Vitamin C

Vitamin C

Vitamin C plays a crucial role in our lives by building and maintaining our tissues and fortifying our immune systems. Vitamin C should be included in a daily diet because it is water soluble, which means it, is excreted from the body every day and can not be stored for later use. You should consume at least 500-1000mg of Vitamin C per day to maintain a strong immune system which fights off diseases and illnesses from the human body. It is also used to keep teeth and gums healthy, heal wounds, and strengthen muscles as well as blood vessels.

Vitamin C can also be known as ascorbic acid and can be found in many food sources. Ascorbic Acids which are found in green peppers, citrus fruit, strawberries, tomatoes, broccoli, turnip and other greens, white and sweet potatoes, cantaloupes, and a small amount can be found in fish and milk. Humans should consume as much of this vitamin as necessary to assure a health immune system. The only side effect from taking too much Vitamin C is diarrhea, but it very uncommon. A deficiency of this vitamin source is a disease known as Scurvy. Scurvy is rare among the United States, because of the many food sources available. Scurvy is a disease among humans that causes the body to be weak. Infected people have spongy and inflated gums, loose teeth, swollen joints, and may be prone to Anemia, which is a deficiency in iron. This disease is usually seen in sailors whom have been months without fresh vegetables.

Doctors say that vitamin C will prevent any type of cancer by seventy-five percent and shorten the length of colds by twenty-three percent. People with high blood levels of Vitamin C are said to live six years longer than lower blood levels.

Even though Vitamin C is located in every cell of the human body it plays key roles in the blood, skin, nerves, teeth, bones, and glands. As a whole this vitamin is essential to live a healthy life.