Vitamin C, also called ascorbic acid, plays an essential role in keeping your body healthy. Although most people get enough vitamin C from the foods they eat, vitamin C supplements can be useful in increasing levels in people who are deficient in the vitamin due to diet, age or illness.
Identification
Vitamin C is found in many fresh fruits and vegetables and is added to other foods. The vitamin dissolves in water, and unneeded amounts exit your body when you urinate. Vitamin C's antioxidant properties help safeguard your body's cells from the damaging effects of unstable molecules called free radicals. Antioxidants may help slow the aging process and reduce certain types of cancer. Your body also needs vitamin C to produce hemoglobin, a type of protein molecule in the bloodstream that carries oxygen from the lungs to the rest of the body. Your tendons, skin and other connective tissue also rely on the vitamin C connection. Your body uses the vitamin to produce collagen, a protein that makes up connective tissue. Vitamin C also plays a part in the enzyme and nervous systems.
Sources
Although every kind of fruit contains vitamin C, you'll find more of it in such fruit as watermelon, oranges, cantaloupe, strawberries, blueberries, mangoes and papaya. Vegetables high in vitamin C are peppers, spinach, broccoli, potatoes, Brussels sprouts, tomatoes and leafy green vegetables. The highest concentration of vitamin C is found in fresh fruits and vegetables. Cooking fruits and vegetables destroys much of the vitamin C activity, according to St. John Providence Health System. Vitamin C is also added to cereals and other foods and beverages.
Vitamin C and Colds
Taking vitamin C supplements may reduce the duration of a cold and reduce symptoms, according to the Office of Dietary Supplements. Taking vitamin C as a precautionary measure probably won't prevent a cold, although it may be helpful if you participate in strenuous exercise, are exposed to cold environments, are elderly or if you smoke.
Recommended Intake
Women 19 and older should take in 75 mg of vitamin C every day, while men in the same age group should get 90 mg daily. Certain groups of people may need more than the recommended daily amount of vitamin C. If you have a disease that causes intestinal malabsorption, are undergoing hemodialysis or have cancer, you may not get enough vitamin C from foods. Smoking can decrease the level of vitamin C in your blood because smoking decreases the oxygen level in your bloodstream. Smokers need an additional 35 mg of vitamin C every day, the Office of Dietary Supplements reports. People exposed to secondhand smoke may also have lower levels of vitamin C.
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