What Vitamin C does for you
Vitamin C (ascorbic acid) is essential to your health. Each day we obtain vitamin C from what we eat and drink.
Why is Vitamin C so good for us ?
Vitamin C is important because it:
- assists in absorbing iron from other food
- keeping your skin, bones and connective tissue healthy
- assists us heal wounds
- assists in the prevent of infections
What food contain vitamin C
Vitamin C is found in many different fruits and vegetables, which include:
- blackcurrants, berries
- citrus fruits such as oranges, limes and lemons
- kiwifruit
- tomatoes
- broccoli
- sprouts
- capsicum - red, yellow and green
- Rock Melon / Cantaloupe
- Cabbage
- Spinach
- Green Peas
Heating and cutting foods changes vitamin C and makes it less effective. So to reap the greater benefit from your food. Where possible eat fruits and vegetables raw, or lightly cooked, and don’t cut them too long before eating them. Fresh is best.
You should be able to get all the vitamin C you need from your diet.
What is Vitamin C deficiency and diagnosis
Vitamin C deficiency may lead to scurvy which is a skin condition. Centuries ago, scurvy was common. As Fresh food is now readily available, the condition is now rare.
If your GP suspects you have a vitamin C deficiency, due to your diet or symptoms, (this is very uncommon in a healthy person ) A blood test to check your vitamin C levels may be require.
Who is at risk of vitamin C deficiency
Vitamin C deficiency is rare, but people at a higher risk include people who:
- find it difficult to maintain a healthy diet of fresh fruit and vegetables (e.g. elderly people, low-income households, people with an eating disorder)
- smoke heavily or are dependent on alcohol or drugs
- have a health condition that makes it difficult to digest food, such as coeliac disease, ulcerative colitis or Crohn's disease
Do You need vitamin C supplements?
There is no good evidence supporting that vitamin C supplements help prevent or treat colds.
Australia’s best guide doesn’t recommend them if you eat healthily –
Most people get the vitamins they need from a healthy diet, which has a wide variety of foods, that may including:
- plenty of vegetables, of different types and colours, and legumes/beans
- fruit
- grain (cereal) foods, mostly wholegrain, and/or high cereal fibre varieties such as breads, cereals, rice, pasta, noodles, polenta, couscous, oats, quinoa and barley
- lean meats and poultry, fish, eggs, tofu, nuts and seeds, and legumes/beans
- milk, yoghurt cheese and/or their alternatives, mostly reduced fat
Though lots of people take the vitamin supplement. Vitamins supplement are expensive and can cause abdominal pain and diarrhoea.
There is evidence that does support when you have a vitamin C deficiently they are of assistance. Further more recent Deakin University study published in the Diabetes, Obesity and Metabolism journal, stated that persons with Type 2 diabetes, consuming 1000mg vitamin C daily reduced their blood sugar levels.
Vitamin C maybe best taken on advisement from your health care professional
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