Vitamin C or ascorbic acid is an essential nutrient and water-soluble vitamin. It helps the body to produce collagen and aids in the absorption of iron. Fruits such as lemons, limes, oranges and grapefruit are all rich in vitamin C and can be taken either in whole fruit form or juice to get their benefits. As a water-soluble vitamin, very little is stored in the body and a deficiency in this vitamin can lead to scurvy, a potentially fatal disease according to the health care experts at the Mayo Clinic. It's important and easy to get vitamin C and lemon, lime, orange and grapefruit juices into your diet.
Significance
You need about 75 milligrams of vitamin C every day according to the United States Department of Agriculture's Dietary Reference Intake for vitamins. This can come from a variety of sources, but drinking a glass of citrus juice at each meal will give you that amount easily. Although vitamin C levels vary, one cup of orange juice has between 27 and 65 milligrams of vitamin C according to the Mama's Health website.
Types
You can mix juice from frozen concentrate, use a juicer that squeezes out just the juice or a juicer that grinds up the citrus fruit to add both pulp and some of the peel to the drink. You can also add citrus juice to your diet by cooking with it. Substitute the water for cooking couscous with orange, lime or lemon juice, or make a punch with citrus juices and sparkling water or champagne. Keep chilled lemon or lime water in your refrigerator to sip throughout the day.
Considerations
To get the full benefit from your citrus juice drink, you should look for juices with pulp or juice your own fruits. The Ultimate Citrus website reports that the bulk of the vitamin C in oranges is in the peel and pulp, with only 26 percent of the vitamin C coming from the actual juice. Drinking your fruit juice with the pulp will also give you a dose of fiber.
Benefits
Drinking citrus juice before meals may help you lose weight. In addition to filling you up, researchers at the Scripps Clinic found that study participants who drank a glass of grapefruit juice or took a grapefruit juice capsule before each meal lost more weight than those who did not.
Warning
You can have too much of a good thing with citrus juices. Some side effects of overdosing on vitamin C include kidney stones, gastrointestinal problems and dizziness or fainting. In general, a moderate amount of Vitamin C in the form of lemon, lime, orange or grapefruit juice is safe.
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