Vitamin C - (Ascorbic acid)

DESCRIPTION: If you get a high-quality multivitamin, it should contain Vitamin C with bioflavonoids. The bioflavonoids and Vitamin C will work together, just like they do in nature. You may find Vitamin C often appear on labels as calcium ascorbate and/or magnesium ascorbate. The reason why is the ascorbate acid is buffered to promote digestive comfort. Not everyone can handle the same Vitamin C. Deficiencies may include lowered resistance to infections, hemorrhage, anemia, scurvy, joint tenderness, and susceptibility to dental caries, pyorrhea and bleeding gums. Vitamin C is soluble in water and is easily destroyed by oxidation and heat will hasten the process. It also gets lost in cooking, particularly if water in which the food was cooked is discarded. Vitamin C can also be easily lost if cooked in iron or copper cookware. Frozen foods lose very little of their Vitamin C. It can be stored in the body to a limited extent, unless of course you are a smoker, then it cannot be stored at all and must be supplemented in the diet.

POTENTIAL BENEFITS: Vitamin C is required for the growth and repair of tissues in all parts of your body. It is necessary to form collagen, an important protein used to make skin, scar tissue, tendons, ligaments, and blood vessels. Vitamin C is essential for the healing of wounds, and for the repair and maintenance of cartilage, bones, and teeth. it is also an important antioxidant.

POTENTIAL INTERACTION: Aspirin, analgesics, antidepressants, anticoagulents, oral contraceptives, or steroids because they may reduce levels of Vitamin C in the body. Alcohol can also reduce Vitamin C in the body. If you are taking diabetic medications and sulfa drugs, they may not be as effective when taken with Vitamin C. Pregnant women should always check with their doctor before taking Vitamin C. If a infant becomes dependent on a Vitamin C supplement, they have a potential to develop scurvy.

GENERAL USAGE: May be taken daily.

FOOD SOURCES: Alfalfa sprouts, apples, asparagus, avocados, bee pollen, beets, beet greens, berries, broccoli, brussel sprouts, burdock root, cabbage, cantaloupe, cauliflower, celery, cherries, chickweed, citrus fruits, collards, cucumber, currants, garlic, grapefruit (pink), leafy greens, green vegetables, kale, kelp, kiwi, lemons, mangos, mustard greens, onions, oranges, papayas, parsley, peas, persimmon, pineapple, potato, radishes, raw vegetables, rose hips, spinach, spirulina, all kinds of sprouts, strawberries, sweet peppers, swiss chard, tomato, turnip greens, watercress and wheatgrass. Also fruits and their juices.