It is a water-soluble vitamin. It is also known as ascorbic acid.
In 1753 Captain Lind of the British Navy showed that the disease scurvy, which was common in sailors, could be cured by giving them lemons and oranges. Captain Cook (1772-75) kept the sailors free from scurvy by giving them fresh food. In 1907 scurvy was experimentally produced in guinea pigs by Holst and frolich, and effects of vitamin C was studied on them. It was isolated by Szent-Gyorgyi (1928) and synthesized by Reichstein (1933).
It is a white crystal, soluble in water, and heat labile. It is easily oxidized at 100 0C. in presence of oxygen. Alkali and copper salts help destruction. Hence, cooking and canning destroy it. Slow cooking is more destructive than rapid cooking, even at high temperature. Ascorbic acid is readily absorbed from the intestine and is stored especially in liver, adrenals, pituitary and corpus luteum.
Sources of vitamin C
Vitamin C is mostly present in fresh fruits, mainly citrus fruits, e.g. orange, lemon, tomato, pineapple, papaya, etc; fresh vegetables e.g. cabbage, cauliflower, lettuce, spinach, green peppers, beans etc.; properly sprouted pulses, germinating grams, etc. potato and seeds are poor sources but rich during germination. Amla is one of the richest sources of vitamin C both in the fresh as well as in the dry condition. Guavas are another cheap but rich source of this vitamin.
Animal sources are generally poor. Cow’s milk, meat and fish contain a little. Milk is the only food for infants, so their diet should be supplemented with a good source of ascorbic acid, e.g. orange juice.
Mg per 100 g |
Fruits |
|
Vegetables |
|
Amla |
600 |
Amaranth |
99 |
Guava |
212 |
Cabbage |
124 |
Lime |
63 |
Spinach |
28 |
Orange |
30 |
Brinjal |
12 |
Tomato |
27 |
Cauliflower |
56 |
Germinated pulses |
|
Potatoes |
17 |
Bengal gram |
16 |
Radish |
15 |
| |
|
|
|
Benefits of vitamin C:
Vitamin C acts as an antioxidant required for 300 metabolic functions in the body, which includes tissue growth and repair, adrenal gland function and healthy gums. Ascorbic acid is related to carbohydrate metabolism. Deficiency production of insulin takes place in ascorbic acid deficiency. It is also essential for the proper functioning of the formative cells of various tissues, such as fibroblasts, osteoblasts etc. it helps in the synthesis of collagen which acts as a connective tissue between the bones. It also helps in the deposition of calcium and phosphates in the bones. It plays an important role in wound repair. It lays down connective tissue, which helps in healing of wounds. It takes part in maturation of red cells. In the deficiency of vitamin C delayed blood clotting, delayed clot retraction and anemia can be seen. It also helps in the production of antistress hormones. In some patients administration of vitamin C also decreases the symptoms of asthma. It also helps to prevent the harmful effects of pollution, to prevent cancer, protects against infection and increases the immunity. It can combine with toxic substances such as certain heavy metals and make them harmless so that they can be excreted from the body. This vitamin also decreased the level of low-density lipoproteins (LDL which are considered harmful for our body) and increases the levels of high-density lipoproteins (HDL or good cholesterol). It also helps in lowering the blood pressure and helping to prevent atherosclerosis.
It is not manufactured by our body therefore, it must be obtained through the diet or in the form of supplements. Most of the vitamin C is lost in the urine.
Daily requirement:
A daily intake of about 100 mgm is adequate to maintain the normal plasma level. Recommended intakes for children are 30 mgm to 80 mgm (adolescents). 75 mgm for adults, 100 mgm during pregnancy and 150 mgm during lactation. Larger doses of vitamin C produce no observable ill effects in normal individuals.
Who need more?
Smoking decreases the level of vitamin C in the body. Therefore smokers, cigar and pipe smokers need more amounts.
Alcohol also reduces levels of vitamin C in the body. Therefore individuals who drink more than two alcoholic drinks a day require comparatively large amount of vitamin C.
As stated earlier canning and prolonged cooking destroys most of the vitamin C. people who eat only cooked fruits or processed fruits and vegetables require greater amount.
Persons who take analgesics, anticoagulants, antidepressants, oral contraceptives require more amount as these drugs reduces vitamin C levels in the body. People who live in polluted areas and second hand smokers as pollution and second hand smoke stress the immune system, thus decreasing the vitamin C levels in the body.
Depression and stress is also known to decrease vitamin C in the body. Thus depressed and stressed individuals also require greater amount of vitamin C.
