foods high in vitamin c
January 16, 2008
What Are the Foods High in Vitamin C?
Vitamin C is perhaps the most popular vitamin. How many times have you been given advice to take the vitamin whenever you have a cold or the flu. And it is indeed true that this nutrient is a very important one. It is necessary for several processes in the body such as the absorption of iron, maintaining healthy bones teeth and capillaries as well as the formation of collagen, an important protein that gives structure to bones, blood vessels, cartilage and muscle.
If you are wondering which foods are high in vitamin C, here they are:
Plant sources like kakadu plum, Camu Camu, rose hip, acerola, amla, jujube, baobab, blackcurrant, red pepper, parsley, seabuckthorn, guava, kiwi fruit, broccoli, loganberry, redcurrant, Brussels sprouts, lychee, cloudberry, persimmon, papaya, strawberry, orange, lemon, melon, cauliflower, cantaloupe, grapefruit, raspberry, tangerine, mandarin orange, passion fruit, spinach, raw green cabbage, lime, mango, potato, honeydew, tomato, blueberry, pineapple, pawpaw, grape, apricot, plum, watermelon, banana, carrot, avocado, crabapple, peach, apple, blackberry, beetroot, pear, lettuce, cucumber, eggplant, fig, bilberry, horned melon, and medlar.
Animal Sources like calf liver, beef liver, raw oysters, cod roe, pork liver, lamb brain, chicken liver, lamb heart, lamb liver, lamb tongue, human milk, goat milk, and cows milk.
Deficiency in vitamin C can cause several diseases and harmful conditions. The most renowned disease for people lacking in vitamin C is Scurvy, which causes liver spots on the skin, bleeding in all of the mucous membranes, and spongy gums. Advanced stages of scurvy may lead to suppurating wounds, the loss of teeth and even death. It is important to replenish the body’s supply of vitamin C because this nutrient is easily depleted.
The best way to get the right amount of vitamin C is by consuming a wide variety of foods that are high in the nutrient. Normal and healthy people don’t usually need to take supplements. In fact, some vitamin C supplements may even be detrimental to health as they bombard the body with unabsorbable forms of the vitamin, not to mention that they just waste money since they can be easily flushed before the body can even use them.
If you want to make sure that you have enough supply of vitamin C, you don’t need to stock up on supplements. What might be better is for you to shop for foods rich in vitamin C such as those listed above.