What Is Vitamin C

The Importance of Vitamin C in Nutrition

Vitamin C is a water-soluble vitamin, meaning that your body doesn't store it. We get what we need, instead, from food. You need vitamin C for the growth and repair of tissues in all parts of your body. It helps the body make collagen, an important protein used to make skin, cartilage, tendons, ligaments, and blood vessels. Vitamin C is essential for healing wounds, and for repairing and maintaining bones and teeth.

Vitamin C is an antioxidant, along with vitamin E, beta-carotene, and many other plant-based nutrients. Antioxidants block some of the damage caused by free radicals, which occur naturally when our bodies transform food into energy. The build-up of free radicals over time may be largely responsible for the aging process and can contribute to the development of health conditions such as cancer, heart disease, and arthritis.

Functions of Vitamin C

Ø  Results of scientific studies on whether vitamin C is helpful for preventing heart attack or stroke are mixed. Vitamin C doesn't lower cholesterol levels or reduce the overall risk of heart attack, but evidence suggests that it may help protect arteries against damage.

Ø  Vitamin C is involved in a large number of biological processes, making it essential for health. It is used to create collagen in the body, a protein that makes the skin, joints and bones strong.

Ø  Vitamin C plays a role in healing wounds within the body. The body utilizes vitamin C in the immune system by maintaining activity of the white blood cells.

 

Food Sources of Vitamin C

Ø  Black currants, green pepper, mangoes, oranges, cabbage, tomatoes, and potatoes

Ø  Water, cooking, heat and light all reduce the levels of the vitamin C available in food sources.

Ø  Vegetables begin to lose vitamin C as soon as they are cut.

Ø  Beta carotene is present in orange and yellow fruits and vegetables and dark, leafy greens.

Food Sources of Vitamin C
Fruits
Amla	600 mg/100g
Guava	212 mg/100g
Orange Juice	64 mg/100g
Lime	63 mg/100g
Papaya (Ripe)	57 mg/100g
Strawberries	52 mg/100g
Musambi	50 mg/100g
Lemon	39 mg/100g
Pineapple	39 mg/100g
Orange	30 mg/100g
Green Leafy Vegetables
Drumstick Leaves	220 mg/100g
Knol-Khol Greens	157 mg/100g
Cabbage	124 mg/100g
Amaranth Leaves (tender)	99 mg/100g
Fenugreek Leaves	52 mg/100g

 Deficiency and Disease Vitamin C

Smokers, those who consume alcohol regularly, people taking medications regularly, and people who suffer from stress regularly all may benefit from taking adequate or slightly higher than daily recommendations of vitamin C.

Ø  Scurvy:  Scurvy is a nutritional disorder due to inadequate intake of Vitamin C. It is observe red when people subsist for prolonged periods on diets of fresh fruits and vegetables. It is not commonly observed nutritional deficiency in India. The spots are most abundant on the thighs and legs, and a person with the ailment looks pale, feels depressed, and is partially immobilized. In advanced scurvy there are open, suppurating wounds and loss of teeth.

Ø  Other Disease: Delay in wound healing, Pain in bones, Skin becomes rough and dry, Pyrexia, rapid pulse and susceptibility to infection.