essentially means that vitamin C is vital for ovulatory functions. In addition, studies show that vitamin C is great for the production of progesterone, which prepares the endometrium for embryonic implantation and pregnancy maintenance.

Hormone Production

According to this study, Vitamin C is crucial for adrenal function, as it helps the adrenal cortex and adrenal medulla function. Adrenal glands produce hormones and prepare the body for fight or flight. Therefore, Vitamin C is essential for these functions.

Tara Would Like to Add…..

While fruits can be high in Vitamin C, they can also cause spikes in blood sugar. Pay attention to what else you eat with the Vitamin C juice or fruit. Ideally, you would offset the blood sugar spike with a hearty protein source. Don’t forget, the order in which you eat your food is also important. Start with your veggies, then protein, and your blood sugar won’t spike as high or fast as it would have.

If you follow @glucosegoddess on Instagram (and if you don’t, you might want to), you can learn more about stabilizing your blood sugar.

How to Incorporate Vitamin C

Since your body does not create its own vitamin C, you need to absorb vitamin C through food! Foods like berries, citrus fruits, tomatoes, potatoes, cabbage, peppers, broccoli, brussel sprouts, and spinach create copious amounts of vitamin C.

However, if these are too difficult to incorporate into your diet, you can take the vitamin as capsules and chewable tablets.

Vitamin C Rich, Simple Recipes

If you would like to find easy ways to incorporate foods with high vitamin C levels into your diet, these recipes are for you! We understand that if you’re looking for vitamin C for immune support, you might not be in the best state to cook advanced meals.

Mango Smoothie Bowl  By: Lisa Bryan

Ingredients       

• Mangoes
• Pineapple
• Blueberries
• Coconut
• Granola

Immunity Soup  By: Ann Taylor Pittman

Ingredients

• Olive oil
• Onion
• Celery
• Carrots
• Mushrooms
• Garlic cloves
• Chicken stock
• Thyme
• Bay leaves
• Chickpeas
• Skinless, bone-in chicken breasts
• Salt
• Crushed red pepper
• Kale

Super Vitamin C Smoothie  By: Kelly Roenicke

Ingredients

• Mango
• Frozen strawberries
• Frozen pineapple
• Frozen banana
• Non-dairy milk or orange juice
• Golden ground flax seed
• Blackberries

Salt and pepper brussels sprouts  By: Adam Liaw

Ingredients

• Brussels sprouts
• Vegetable oil (we suggest subbing Avocado oil)
• Onions
• Garlic cloves
• Chilies
• Salt
• Pepper
• Lemon