We all need to look after our health.
Taking a supplement takes the guess work out of vitamin and mineral daily requirements. It is not to say that diet is not important. It is, and proper nutrition and hydration are vital. A diverse diet with a colourful mix of fruits and vegetables as well as grains and proteins will help you get in the vitamins, minerals, dietary fibre, protein, carbohydrates, healthy fats and antioxidants your body needs. Some foods are better than others.
Let’s talk about the ORANGE. The orange, a highly nutritious citrus fruit, is known for its vitamin C content. Oranges are also a good source of fibre and potassium which supports heart health but vitamin C, an antioxidant is by far the most important nutrient gained from eating oranges.
WE could all do with the health benefit of eating an orange a day, not just for the vitamin C content but also for the fibre and other minerals this nutritious (and delicious) fruit offers us. But how many a day?
One small orange contains 51.1 mg vitamin C.* Recommended intake for vit C is 75 mg for women and 90 mg for men.
So, for normal daily vitamin C requirements you will need to eat an orange (or 2)-a-day. Easy.
However, in order to achieve an appreciable (increased) amount of vitamin C, we would have to eat too many – roughly 19 oranges a day to reach a dose of 1000mg. Not so easy.
If you look at the variety of benefits that vitamin C holds for our health, you may want to ensure you are taking more with a daily supplement or in fact boosting your intake during times of heavy stress or illness. This is why:
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Vitamin C is an essential vitamin – which means your body cannot produce it! You have to ingest it from your diet or from vitamin supplements. It has a variety of uses:
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Powerful antioxidant. Strengthens your body’s natural immunity by protecting cells from harmful free radicals. Oxidative stress is linked to chronic diseases, and this is what happens when free radicals accumulate. Consuming vitamin C increases your blood antioxidants levels which helps the body to defend against inflammation. It also has the ability to regenerate other antioxidants within the body, including alpha-tocopherol (vitamin E).
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Skin health. Vitamin C helps to maintain skin health and appearance, including collagen production important for wound healing and skin strength.
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Boosts iron. Vitamin C supplements can help improve the absorption of iron from the diet. In fact, simply consuming 100 mg of vitamin C a day may improve iron absorption by 67%! This is especially useful for people on a meat-free diet, as meat is a major source of iron.
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Heart health. Vitamin C supplements may lower heart disease risk factors, including high blood pressure, high blood levels of LDL (bad) cholesterol and triglycerides.
Note: People with high blood pressure should not rely on vitamin C alone for treatment.
Other. Supplementing vitamin C has also been linked to a lower risk of gout attacks and low levels of vitamin have been linked to an impaired ability to think and remember, a function that is linked to dementia.
Looking back in history. Vitamin C deficiency is associated with poor immunity and a higher risk of infection, including serious illnesses like pneumonia, in fact, many people with scurvy, a disease caused by vitamin C deficiency, eventually die of infection due to their poorly functioning immune systems.
In closing. Vitamin C is important. Whether you get enough vitamin C from your diet or supplements is for you or your healthcare professional to decide. But don’t wait, vitamin C is an important nutrient for the immune system.
What you can take is Vitamin C Immune Boost (create hyperlink) which contains 1000 mg vitamin C a day with additional minerals to help keep your immune system strong during times of stress or illness. Give it a try and BOOST your immune system.
*Based on small-to-medium sized oranges
