Vitamin C:
Vitamin C boosts immunity and helps a person fight diseases. So vitamin C is chemically known as ascorbic acid and it can be found in various sources. The best source of vitamin C is not oranges but red bell pepper. Pepper contains vitamin C five times more than oranges. Other than bell pepper vitamin c is present in lemons oranges guava, cauliflower, or in kiwi.
Our body does not produce vitamin C naturally and store it. That is why it is necessary for humans to eat or ingest vitamin C to maintain bodily functions. Eating vitamin C-rich foods, fruits, and vegetables will help in the daily vitamin C need. Vitamin C is good for the overall health of the body.
How to get vitamin C from vegetables?
Vitamin c is a water-soluble and temperature-sensitive vitamin. So it can degrade if cooking food that contains vitamin C. For example, if a person is cooking bell pepper then vitamin C is degraded. So it is always advisable that vitamin-containing food should be consumed in a salad format. It keeps the vitamin c in intact and makes it more available to our body.
Role of vitamin C/ ascorbic acid in the body:
Our body is bombard with several superoxide ions or reactive oxygen species. This leads to damaging DNA and protein damage in the membrane or even increases the risk of inflammation. Ascorbic acid has a negative role in modulating these reactive oxygen species.
Health benefits of vitamin C:
Ascorbic acid has many health benefits such as:
- Wound healing and collagen synthesis
- Cardiovascular health
- Make Skin glowy
- Improves skin texture
- Lighter and brighter skin
- Iron deficiency
- Increase brain function
- Boost immunity and fight against viruses
1.Wound healing and collagen synthesis:
Vitamin c is crucial for wound healing and collagen synthesis. It accelerates the process of wound healing and helps in the steps of collagen biosynthesis. The collagen in the body reduces with age. Vitamin C is extremely useful in boosting the collagen levels in the body.
2.Cardiovascular health:
Research has shown that vitamin C can promote good cardiovascular health. It also reduces the chance of heart attack or stroke.
3.Make Skin glowy:
Moreover, vitamin C has a lot of benefits in terms of skin and hair. Since it promotes collagen synthesis and is beneficial for the skin. Collagen has a triple helix structure, each of these collagen helices can get hydroxylate and that gives the rigidity. Now, this hydroxylation process is augment by several hydroxylase enzymes and ascorbic acid or vitamin C. It works like a coenzyme for these enzymes and that is how it helps to make our skin glowy.
4.Improves skin texture:
Vitamin C improves skin texture. Vitamin C helps in skin cell renewal. So, it can even out the skin tone.
5.Lighter and brighter skin:
Vitamin C prevents excess melanin production. Other than this vitamin C also plays a role in natural skin lightening. It stimulates the production of glutathione and vitamin E in our bodies. This pigment replaces the darker pigment and makes your skin light and bright. Vitamin C naturally exfoliates the skin.
6.Iron deficiency:
Vitamin C aids in iron uptake in the intestine and that is why vitamin C reduces the chances of iron deficiency.
7.Increase brain function:
Vitamin C is interrelate with brain function. In the brain, the neurons are connect via synapses. So, at the synapses neurotransmitter establishes the link and it involves:
- Dopamine biogenesis
- Serotonin biogenesis
• Dopamine biogenesis:
Many neurotransmitter biogenesis involves the role of vitamin C. When dopamine is convert to nor-epinephrine by hydroxylation. This hydroxylation process is aided by dopamine on oxygenase and vitamin c plays a significant role in this step.
• Serotonin biogenesis:
Similarly in serotonin biogenesis from tryptophan to serotonin . There is a hydroxylation process that is aided by the hydroxylase enzyme. So, vitamin C plays a role as a coenzyme.
8. Boost immunity and fight against viruses:
Food rich in vitamin C macro and micronutrients along with that plenty of fluids, adequate amount of sleep, lowered stress level, and getting rid of all the bad habits can overall boost the immune system. So, that would help indirectly to fight the body against the virus.
How does vitamin C boost the immune system?
Neutrophils Dendritic cells or Macrophages are innate immune cells. These innate immune cells use a mechanism called oxidative burst to kill pathogens like bacteria. These immune cells intake a lot of vitamin c via specific transporters and increased the uptake of vitamin c.
So, when viruses or bacteria would enter the body. The immune cell reaches the space of infection and fights against it. So this kind of chemotaxis process is aided by vitamin C. Vitamin C indirectly modulates the immune function but it has no direct role in terms of killing any pathogen.
Disease due to vitamin C deficiency:
The deficiency disease of vitamin c is known as scurvy which is characterized by bleeding gum and a purplish appearance of gum. This possibly happens due to a problem in the connective tissue probably collagen levels are low. Now if it is untreated there could be many associated problems. So vitamin C deficiency is pretty common but it is treatable with an adequate amount of vitamin c or by taking some amount of supplement
Is topical vitamin C good for the skin?
Vitamin C is an antioxidant that protects our skin from free radical damage. These free radicals are aggravated by pollution, radiation, and smoking to harm the skin, making it dull and causing signs of premature aging. Vitamin C protects your skin from cellular and tissue damage caused by free radicals. Apart from this, vitamin C prevents skin from getting hyper-pigmented and stimulates collagen production. It is because of all these benefits that vitamin C is found in so many skincare products. So, applying vitamin C topically has more benefits.
How much should vitamin C consume daily for adults?
The recommended daily amount of vitamin c is 65 to 90 milligrams with an upper limit of 2000 mg per day. Now vitamin C doesn't have adverse effects if a person consumes it in a large proportion. It might cause some discomfort in your gastrointestinal tract. But it's rare and different in different individuals.
Summary:
As per the moral of the story, food intake is way better than taking supplements. A glass of lemonade or a glass of orange juice has a lot of health benefits.
- Reduce inflammation
- Help in preventing iron deficiency
- Can boost our immunity
- Manage blood pressure
- Decrease the risk of cardiac health