Vitamin C : A Key Protective Nutrient
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Vitamin C – Invigorating to Our Health
Vitamin C (ascorbic acid) is a relatively simple water-soluble compound that plays a vital role in every physiological system in our body. Like a few other species of mammals, humans lack the ability to manufacture vitamin C. We must obtain it in our diet or with supplements. Additionally, because we cannot store vitamin C we need to replenish our supply on a daily basis. Any excess vitamin C is rapidly metabolized and excreted (McGuire, & Beerman, 2019, p. 445).
Ideally, it is best to obtain vitamin C from an abundance of organically grown, raw, whole fruits and vegetables that we consume daily. Raw food is important because vitamin C is heat sensitive and degrades when food is cooked. Consuming whole fruits and vegetables ensures that we obtain co-occurring bioflavonoids essential for vitamin C absorption. Eaten whole, fruits and vegetables also furnish soluble and insoluble fiber needed for digestion. Like vitamin C, bioflavonoids cannot be manufactured by the body and must be obtained from the diet. Some of the bioflavonoids the body uses in conjunction with vitamin C include citrin, eriodictyol, flavones, hesperetin, hesperidin, quercetin, quercetrin, and rutin (Balch, 2006, p. 28).
Foods Rich in Vitamin C
Patricia W. Smith offers a list of high vitamin C foods. This includes: red chili peppers, guavas, red sweet peppers, kale leaves, parsley, collard leaves, turnip greens, green sweet peppers, broccoli, brussels sprouts, mustard greens, watercress, cauliflower, persimmons, red cabbage, strawberries, papayas spinach, oranges, orange juice, cabbage, lemon juice, grapefruit, elderberries. Vitamin C in fruits and vegetables will last longer when they are kept away from oxygen, light, and heat (Smith, 2020, p. 63).
Vitamin C is also plentiful in seafood and organ meats. In the 1930’s, Dr. Weston A. Price’s journey investigating the traditional diets of high-immunity groups of indigenous people took him deep into the Rocky Mountain range of northern Canada where he met up with nomadic tribes of Northern British Columbia and the Yukon. In his landmark book originally published in 1939, Nutrition and Physical Degeneration, he states that the tribes had no animal sea life accessible to them and farming was infeasible due to the extreme cold. Dr. Price studied the practices of the tribes following the seasonal migrations of moose and caribou herds and learned their diets consisted almost entirely of wild animals. They described how they ate the organs and tissues, particularly the walls of the second stomach and adrenal glands which have more vitamin C than any other known animal or plant source (Price, 2019, p.67 – 68).
Vitamin C (ascorbic acid) is a relatively simple water-soluble compound that plays a vital role in every physiological system in our body. Like a few other species of mammals, humans lack the ability to manufacture vitamin C. We must obtain it in our diet or with supplements. Additionally, because we cannot store vitamin C we need to replenish our supply on a daily basis. Any excess vitamin C is rapidly metabolized and excreted (McGuire, & Beerman, 2019, p. 445).
Ideally, it is best to obtain vitamin C from an abundance of organically grown, raw, whole fruits and vegetables that we consume daily. Raw food is important because vitamin C is heat sensitive and degrades when food is cooked. Consuming whole fruits and vegetables ensures that we obtain co-occurring bioflavonoids essential for vitamin C absorption. Eaten whole, fruits and vegetables also furnish soluble and insoluble fiber needed for digestion. Like vitamin C, bioflavonoids cannot be manufactured by the body and must be obtained from the diet. Some of the bioflavonoids the body uses in conjunction with vitamin C include citrin, eriodictyol, flavones, hesperetin, hesperidin, quercetin, quercetrin, and rutin (Balch, 2006, p. 28).
Foods Rich in Vitamin C
Patricia W. Smith offers a list of high vitamin C foods. This includes: red chili peppers, guavas, red sweet peppers, kale leaves, parsley, collard leaves, turnip greens, green sweet peppers, broccoli, brussels sprouts, mustard greens, watercress, cauliflower, persimmons, red cabbage, strawberries, papayas spinach, oranges, orange juice, cabbage, lemon juice, grapefruit, elderberries. Vitamin C in fruits and vegetables will last longer when they are kept away from oxygen, light, and heat (Smith, 2020, p. 63).
Vitamin C is also plentiful in seafood and organ meats. In the 1930’s, Dr. Weston A. Price’s journey investigating the traditional diets of high-immunity groups of indigenous people took him deep into the Rocky Mountain range of northern Canada where he met up with nomadic tribes of Northern British Columbia and the Yukon. In his landmark book originally published in 1939, Nutrition and Physical Degeneration, he states that the tribes had no animal sea life accessible to them and farming was infeasible due to the extreme cold. Dr. Price studied the practices of the tribes following the seasonal migrations of moose and caribou herds and learned their diets consisted almost entirely of wild animals. They described how they ate the organs and tissues, particularly the walls of the second stomach and adrenal glands which have more vitamin C than any other known animal or plant source (Price, 2019, p.67 – 68).
References
Balch, P.A. (2006). Prescription for Nutritional Healing. (4th Edition). New York, NY: Avery publishing.
McGuire, M. & Beerman, K.A. (2019). Nutritional Sciences: From Fundamentals to Food. (3rd ed.). Belmont, CA: Wadsworth, Cengage Learning.
Price, W.A. (2019). Nutrition and Physical Degeneration. (8th Edition). Lemon Grove, CA: Price Pottenger.
Smith, P.W. 2020. What You Must Know About Vitamins, Minerals, Herbs And So Much More. (2nd Edition). Garden City Park, NY: Square One Publishers.
Balch, P.A. (2006). Prescription for Nutritional Healing. (4th Edition). New York, NY: Avery publishing.
McGuire, M. & Beerman, K.A. (2019). Nutritional Sciences: From Fundamentals to Food. (3rd ed.). Belmont, CA: Wadsworth, Cengage Learning.
Price, W.A. (2019). Nutrition and Physical Degeneration. (8th Edition). Lemon Grove, CA: Price Pottenger.
Smith, P.W. 2020. What You Must Know About Vitamins, Minerals, Herbs And So Much More. (2nd Edition). Garden City Park, NY: Square One Publishers.
Amy Wing, Holistic Health Educator,
Nature’s Hearth
Website: www.naturesheart.net
Email: ajw.habitat@gmail.com
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