Benefits of vitamin C to prevent COVID-19

Benefits of Vitamin C to prevent COVID-19

The most important step to prevent coronavirus COVID-19 is to boost the immune system. We have many options to boost our immune system. To improve our immune system we need to eat foods rich in antioxidants. In this case, vitamin C plays a major role to boost the immune system.

Vitamin C is treated as an essential vitamin, because your body can’t produce it. Vitamin C has many health benefits.

Vitamin C is water-soluble and found in many fruits and vegetables, including oranges, strawberries, bell peppers, kiwi fruits, broccoli, spinach, and kale.

The recommended daily intake for vitamin C is 75 mg for women and 90 mg for men.

While it’s commonly advised to get your vitamin C intake from foods, many people turn to supplements to meet their needs.

Vitamin C is an essential nutrient for health. It helps form and maintains skin, bones, and blood vessels.

 Vitamins including vitamin C, are organic compounds. An organic compound is one that exists in living things and contains the elements carbon and oxygen.

Vitamin C is water-soluble, and the body does not store it. To maintain sufficient levels of vitamin C, humans need a daily intake of food that contains it.

Vitamin C plays a major role in a number of bodily functions including the production of collagen, L-carnitine, and some neurotransmitters. Vitamin C helps metabolize proteins. Antioxidants present in vitamin C may reduce the risk of some cancers.

In the case of wound healing, research as long ago as 1942 suggested that wounds took longer to heal if someone had scurvy.

Scurvy

If a person does not consume enough vitamin C, they will have a deficiency, which is known as scurvy. Symptoms can start to appear within a month of vitamin C deficiency, and they include:

• malaise (a feeling of being unwell)
• inflammation of the gums or bleeding gums
• red patches on the skin due to blood vessels breaking beneath the surface
• joint pain
• fatigue
• depression
• slow wound healing
• loosening of teeth

Scurvy results from vitamin C deficiency. Its symptoms include swollen joints, bleeding gums and anemia, loose teeth, and tiredness. Rebound scurvy can happen if a person takes very high doses of vitamin C and then discontinues it quickly.

Vitamin C as an antioxidant also helps repair tissue and reduce damage from inflammation and oxidation.

People with adequate levels of vitamin C intake are found to be better able to fight off infections compared to people with vitamin C deficiency.

Vitamin C may also help to prevent acute respiratory infections, especially in people with malnutrition and those who are physically stressed.

Here are some proven benefits of taking vitamin C from food or through supplements.

1.     MAY REDUCE THE RISK OF CHRONIC DISEASES

Vitamin C is a powerful antioxidant that can strengthen your body’s natural defense system.

Antioxidants are nothing but molecules that boost the immune system. They do so by protecting cells from harmful molecules called free radicals.

When free radicals accumulate, they can promote a state known as oxidative stress, which may lead to many chronic diseases.

Some studies show that consuming more vitamin C can increase your blood antioxidant levels by up to 30%. This helps the body’s natural defenses fight inflammation.

2.     MAY HELP MANAGE HIGH BLOOD PRESSURE

High blood pressure sometimes puts you at risk of heart disease, the leading cause of death globally.

Studies have shown that vitamin C may help lower blood pressure in both those with and without high blood pressure.

Moreover, an analysis of 29 human studies found that taking a vitamin C supplement reduced systolic blood pressure (the upper value) by 3.8 mmHg and diastolic blood pressure (the lower value) by 1.5 mmHg, on average, in healthy adults.

3.     HELP PREVENT IRON DEFICIENCY

Iron is considered as an important nutrient that has a variety of functions in the body.  Iron plays a major role in the human body. Iron is essential for making red blood cells and transporting oxygen throughout the body.

Vitamin C supplements intake can help improve the absorption of iron from the diet. Vitamin C assists in converting iron that is poorly absorbed, such as plant-based sources of iron, into a form that is easier to absorb. Vitamin C supplements are especially useful for people on a meat-free diet, as meat is a major source of iron.

In fact, simply consuming 100 mg of vitamin C may improve iron absorption by 67%.  Vitamin C may help reduce the risk of anemia or iron deficiency among people prone to iron deficiency.

4.     BOOST IMMUNITY

One of the most important reasons people take vitamin C supplements is to boost their immunity, as vitamin C is involved in many parts of the immune system.

First, vitamin C helps encourage the production of white blood cells are known as lymphocytes and phagocytes, which protect the body against infections.

Second, vitamin C also help these white blood cells function more effectively while protecting them from damage by potentially harmful molecules, such as free radicals.

Third, vitamin C is an essential part of the skin’s defense system. Vitamin C plays a major role in skin health. Most of the face packs use lemon rich in vitamin C to improve skin glow. Vitamin C also helps to remove blemishes and dark spots.

Studies have also shown that taking vitamin C may shorten wound healing time  

For example, people who are suffering from pneumonia tend to have lower vitamin C levels and vitamin C supplements have been shown to shorten the recovery time.

5.     MAY LOWER RISK OF HEART DISEASE

Many factors increase the risk of heart disease, including high blood pressure, high triglyceride or LDL (bad) cholesterol levels, and low levels of HDL (good) cholesterol.

Vitamin C may help reduce heart disease risk. For example, an analysis of 9 studies with a combined 293,172 participants have found that after 10 years, people who took at least 700 mg of vitamin C daily had a 25% lower risk of heart disease than those who did not take vitamin C supplements.

6.     VITAMIN C AND CANCER THERAPY

Vitamin C is also helpful in cancer treatment. Vitamin C as an antioxidant, it protects the body against oxidative stress and helps prevent the oxidation of other molecules.

High doses of vitamin C intake have been found to reduce the speed of growth of some types of cancerous tissue. Some researchers have proposed using vitamin C in cancer patients whose treatment options are limited.

More studies are needed to understand which cancers could be affected by vitamin C and which other effective treatments can be used in conjunction with vitamin C, as well as the long-term effects of this approach.

In 2013, however, researchers found evidence that high doses of intravenous vitamin C might benefit cancer patients. A 2015 study confirmed its effectiveness.

The National Cancer Institute report several studies that used high dose vitamin C intravenously with few side effects.

7.     ANTI-AGING

Vitamin C has many anti-aging properties. It helps to maintain your skin healthy and young by preventing blemishes and wrinkles. Vitamin C has skin lightening properties.

Vitamin C affects cells present inside and outside of the body. A study that is published in the American Journal of Clinical Nutrition examined some links between nutrient intakes and skin aging in 4,025 women aged 40-74. The study found that higher vitamin C intakes were associated with a lower likelihood of a wrinkled appearance, dryness of the skin, and a better skin-aging appearance.

Do I need a vitamin C supplement?

It is always best to get your nutrients from food rather than supplements. With that being said, taking a daily vitamin C supplement won't cause you any harm.

If you think that you are not getting enough vitamin C from your diet, don't hesitate to supplement at the recommended dosages. At the same time, increase your intake of the following foods rich in vitamin C:

• Red pepper (raw): 95 milligrams per 1/2-cup serving
• Orange juice: 90 milligrams per 3/4-cup serving
• Green pepper (raw): 60 milligrams per 1/2-cup serving
• Broccoli (cooked): 51 milligrams per 1/2-cup serving
• Strawberries (sliced): 49 milligrams per 1/2-cup serving
• Orange: 70 milligrams per one medium fruit
• Kiwi: 64 milligrams per one medium fruit
• Brussel sprouts (cooked): 48 milligrams per 1/2-cup serving
• Tomato juice: 33 milligrams per 1/2-cup serving
• Cantaloupe: 29 milligrams per 1/2-cup serving