What Does the C Vitamin Do For Your Health?

Introduction

Vitamins are part of all healthy diets. You can get them from natural or processed foods. However, some vitamins cannot be produced by the body itself and as such, you need to eat foods that contain the vitamin or take supplements to ensure that your body gets the right amount and types of vitamins and minerals. One of these important vitamins necessary for good growth and health is C vitamin.

History

Dr. James Lind, a Scottish surgeon, was the first person to prove that scurvy could be treated by a citrus fruit as described in a book published in 1753, A Treatise of the Scurvy. In 1932, a direct correlation to scurvy and Vitamin C was made treating the disease as a deficiency of the C vitamin.

Vitamin C has many benefits on the body and the health: Ascorbic acid or vitamin C is necessary for the good bone and connective tissue formation. Having a good bone density is essential for the functioning of the human body. The connective tissue connects other tissues and organs together which vitamin C does. It improves the absorption of iron.

Iron is another important mineral that the body needs necessary in the production of red blood cells. When iron is not retained in the body, it can lead to anemia and other blood disorders. C vitamin helps in healing of wounds and burns.

Additional amounts of vitamin C is prescribed by doctors to people who have wounds and burns. It promotes healing. When wounds and burns are healed quicker, this in turn, prevents infections from occurring. Ascorbic acid also acts as an antioxidant by protecting the cells against damage.

Vitamin C is a powerful antioxidant and protects the cells against ‘free radicals’. Free radicals are the by-products of a normal cell activity. Free radicals are believed to contribute to certain diseases and disorders such as lung cancer, atherosclerosis, colds, eye cataracts, cancer, and lung disorders.

It is not clear whether consuming large doses of vitamin C prevents these diseases from occurring. The closest connection pinpointed by researchers was the effectiveness of high doses of C vitamin in protecting cataracts. C vitamin is used to treat scurvy.

Scurvy is a disease caused by the lack of ascorbic acid in the body. This deficiency may be caused by several factors such poor diets, surgery, breastfeeding, pregnancy, and unhealthy lifestyles. For example, smokers need to increase their intake of vitamin C by 30 to 50%. Women who are pregnant or breastfeeding must also include high doses of vitamin C in their diets while those recuperating from surgery should take enough vitamin C to promote faster healing.

Among infants, scurvy is not common because the milk from the mother contains adequate amounts of vitamin C. Infant formulas are also fortified with vitamin C and other minerals.

Adults who do not have enough vitamin C manifest several symptoms such as bruises and bleeding under the skin, gums, or hair follicles. A person may be irritable and depressed. It can be accompanied by weight loss, tiredness, and a feeling of weakness. Infections occur and if there are open wounds, they do not heal. In addition, the gums are swollen and the teeth loosen.

Thus, you need to take enough doses of C vitamin since it cannot be produced in the body and does not stay in the body.

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