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10 things you might not know about vitamin C

2 MIN READ January 22, 2019
We all know the importance of that good ol’ vitamin C for our immune system and general wellbeing – we just chew on a few tablets or eat a few oranges and we’re good to go. But vitamin C actually has many more health benefits…

1. It’s also called ascorbic acid which is the name for the form of vitamin C found in most foods.

2. Vitamin C can’t be stored in the human body which means that you need as much vitamin C from external sources as you can get each day.

3. Most plants and animals produce their own vitamin C but humans can’t. During our evolution, it seems we lost one of the four enzymes needed to produce it so we now need to get it elsewhere.

4. Oranges are usually seen as the go-to fruit when you want a hit of vitamin C, but did you know that tomatoes, strawberries, spinach and broccoli are also great sources of this vitamin?

5. Ever heard of scurvy? This happens when you have a deficiency in vitamin C and was common amongst early sailors who would be at sea for extended periods without valuable sources of this vitamin.

6. Smoking actually causes the body to excrete more vitamin C, so if you’re a smoker, you’ll need to double up on your vitamin C intake.

7. As well as boosting your immune system and preventing conditions like scurvy, vitamin C also helps your body to absorb iron, making them great to take together.

8. Interestingly, vitamin C was the first vitamin to be man-made, produced in a factory and taken in a pill form.

9. Vitamin C was discovered by Nobel Prize winning scientist Albert Szent Gyorgyi in the 1930s.

10. Vitamin C is also a great antihistamine and can reduce allergy symptoms, so if you’re feeling the hayfever this summer, get some vitamin C into you, stat!

 


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