Vitamin C benefits a number of essential processes in the body. From aiding your immune system, to promoting healthy skin, vitamin C is a key nutrient. Supporting your nutrient intake can help to maintain your general health. Find out how to make the most of the health benefits of vitamin C and spot the signs of deficiency.
Contents
- How Much Vitamin C Per Day?
- 10 Benefits of Vitamin C
- 8 Signs of Vitamin C Deficiency
- How to Encourage Vitamin C Intake
- 8 Sources of Vitamin C
How Much Vitamin C Per Day?
Vitamin C, also known as ascorbic acid, is known for being found in citrus fruits like oranges and orange juice. Vitamin C benefits many key functions in the body, including immune health and wound healing. Vitamin C is a water-soluble vitamin, and therefore the body does not keep a store of it. Therefore, a daily vitamin C supplement may be recommended.
According to the NIH, the recommended daily allowance of vitamin C is 90 mg for an adult man and 75mg for an adult woman. Supplementing nutrients to these guidelines can help encourage you to experience the benefits of vitamin C. Ensuring you are intaking these optimum levels can help you experience these benefits of vitamin C for yourself.
10 Benefits of Vitamin C
Vitamin C benefits your health in many important ways. From supporting your immune system to help you fight diseases, to encouraging healthy skin and eyes. Ensuring you supplement recommended levels can help you avoid vitamin C deficiency. The benefits of vitamin C include:
- Helping to protect cells and keeping them healthy
- Maintaining healthy skin
- Supporting blood vessels
- Maintaining bones and cartilage
- Helping with wound healing
- Encouraging immune defence
- Protecting from cardiovascular disease
- Avoiding prenatal health problems
- Supporting eye health
- Helping prevent skin wrinkling
To encourage healthy skin and support the immune system, you need the benefits of vitamin C. Ensuring a proper dosage can help you see these vitamin C benefits and avoid deficiency.
8 Signs of Vitamin C Deficiency
When our nutrient levels get too low, we are at risk of deficiency. This is when the body does not have sufficient levels of essential nutrients like vitamin C. Without these proper levels, you may experience poor health and won’t experience the benefits of vitamin C. When levels are below around 10 mg per day for many weeks, even scurvy could develop. There are signs and symptoms which can indicate whether your levels are too low, which include:
- Weak bones - Vitamin C plays a vital role in bone formation so a low intake can be linked to increased risk of fractures and osteoporosis. Children’s bones can be more seriously affected because their skeletons are still developing. Children’s vitamins can help to promote the benefits of vitamin C in your child.
- Dry skin - Healthy skin contains large amounts of vitamin C in its upper layers. One of Vitamin C’s benefits is its role in collagen production - which keeps skin plump. Not having enough vitamin C could contribute to dry, damaged skin. Taking skin supplements can support your skin in getting the right nutrients it needs.
- Spoon shaped fingernails - Concave nails that are thin and brittle can be a sign of vitamin C deficiency. Red spots and lines on the nails can also be a sign you need more vitamin C. Skin, hair and nail supplements could be a way to experience how vitamin C benefits your skin, hair, and nails.
- Bumpy skin - Vitamin C also affects collagen production. If your levels are too low, keratosis pilaris can develop, which causes small acne-like bumps to form on the skin.
- Corkscrew shaped body hair - In vitamin C deficiency, due to development of protein, body hair can be affected. Though these hairs are difficult to detect because they are more fragile and likely to fall out.
- Red hair follicles - Vitamin C benefits the health of blood vessels. When you are deficient these vessels can become damaged. This can cause red spots to form around hair follicles.
- Easy bruising - Bruising is caused by minor damage to blood vessels in the skin. Poor collagen and weak blood vessels is a symptom of vitamin C deficiency that can cause bruising in small dots or over large areas of the body.
- Slow healing wounds - One of the vitamin C benefits is its role with collagen. This means not getting enough of the nutrient can cause wounds to heal more slowly. This is a less common symptom that doesn’t usually appear unless someone has been deficient for many months.
You should seek medical advice from a health professional if you think you have these signs of vitamin C deficiency. If you do have these symptoms, you may not be experiencing the benefits of vitamin C. A medical professional may arrange a test to identify whether you have low nutrient levels. Always consult medical advice before taking supplements.
How to Encourage Your Vitamin C Intake
Should you need to encourage your intake, optimising your vitamin C levels has never been easier. In order to see the benefits of vitamin C, you may consider taking a vitamin C supplement. Vitamin C cannot be stored in the body, so you need it in your diet every day.
8 Sources of Vitamin C
Including this vital nutrient in your diet, is essential to experience the benefits of vitamin C. Good sources of vitamin C include:
- Citrus fruit, such as oranges and orange juice
- Peppers
- Strawberries
- Blackcurrants
- Broccoli
- Brussels sprouts
- Potatoes
- Vitamin C Supplements
Due to the fact vitamin C is a water soluble vitamin which is not stored in the body, you need a source of it every day. Including these food sources in your diet, can help to see the benefits of vitamin C and avoid deficiency. To ensure optimal vitamin C levels try our Vitamin C Oral Spray alongside a healthy diet.
