To help your body work more efficiently, you will find the Vitamin C is a necessity. Vitamin C is also known as ascorbic acid and it is a very popular vitamin, but many people do not really know much about it.
Like Vitamin B, Vitamin C is a water-soluble vitamin. Hence, if it is not used by your body, it gets eliminated via urination. Usually, both vitamins B and C are stored in the liver. This is where your body draws on this vitamin for support of its functions.
Research showed that humans were once able to create their own Vitamin C naturally. Somehow, this ability was lost over the generations. Certain animals are known to still possess this natural functional ability. However, the primates and the guinea pigs have also lost their ability. This is why research studies, including those that involve Vitamin C, are often conducted on guinea pigs based on this similarity to the humans.
Vitamin C helps in collagen creation. Collagen is found in different parts of your body, particularly connective tissues, smooth muscle cells, skeletal cells, and cartilage. Vitamin C helps in the process of hydroxylation to amino acids, and thereby adding hydrogen and oxygen to produce pro collagen. This function is performed when your body requires it. Vitamin C also helps to prevent Vitamins E and A from oxidizing as well.
Scurvy is one health effect that is seen when you have a deficiency of Vitamin C. This is not a condition that is seen very often today, except in alcoholics, because they tend to get many of their calories from their alcohol consumption. Scurvy can be a very bad illness, because it has such health symptoms as bleeding gums, bruising more easily, healing more slowly, joint pain, and decrease of muscle tone.
To ensure that you get enough Vitamin C in your diet, you need to make sure that you eat some citrus fruits, including limes, oranges, grapefruits, and limes. Other natural sources of Vitamin C are potatoes, tomatoes, and green peppers.
Health experts recommend a daily allowance of somewhere in the range of 60 to 90mg of Vitamin C. On the average, Americans consume about 72mg daily of Vitamin C.
Fortunately, scurvy can be prevented with just 5 to 7mg of Vitamin C and you can take as much as 2000mg daily without any ill side effects. Any Vitamin C over this dosage will not cause permanent problems other than diarrhea.
Many people believe in the myth that the more Vitamin C that you take, the longer that you will live. However, a study by the Mayo Clinic showed that the reverse may be true. If you find it hard to get Vitamin C from natural food sources, then you can always turn to Vitamin C supplements. These will help ensure that you take the recommended daily allowance.
Evelyn Lim, a health writer, publishes interesting tips on natural home remedies on her site. For some useful ideas about what you can do for your own home and family, please refer to her site at http://www.natural-remedy-secrets.com. This and other unique content 'vitamin C' articles are available with free reprint rights.
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