The Vitamin C Advantage | VR Healthy Ageing

The Vitamin C Advantage

Perhaps one of the most important vitamins for our body is Vitamin C and because we do not manufacture it inside our body (primarily because our ancestors for thousands of years ate a Vitamin C rich diet and ultimately the body decided it was not necessary to produce it) it must be replenished constantly from the diet or supplements.

Vitamin C plays an important role in many functions of our body besides being an antioxidant. Its role in our skin health and boosting immunity is most pronounced. People with consistent low levels of vitamin C tend to lose collagen and their skin starts to look older prematurely. Certain activities like smoking also tend to deplete vitamin c and those who smoke start having wrinkles, fine lines and a sagging skin sooner than those who don't.

To make it clear, just having a supplement which is supplying for example 1000mg of Vitamin C may actually be not sufficient simply because more than 80% of vitamins being sold in the market are synthetic based and do not come from plant based sources. Synthetic vitamins like Synthetic Ascorbic Acid (vitamin C), Synthetic Vitamin B1 and Beta Carotene which is the precursor of the active form of vitamin A (Retinol) are very difficult to absorb in our body and have to go through several steps of conversion before they become bio available and be absorbed. To put it into perspective, you would have to eat several kilos of Carrots to be able to get a small amount of Retinol and that too if your body is able to perform the conversion properly. Therefore, whole foods like Sauerkraut which has the highest amount of vitamin C  (more than eight times the equivalent in Lemon Juice) and vegetables and fruits (not fruit juices) may well be a much better choice for supplementing on required important vitamins like vitamin C. 

Most of the large manufacturers of vitamins (the big brands) are actually chemical or food companies which extract the vitamins from chemicals like petroleum and they are least concerned of its absorption and bioavailability. Their prime concern is sales and profit. So to avoid having chemically derived vitamins it is advisable to eat a plant / animal based diet to get the supplements and avoid the complications of having your liver to deal with excretion of chemical toxins from seemingly beneficial vitamin supplements which actually can do much harm if taken long term. 

Choose your supplements carefully and make sure they are from reputed manufacturers who use plant based organic derivatives and as said earlier, a varied whole food diet would be a more beneficial choice when it comes to long term health benefits.To supplement vitamin C, red and green peppers, strawberries, citrus fruits like oranges, lemons and kiwis may be your best bet and if eaten regularly, supplements may not be required. 

Vibhuti Misra  

Holistic Health Specialist

+91 813 088 2160