Vitamin C is a powerful antioxidant that plays many important roles in the human body, and its popularity deservedly grows during colds and flu.
Today, we hear at every turn about vitamin C and its importance for boosting immunity, and its popularity is expected to grow with the arrival of the cold months. The story of this powerful antioxidant, first isolated by Hungarian biochemist and Nobel laureate dr. Albert Szent-Györgyi, became especially topical in the 1970s, when two-time Nobel laureate dr. Linus Pauling significantly increased his daily intake of this vitamin, so that it was even a few hundred times higher than recommended. He believed that this would prevent the common cold or shorten its duration. Dr. Pauling was far ahead of his time because the scientific studies that followed proved that the role of vitamin C in maintaining health goes beyond preventing the consequences of its deficiency, i.e. scurvy. In addition to acting as an antioxidant, it also plays a key role in boosting immunity, and a number of possible positive effects are still being studied.
Humans, monkeys, guinea pigs and bats are animals that do not produce vitamin C, so they must obtain it through food. Other animals are able to produce vitamin C on their own, for example a goat weighing 70 kg produces as much as 13,000 mg of vitamin C per day for its physiological needs.
What do we know about vitamin C? Vitamin C plays an extremely important role in the body: it is necessary in the synthesis of collagen, helps the body's defense system by stimulating the activity of white blood cells, increases interferon levels, antibody response, and secretes thymic hormones. In addition, vitamin C helps in the absorption of iron and participates in the formation of red blood cells, converts folic acid into its active form and acts as an antihistamine, thus helping to relieve allergy symptoms.
The best sources of vitamin C are fruits and vegetables and juices made from them. A lot of vitamin C is contained in sea buckthorn berries and their juice, peppers, broccoli, black currants, gooseberries, fennel and citrus fruits. Quantitatively, potatoes, kale, Brussels sprouts, red and white cabbage, spinach and tomatoes are also important for the supply of vitamin C. Data from European dietary studies show that the average daily intake of vitamin C is between 69 and 130 mg for men and 65 to 138 mg for women.
Vitamin C is very sensitive to the heat treatment of food, it is also destroyed by air / oxygen, and during cooking it is excreted in water, as it is water-soluble. In general, it is lost by cooking up to 50% by cooking, and even more by heating and storing food in a warm place, so that it is negligibly small in repeatedly heat-treated food, for example in canteens where food is prepared in advance and up to 2 hours. stored at temperatures above 60 degrees Celsius or in juices derived from concentrate.
Due to its strong antioxidant activity, vitamin C and its potentially preventive role in the development of various degenerative diseases are the subject of numerous studies. The most commonly mentioned are those related to the role of vitamin C in the prevention of cardiovascular disease and carcinogenic and eye diseases.
Excessive intake of vitamin C with dietary supplements over a long period of time can be harmful and lead to adverse side effects in more vulnerable populations, in individuals with kidney disease, individuals with glucose-6-phosphate dehydrogenase deficiency, and other chronic patients.
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I have heard about it through my dad that Vitamin C hits our kidney really bad. But not only Vitamin C but also other medicines and supplements if taken for a long period of time. So some people suggest to do detoxing once in a while. I haven't done it but I feel like I have a lot of toxins in my body. 😅