Health Benefits Of Vitamin C

Vitamin C is essential in order for your body to function more efficiently. It is also known as ascorbic acid. Many people take Vitamin C, knowing that it is good for their body but do not fully know why.

Like Vitamin B, Vitamin C is a water-soluble vitamin. Hence, if it is not used by your body, it gets eliminated via urination. Usually, both vitamins B and C are stored in the liver. This is where your body draws on this vitamin for support of its functions.

Research showed that humans were once able to create their own Vitamin C naturally. Somehow, this ability was lost over the generations. Certain animals are known to still possess this natural functional ability. However, the primates and the guinea pigs have also lost their ability. This is why research studies, including those that involve Vitamin C, are often conducted on guinea pigs based on this similarity to the humans.

Vitamin C helps in collagen production. Collagen is a substance found in various parts of your body. They can be found in your connective tissues, smooth muscle cells, skeletal cells, and cartilage. Vitamin C plays a critical part in the process of hydroxylation to amino acids. With this process of adding hydrogen and oxygen, procollagen is produced. This process happens when your body requires it. Vitamin C also helps to prevent Vitamins A and E from oxidizing as well.

If you have a deficiency in Vitamin C, you may get scurvy. Scurvy is not a very common condition except in alcoholics. Alcoholics tend to get many of their calories from alcohol. Scurvy can be debilitating with symptoms like bleeding gums, easy bruising, slow healing of wounds, joint pain, and the decrease of muscle tone.

It is important that you have a regular diet that gives you adequate Vitamin C. For this, you need to consume citrus fruits, such as limes, grapefruits, oranges, and limes. Other food sources of Vitamin C can be found in potatoes, tomatoes, and green peppers.

Health experts recommend a daily allowance of somewhere in the range of 60 to 90mg of Vitamin C. On the average, Americans consume about 72mg daily of Vitamin C.

Fortunately, scurvy can be prevented with just 5 to 7mg of Vitamin C and you can take as much as 2000mg daily without any ill side effects. Any Vitamin C over this dosage will not cause permanent problems other than diarrhea.

Many people think that the more Vitamin C that you take, the longer that you will live, but a study by the Mayo Clinic has determined that this may be the opposite. If you cannot get your Vitamin C from natural food sources, then you can find Vitamin C supplements to take to help ensure that you get your recommended daily allowance.

WAHM Evelyn Lim publishes tips on natural home remedies at her blog. To find out what you can do for your own home, please refer to her site at www.natural-remedy-secrets.com.
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