Vitamin C, also known as ascorbic acid, is a water-soluble vitamin and an antioxidant. Vitamin C offers health benefits that include boosting your immune system, which is the reason why cold medicines sometimes contain vitamin C. Although, a daily dose of 250 mg is more than the recommended dose for adults, it might not be enough to get extra health benefits.
Benefits
Vitamin C is essential for growth and tissue repair throughout your body. Your body uses vitamin C to make collagen, a protein involved in the formation of healthy skin, ligaments, tendons and blood vessels. Your body also needs vitamin C to heal wounds and maintain healthy bones and teeth. Vitamin C is important for protection against heart disease, high blood pressure, common cold, osteoarthritis and asthma. In addition, vitamin C is an antioxidant and helps block damage done by free radicals and reduce risk of conditions like cancer and arthritis.
Recommended Daily Doses
Vitamin C is a water-soluble vitamin and is readily removed from your body through the kidneys. Water-soluble vitamins are not stored in your body; you need to eat vitamin C-containing foods or supplements on daily basis. Recommended amounts of vitamin C vary with age and health condition. Adults should get 75 mg to 90 mg every day and children from 15 mg to 50 mg per day. However, according to the University of Maryland Medical Center, adults should take between 250 mg and 500 mg of vitamin C, twice a day, to receive addtional health benefits. You should talk to your doctor before increasing your vitamin C intake to more than 1,000 mg per day.
Foods that Contain Vitamin C
Good dietary sources of vitamin C are citrus fruits such as oranges, lemons and grapefruits. In addition, green peppers, cantaloupe, strawberries, watermelon, potatoes, broccoli, kiwi, cabbage, mango, tomatoes and cauliflower contain vitamin C. A small lemon contains 30 mg, a small orange 50 mg and one small green pepper has 60 mg of vitamin C. A cup of orange juice has around 125 mg of vitamin C, which is more than the recommended daily dose for adults.
Deficiency
Vitamin C deficiency is rare in the developed countries and mainly affects older, malnourished adults. According to the "National Institutes of Health" vitamin C information bulletin, vitamin C deficiency can lead to gingivitis, dry skin and hair, decreased wound healing and decreased ability to fight infection. Severe vitamin C deficiency can lead to a condition called scurvy that involves general weakness, anemia and skin hemorrhages. (ref1-2)
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