Foods With Vitamin C

When people think about foods with vitamin C, oranges usually come to mind, but there are more which we will explore in this article.... by M. Daniels, who has been professionally writing and editing technical non-fiction articles and publications for over 3 decades.

Before we you decide to gorge yourself on foods with plenty of vitamin C, you might want to pause to consider why you might even want to do this.

Vitamin C benefits

Possibly the best known value of vitamin C is its role in increasing your body's immunity against viral and bacterial infections such as colds and flu. Other benefits include:

• Help in lowering cholesterol in the blood
• Natural laxative
• Prevents scurvy
• More rapid healing after surgery
• Helps healing bleeding gums, wounds and burns
• Makes drugs used in treating urinary tract infections more effective
• Enhances protection against carcinogenic agents
• Reduces the formation of blood clots in vein
• Inhibits nitrosamines (substances which cause cancer) from forming
• Reduces the effects of allergenic substances
• Helps in bone and tooth formation
• Aids in collagen and red blood cell production
• Helps digestion, iron absorption and cell respiration
• Increases blood vessel strength, immunity and adrenal secretions

As you can see, there are many good reasons to make sure you have an adecuate supply of vitamin C and this is particularly important for humans because, for some unknown reason, man is one of the few animals which does not have the capability to produce their own supply of this  vitamin. (The other exceptions are apes and guinea pigs.)

Sources

So what are the foods with vitamin C? In alphabetical order, some of the principal sources are:

• algae
• asparagus
• bananas
• bee pollen
• beets
• broccoli
• brussels sprouts
• cabbage
• cantaloupe
• cauliflower
• corn
• grapefruit
• grapes
• guava
• kale
• kiwi
• onions
• oranges
• papaya
• parsley
• peaches
• peas
• pineapple
• potatoes
• pumpkin
• red pepper
• strawberries
• tomatoes

In addition to the above foods with vitamin c, you can find it in the following herbs: barley green, burdock, capsicum, comfrey, echinacea, eyebright, garlic, hawthorn, juniper berries, parsley, plantain, rose hips, sarsaparilla, shepherd's purse, stinging nettle, watercress and, willow.

Supplements

Vitamin C is likely the most used vitamin supplement likely because in most of the foods with vitamin C, cooking and processing tends to destroy it.  It is available in virtually any form which can be imagined:  tablets, liquids, timed-release pills, powdered, chewable tablets and even injections.

Forms which can be swallowed may be in tablets or capsules which may contain up to 1000 mg (milligrams).  Currently the minimum requirement each day (MDA) is considered to be 2500 mg with a maximum daily intake of 40,000 mg.  

It is important to recognize that vitamin C is not stored in the body and any excess is rapidly eliminated in the body's urine.

Tips and Suggestions

• Heat, light and cooking are deadly enemies of vitamin C.
• Most vitamin C which is not used is excreted within 2 to 3 hours of being eaten. Timed release supplements may help avoid this.
• Lab tests can be affected if you're using large amounts of vitamin C. Make certain that your doctor is aware that you are using vitamin C supplements if you are having any blood tests to do.
• It may be advisable to use a magnesium supplement if your are taking more than 750 mgs of vitamin C a day. Bioflavinoids and calcium also help in absorbing it.
• Aspirin is reported to triple the excretion rate of vitamin C.
• City dwellers may benefit from increased vitamin C intake because carbon monoxide destroys it. Smokers and older people also can benefit from extra vitamin C.

Do You Have A Great Story About This ?

You know that it's great to learn about new advances in health, and better ways that scientists and researchers are developing for us to live better, but what really drives the point home--helps us to appreciate these things more that personal stories and experiences?

If you (or someone close to you) has had personal experience with what you've been reading about on this page, why not add your story to the record? We'd love to hear from you and if you provide us with enough information we'll dedicate an entire page to your report, giving you full credit for it. If your story isn't enough for a full aricle, we'll save it to be included in a composite article together with others which we receive.

Enter Your Title

Tell Us Your Story! [ ? ]

Close Help Entering your story is easy to do. Just type!... Your story will appear on a Web page exactly the way you enter it here. You can wrap a word in square brackets to make it appear bold. For example [my story] would show as my story on the Web page containing your story. TIP: Since most people scan Web pages, include your best thoughts in your first paragraph.

Upload A Picture (optional but highly encouraged) [ ? ]

Close Help Do you have a picture either that shows something about your story or you as the author? Great! Click the button, find it on your computer. Then select it.

Add a Picture/Graphic Caption (optional) 

Click here to upload more images (optional)

Add a Picture/Graphic Caption (optional) 

Add a Picture/Graphic Caption (optional) 

Add a Picture/Graphic Caption (optional) 

Author Information (optional)

To receive credit as the author, enter your information below.

Your Name	(first or full name)
Your Location	(ex. City, State, Country)

Submit Your Contribution

Check box to agree to these submission guidelines.

(You can preview and edit on the next page)

What you see on Nutritional Supplements Information is just a sample of what's available for you in our Secrets of Natural Healthy Living. Check it out now!

Much more than Foods With Vitamin C discussed back on the home page