· By Jamal Ramsay
Essential Vitamins: C
Also known as ascorbic acid, vitamin C is good for numerous important functions in the body, including healthy skin. Unlike some vitamins, vitamin C is an essential vitamin that we must consume within our diet as our body is not able to produce it naturally, so it’s doubly important that we get enough of this vitamin throughout our diet.
So how much vitamin C do I need?
The amount of recommended vitamin C for adults aged 19-64 is around 40mg a day, all of which we can be maintained through a healthy balanced diet!
Why should I care?
Good question, well let’s tell you why! Vitamin C is a water-soluble vitamin that acts as an antioxidant, playing a role in many areas of our immune system, these include:
- Helping to protect cells
- Maintaining healthy skin, blood vessels, bones and cartilage ?♀️
- Helping with wound healing
- Helps with the absorption of non-haem iron (iron from plant sources) in the gut.
How do I get it?
This is easy, with a lot of food rich in vitamin C, including:
- Citrus fruits such as oranges
- Kiwifruits
- Berries such as strawberries/blackcurrants
- Green vegetables such as broccoli and brussel sprouts
- Peppers
- Tomatoes
- Potatoes
Not too bad right guys! As you can see from the list above Vitamin C is found in a wide variety of fruit and vegetables, so make sure you’re taking notice of your 5 a day!
Next time you’re doing a food shop, have a think what vitamins may be in the fruit and vegetables that you’re buying!
A word from jrny
If you’re generally interested in Nutrition, be sure to check out the rest of our wellbeing bites. You can also get a quick and easy fix of vitamin C from our energy boosting vegan protein powder shakes. They're also a brilliant way to combat low energy levels in females.
Heard of Mindful Eating? It's definitely worth a look at our free e-book here for the best way to healthily control your diet without dieting!
SOURCES
https://www.nhs.uk/conditions/vitamins-and-minerals/vitamin-c/
https://www.nutrition.org.uk/nutritionscience/nutrients-food-and-ingredients/vitamins.html
At jrny, we are made up of a team of Sports Scientists, Registered Nutritionists. We want to make sure that we’re not just putting up the pseudo-science you’d see on other sites. If any of our staff put anything on our blog that relates to your health, you can bet that it is backed by evidence-based science! It always will be. That’s our commitment to you.
The information in this post was adapted from information provided by Registered Associate Nutritionist Sarah Tipping. Follow her @eatingwellwithsarah.