Vitamin C, also known as ascorbic acid, has long been known as the vitamin that people take when they want to stave off illnesses. There is evidence that taking vitamin C can lower your chances of catching some kinds of viral sicknesses.
The reason behind this is because of the antioxidant properties it has. Some people take the vitamin when they want to feel better if they already have something like a cold or the flu because it’s known to help.
But this vitamin is also known to be a good way of boosting your immune system all the time not just for when you need help fighting something off. This is one of the reasons why you should have some every day.
Your immune system can affect every bit of your body which is why taking certain vitamins is imperative. When you add Vitamin C to the mix, it improves the way your system can handle everything.
That includes outer body issues as well. Vitamin C can help your immune system handle things like healing your skin when you get injured or get a skin infection. That’s because the vitamin boosts the amount of collagen the body makes which is effective in healing from a skin issue.
No one likes to get sick. It can cause anxiety as well as stress when it happens. This vitamin can also lower the stress that you can sometimes experience when you do get sick.
It also aids your adrenal glands in being able to bounce back. If you don’t have enough vitamin C it negatively impacts these glands by limiting their ability to deal with stress.
The way that vitamin C works to boost your immune health is found in its relationship to the white blood cells.
It causes your body to ramp up the number of white blood cells that your body has.
White blood cells are what rush to your aid when you get sick, get an infection, or whatever.
When you get enough vitamin C, it works with the white blood cells to make sure they have the power to fight off whatever is attacking your system. When you do get sick, your body attempts to rely on vitamin C.
There’s a good reason that your body does this. What you may not realize is that your immune system draws from the antibodies that vitamin C has. When your body’s system needs help, it’ll seek to get it first from the cells containing this antioxidant.
When there’s enough vitamin C, all is well, and your immune system can handle the illness. But when there’s not, then you’ll find that not only will you remain sicker for a longer period of time, but you also seem to catch every little bug that comes along.
Because there are times that your body has enough vitamin C for fighting off whatever comes, you may not necessarily notice at first when you don’t. What you need to remember is that every single time you do get sick, you need to add the vitamin C back into your system because your body is using it.
If you don’t make sure that you add more, then you can have a deficit. Then you won’t have enough vitamin C to fight off anything. You can add vitamin C through the foods that you eat that are rich in this antioxidant.
That means you’ll need to make sure that you eat the right amount of servings of fruits and vegetables that are rich in this. But keep in mind that the serving sizes were suggested as a daily value.
When you get sick, your daily value needs to be increased to meet the demand on your immune system. Something that you should keep in mind is that although there are some vitamins and minerals that the body can make on its own, vitamin C isn’t one of them.
That means you have to get it from the foods that you eat. If you don’t eat a lot of foods that contain this valuable vitamin, your immune system can be deficient. You can tell it doesn’t have enough vitamin C if you experience issues such as wounds that take too long to heal or your skin gets noticeably dry.
You might also develop problems with your teeth and hair as well. To get enough vitamin C make sure you eat plenty of citrus fruits and the vegetables that contain the vitamin.
You’ll find this in fruits like oranges or mangos. But vitamin C is also plentiful in berry fruits like blueberries and strawberries. Pineapples and grapefruit are also a good source.
Vegetables that contain the vitamin are ones like sweet potatoes or cabbage. You can also find it in spinach, green peppers, broccoli and more. The amount of vitamin C that you need daily will depend on whether you’re a man or woman and whether or not you’ve recently been ill.
If you’re trying to get it from natural foods, then you’ll want to try to eat five servings a day. Some people who find that they just can’t seem to get enough vitamin C in their diet or those who’ve been struggling to get their immune system to work better may want to consider taking a supplement.
Vitamin C will help you keep a lot of illness away and it will help give your immune system a boost. Plus, it’s one of the key factors in helping your good gut bacteria to thrive.
When your gut is healthier, so is your immune system because your gut makes up the majority portion of your immune system.
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Oleia Ann is a biochemist, agripreneur/organic farmer, formulator of Oleia Topical Oil. She advocates taking organic whole foods for medicine, as she promotes supplementation with high-quality nutrients, antioxidants and herbal extracts when, at times, available foods are lacking in nutritional value or when the immune system is compromised due to unhealthy lifestyle.