Deficiency symptoms of vitamin C
Scurvy is the most important disease produced by the deficiency of vitamin C. there is increased fragility of the capillaries causing hemorrhages under the skin, periosteum, intestine, kidneys etc.
The gums show erosion of the mucous membrane at their margins and due to the increased fragility of the capillaries there is frequent bleeding. Malformation of bones and teeth. The osteoblast remains functionless. There is irregular deposition of bone salts and decrease in the density of long bones. There is increased brittleness of bones leading to fracture. Anaemia is also produced due to decrease number of red cells and platelets. Skin eruptions are increased in the deficiency of vitamin C.
There is increased susceptibility to infections and impaired healing of wounds.
There is also disturbance in carbohydrate metabolism.
Patient is easily fatigued and is more prone to cold flu and other infectious diseases.
Patient also shows some weight loss.
Some important tips
If aspirin and standard vitamin C are taken together in large doses, it can cause stomach irritation, possibly giving rise to ulcers. If a patient is taking aspirin regularly, he should use testified form of vitamin C and aspirin and vitamin C should be used separately.
A pregnant lady must not take more than 5,000 milligrams of vitamin C. A growing foetus may become dependent on this supplement and develop scurvy when deprived of the large doses after birth. Chewable vitamin C supplements should be avoided as these can damage the tooth enamel.
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Comments
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i adverage about 10'000mg vitamin c or more aday my doctor says take more until igot a loose movement then back of a little when it stopes thats your tolerance thanks wateing four answer later--del
As long as you have a good diet containing at least 2 fruit and 5 vegies you shouldn't have to worry about not getting enough vitamin C.
Good information about vitamin c. thanks.
I FEEL IN MY FACE BECAME TO LIGHT FAIR
BUT HOW LONG TO CONTINEU THIS TAB -VIT -C
sir, i want know dat "can we tale vitamin c tablets without taking d advice of any doctor,
Is any person is taking vitamin c tablets den how can he understand dat it is going 2 b overdose.
Waitng 4 ur responce
thank u
I take vitamin C regularly and when i get colds or other small viruses or even fever i stick with my vitamin C and even though the cold is a virus the vitamin C helps with stuffy noses or hard breathing. Thankyou for letting me share this information with you.
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Thank You.
My Email-ankit.birawat@gmail.com
Buffered Vitamin C Powder 10 out of 10, i hope this helps you all.
Fruits and vegies, especially raw, will get you marginally by. But humans have a genetic deficiency--the inability to manufacture vitamin C in their livers--just like polar bears and camels and desert rodents, pigs... Most animals don't need vitamin C--even if they get a little bit by eating vegies. We can have the advantages of other animals by supplementing vitamin C and lysine. The advantages are--freedom from mycrobial and virus diseases, longer life, zero hear disease, cheap reversal of athroschlorosis and high blood pressure. Read the online writings of Nobel Prize Laureat in medicine Linus Pauling. Read Irwin Stone. Read Robert Cathcart. Decide the thrive.
If you are a patriotic citizen over 30, and you have taken medical doctors seriously, then you probably have not heard the good news of Linus Pauling. Athroschlorosis doesn't always mean plaque in the coronary arteries. Plaque deposits other places sometimes, depending where an artery pin-hole or crack occurs. If you lack vitamin C, plaque is a "pinch hitter" your body uses. But, according to Linus Pauling, nobel prize laureate in medicine, if you can get your vitamin C and lysine intake up high enough, your body will lay down parent tissue in the artery pin hole or crack. To mend that "lesion," you need one vitamin C, lysine, and proline: These are the "precursors" of cologen, the basic building block to mend arteries, cartilage, tendons, and more. For quantities, read the writings of Linus Pauling, Irwin Stone, Robert Cathcart, and (very clear) read Owen Fonorow. A 75-pound goat makes 13,000 mg of vitamin C in its liver everyday. If it drinks out of a poluted stream, it can make 50,000 to 100,000 mg a day. Aligators live in sewers and eat what floats by: they don't get sick. Aligators and goats don't get have circulation problems in their eyelids of their feet, and they don't get heart disease. If people understood what Linus Pauling said, the health-care, NO, the medicine-care business, would shrink by about 65%. Dribs and drabs of vitamin C will not reliably get plaque replaced with parent tissue. You need to learn to bump the quantity up against the "bowel tolerance" ceiling frequently. You need to learn to layer the vitamin and lysine intake to build up in the bloodsteam. Most "medical" doctors will discourage you as they were taught in their pharmaceutical-oriented "med" schools. Consider the book "Be Your Own Doctor."