Get Radiant Skin and Several Health Benefits from Vitamin C Superfoods

Vitamin C is one of the most popular and widely used vitamins in the world. 

Also known as ascorbic acid, vitamin C is the most readily available vitamin and there are good reasons it is the most widely purchased supplement worldwide.  

This citrus vitamin has numerous health benefits. 

Vitamin C has been shown to reduce the severity and duration of the common cold in several studies.  It does this by acting as a natural antihistamine as well as providing the immune system with a crucial nutrient for the healing process.  

Natural antihistamine properties make vitamin C a great choice to control allergies! 

Let’s talk collagen!  Collagen is the main structural protein found in connective tissues such as tendons, ligaments, skin, cartilage, bones, blood vessels, and intervertebral discs.  Vitamin C plays a role in the formation and repair of collagen.  Due to this important function, vitamin C is useful for healing wounds.  Cuts, broken bones, and burns heal faster and better with oral supplementation of vitamin C.  

Vitamin C prevents the aging of skin by rebuilding collagen.  Healthy collagen keeps skin tissue strong and firm.  The antioxidant properties help your skin recover from sun and weather damage – making it softer, healthier, and younger looking. 

This readily available vitamin aids proper function of the circulatory system by repairing the collagen in blood vessels.  Your heart will thank you for preventing arterial wall damage and oxidation of cholesterol in the bloodstream – the first steps towards heart disease. 

If you know antioxidants – then you know vitamin C is one of the best.

Antioxidants protect the body from oxidants.  Oxidants damage cells and the DNA within them, which increases risk of cancer and other diseases.  Oxidants also accelerate the aging of body tissues.  These little terrors cause a chain reaction, which produces free radicals within the body.  These free radicals accumulate within cells and cause death to tissues.  

As you get older, your body is more susceptible to free radical damage.  Antioxidants such as vitamin C prevent the oxidant process and protect cells from free radical damage.

Vitamin C keeps the body feeling younger, stronger, and healthier for longer.  

Your body can process supplements but they won’t provide the boost you can get from nature’s pharmacy: FOOD.  If you want the best results and the most complete benefits of vitamin C, look no further than your grocery store.  

Top 7 Foods Rich in Vitamin C 

1. Kakadu Plum: this fruit is not well known outside its native country of Australia.  However, it boasts the highest Vitamin C concentration of any known food on earth.  A kakadu plum contains 1000-5000 milligrams of vitamin C per 100 grams.  It is also a rich source of magnesium and calcium.  Fresh kakadu is tough to find but the juice and extract can be purchased from health food stores. 
2. Yellow bell pepper: one pepper contains 341.3 milligrams of vitamin C. 
3. Kale: one cup chopped (67 grams) contains 80.4 milligrams of vitamin C. 
4. Broccoli: one cup chopped (92 grams) contains 81.2 milligrams of vitamin C.
5. Strawberries: one cup sliced (166 grams) contains 97.6 milligrams of vitamin C.
6. Oranges: one orange (131 grams) contains 69.7 milligrams of vitamin C
7. Tomatoes: two Roma tomatoes diced (246 grams) 56.1 milligrams of vitamin C. 

Vitamin C is an abundant vitamin found in several types of foods.  This makes supplementing the diet with vitamin C-rich foods easy and delicious.  Regardless of how it is consumed, vitamin C is a beneficial addition to any healthy diet.

REFERENCES

http://health.howstuffworks.com/wellness/food-nutrition/vitamin-supplements/vitamin-c-benefits.htm

http://www.lef.org/magazine/mag2009/may2009_Revitalizing-Aging-Skin-with-Topical-Vitamin-C_01.htm

http://www.naturalnews.com/040649_kakadu_plum_antioxidant_foods_australia.html

http://www.healthaliciousness.com/articles/vitamin-C.php