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Not just for improving immunity, Vitamin C is an important vitamin to help fight inflammation, improve your mood and also help fight off serious forms of disease besides just a cold! It’s even beneficial for the skin, hair and nails due to the way it supports collagen function in the body.
Vitamin C acts as an antioxidant in the body to lower physical and emotional stress while also providing cellular Support and protection. It’s found abundantly in vegetables and fruits of all kinds, from the most basic you’ll find at the supermarket, to more elite superfoods from across the world.
Vitamin C also helps increase iron absorption in the body, and as you’ll see below, by adding more to your meals in the form of greens, vegetables, fruits, seeds, nuts, seaweeds and more, you can be sure your body will have a better chance of receiving the iron it needs with high-quality Vitamin C-rich foods included.
Here are some tips to work more Vitamin C into your diets and exactly what this powerhouse vitamin can do for you!
OVERVIEW
Vitamin C, like Vitamin A, is a natural antioxidant that’s luckily found abundantly in our food supply. It’s important for your immunity, healthy skin, and a variety of other bodily functions. A diet rich in produce will supply more than enough of daily Vitamin C needs, even though there are many other sources as well.
BENEFITS
Vitamin C acts at a cellular level to both fight and prevent free radicals from harming the immune system. It’s also important for maintaining healthy skin, hair, nails, and prevents aging due to the way it fights off free radicals and supports collagen production in the body. Within the tissues, Vitamin C can also help combat stress and prevent inflammation, making it vital if you suffer high levels of stress either mentally or physically, or are simply active. Finally, it can also help speed up digestion and may help prevent irregularity.
RECOMMENDED DAILY INTAKE
Women over the age of 18 years old should take in 75 milligrams per day and men over the age of 18 years old should take in at least 90 milligrams per day. If you eat fruits and vegetables daily, you won’t have to worry about getting enough. All fruits and vegetables provide good or extremely high levels of Vitamin C, making it easy to get enough.
DIETARY SOURCES
- all leafy greens
- all vegetables
- all fruits
- chestnuts
- sauerkraut and kimchi
- apple cider vinegar
- cacao beans
- green superfood powders
- superfood berries (mulberries, goldenberries, goji berries, camu camu)
RECIPES WITH VITAMIN C
- Berry Breakfast Smoothie With Cacao Drizzle and Chia Seed Pudding
- Acai Berry Vegan Ice Cream
- Winter Glow Smoothie
- Energy Boosting Superfood Protein Shake
- Jumbowl Salad
- Winter Kale Stew With Rutabaga Noodles
- The Glow Bowl: Baked Sweet Potato With Pesto Pasta, Tomatoes, and Pumpkin Seed
- Russian Kale and Squash Noodles
- White Bean and Kale Soup
- Easy Roasted Root Veggies
IMPORTANT READS
- Foods That Aren’t Oranges With the Highest Amounts of Vitamin C
- Foods and Drinks to Help You Survive Winter Allergies, The Cold and The Flu
- 5 Healthy Foods to Help Ease Exercise Recovery Pain
- 5 Everyday Superfoods for Your Nails, Hair, and Skin
- Vitamin C Rich Foods You Should Pair With Iron for Ultimate Absorption
RELATED PRODUCTS
You can choose to get your Vitamin C solely from foods and you’re sure to get enough, however, if you come down with a cold, have a low immunity, or are even suffering irregularity and high levels of stress, a supplement or certain high Vitamin C foods may be helpful, or even useful for other benefits. Here are some suggestions:
RELATED CONTENT
- Plant-based Nutrition 101: Protein
- Plant-based Nutrition 101: Healthy Fats
- Plant-based Nutrition 101: Complex Carbs/Fiber
- Plant-based Nutrition 101: Vitamin A
- Plant-based Nutrition 101: B Vitamins
- Plant-based Nutrition 101: Vitamin D
- Plant-Based Nutrition 101: Vitamin E
- Plant-based Nutrition 101: Vitamin K
- Plant-based Nutrition 101: Calcium
- Plant-based Nutrition 101: Magnesium
- Plant-based Nutrition 101: Iron
- Plant-based Nutrition 101: Zinc
- Plant-based Nutrition 101: Vitamin C (CURRENT PAGE)
I don\’t know where you guys get the information that dried fruit is a significant source of Vitamin C. That simply is not true. Drying removes water and water soluble nutrients such as Vitamin C. I really think you need to revise that statement. "all fruits (fresh and dried)" For example, the Vitamin C in cranberries goes from 13.3 in 100 grams fresh to 0.2 in 100 grams dried.Now, there\’s a LOT more dried cranberries in a 100 gram portion so you can see that the Vitamin C is almost NIL in the dried version. The rich vitamin C fruits are not usually dried Dried apricots 100 grams has 1 mg C and fresh, 100 grams has 10, again the quantity of apricots dried is much higher because water weighs a lot. A single fresh peach has 8.6 mg and 1/2 dried has 0.6 mg. Let\’s guess how many dried fruits one would have to eat to get their daily C from dried fruit and how many days of concentrated fruit sugar they\’d get at the same time. You folks should be smarter and better than this. Stick with the veggies and the rest of the list as you had it and leave off the dried fruit/ It just isn\’t accurate.
Hi Judith! For the most part, you’re very right. Most fruits are not good sources of vitamin C in dried form. There are, however, some exceptions, including goji berries, mulberries, golden berries, and some dried fruit powders like mangosteen, camu camu berry, boasting over 1600 percent of your daily needs (seriously!). These are better sources because just a tablespoon or two can provide more benefits than most cups of regular dried fruits (which wouldn’t be healthy, as you said). I hope this helps!