Vitamin C

What is Vitamin C?

Vitamin C, also known as L-ascorbic acid, is one of the most important essential nutrients for humans. In most living organisms it can act as an antioxidant by protecting the body against free radicals. Ascorbic acid is also required in a wide range of metabolic processes that occur in humans. It is also a catylist for chemical reactions in the body. This means that it allows the essential chemical reactions that occur everywhere in your body to occur quickly and effectively. Many of the chemical reactions vitamin c is related to is linked to healing wounds and preventing bleeding. While there are some species of animals that can actually produce vitamin C in their own body, humans cannot and require it as a dietary supplement in the food they eat.

Functions of Vitamin C

The functions of vitamin C in the body are quite numerous. One of the functions of vitamin C is that it is intricately involved in the metabolism of cholesterol in your body. Presence of vitamin C in your digestive bile can help break down complex cholesterol and can contribute greatly to producing healthy blood cholesterol levels and can prevent the formation of painful gall stones. Vitamin C is also require for the syntheses of carnitine. Carnitine is required by the body to transport fat and sugars to the mitochondria in your cells. Mitochondria are the engines that run your cells and give them energy, they run on stored and digested fats and sugars. Without vitamin C, you're mitochondria would not have enough fuel to run your cells properly.

Vitamin C is one of the most essential catalysts used by your body. Your body undergoes thousands upon thousands of chemical reactions every single day. Many of these reactions require the presence of a catalyst. A catalyst is a substance or item that allows a chemical reaction to take place. One way to think of a catalyst is that if you want to boil water you cant just let it sit there, you need to apply heat. This is in a way the function of Vitamin C, it is a catalyst that allows many of the chemical reactions in your body to operate smoothly. For example, vitamin C is required in the reactions that produce the essential neurotransmitters norepinephrine and serotonin. These two substances are absolutely essential to life and wouldn't be able to be made without vitamin C.

Vitamin C Deficiency

The primary risk of vitamin C deficiency is a disease called scurvy. Scurcy causes brown spots on your skin, spongy and weak gums in your mouth and bleeding from membranes made from mucous. Scurvy can make an individual feel depressed and cause them to be partially immobilized. As scurvy advances the spots on the skin can become open wounds, teeth will begin to fall out and eventually if it is allowed to fully progress it can result in death. The human body cannot store an infinite amount of vitamin C, and what you can't store is released in your urine. Scurvy can occur anywhere between one month or 6 months depending on how much vitamin C was in your system before it was cut from your diet. Treatment includes an increased amount of vitamin C in your diet as well as treatment for the wounds and other complications.

Vitamin C Foods

The richest and most accessible source of vitamin C is from fruits and vegetables. The most common sources of vitamin C include most citrus fruits. While they are by far the most popular sources of this essential vitamin they are not the most effective source. For higher concentrations of vitamin C look to fruits and vegetables such as guava, camu camu, rose hip, red pepper, kiwi and broccoli.