Vitamin C provides many important functions for your body. Collagen, which makes up your bones, tendons, ligaments, skin, connective tissue and blood vessels, cannot form properly without vitamin C. This essential vitamin also helps build neurotransmitters and facilitates fat metabolism. Monitoring your intake of vitamin C is important because it is a water-soluble vitamin. Your need for vitamin C changes as you age.
Water-Soluble
Vitamin C is classified as a water-soluble vitamin. This means that the body does not store any excess intake of this vitamin. Instead, the body excretes any unused vitamin C in the urine. It is for this reason that continuous daily intake of vitamin C is essential. Without adequate daily vitamin C intake, you could be creating a daily deficit.
Recommendations
The recommendations for vitamin C vary by gender, age and lifestyle habits. A baby between birth and six months needs 40 mg of vitamin C. From six months to one year, your baby should get 50 mg of vitamin C. After age 1 and up to 3, the needs of your body fall to 15 mg of daily vitamin C. From 4 to 8 years, you need 25 mg, and from 9 to 13 years, get 45 mg per day. From 14 to 18, recommendations begin to vary by gender. Females between 14 and 18 need 65 mg, while males need 75 mg. Beginning at age 19 and on through adulthood, needs stabilize at 75 mg for women and 90 mg for men. If you are a smoker or around secondhand smoke, you should add 35 mg to your age and gender recommendations.
Deficiency
If you don't get enough vitamin C you can develop a deficiency. Scurvy is a disease associated with inadequate intake of vitamin C. Symptoms of scurvy include hair loss, bruising, bleeding, swelling and joint pain. Most of the complications and symptoms of scurvy have to do with the influence that vitamin C has on collagen production. Inadequate vitamin C intake leads to the deterioration of those body parts requiring collagen.
Sources
Vitamin C is readily found in many commonly eaten foods, including fruits and vegetables. Oranges, mangoes, kiwi fruit, papaya, berries, watermelon and pineapple are fruits that are highest in vitamin C. Vegetables that contain a significant amount of vitamin C include peppers, leafy greens, cauliflower, broccoli, squash and tomatoes.
Member Comments