Vitamin C increases the production of white blood cells. White blood cells are on constant patrol looking for microorganisms that don’t belong in the body. Our body can’t produce or store vitamin C we need to add it daily for continued wellness.
Simply add citrus fruit into your daily diet. Drink a glass of freshly squeezed orange juice, or add lemon juice to your salad dressing, or squeeze lime juice into your water, or add a grapefruit to your smoothie. Other foods rich in vitamin C include broccoli, rockmelon, cauliflower, kale, kiwi, papaya, capsicums, sweet potato, leafy greens, berries, and tomatoes.
If you would prefer to take a supplement, simple ascorbic acid is easy to find. Recommended daily intake, according to US Department of Health, for adults is 90mg for males and 75 mg for females with an upper limit 2000mg. If you have any diarrhoea or stomach cramps, please reduce your dosage. Always check with your health practitioner before taking supplements.
Because vitamin C is a powerful antioxidant, it plays a role in the prevention and treatment for many health conditions such as cancer, cardiovascular disease, macular degeneration, cataracts and colds and flues. Vitamin C has the added benefit of increasing the body’s ability to absorb iron from food.
“People who take regular doses of vitamin C live on average six years longer than people who don’t and have less chance of dying from a degenerative disease,” says Dr Thomas Levy, a US cardiologist turned vitamin C researcher.
