Many of us reach for the oranges or vitamin C supplements when we feel a cold coming on, yet research has shown that once you already have cold symptoms, vitamin C only slightly reduces the duration of your illness. While it may not have a direct effect on your cold, vitamin C, or ascorbic acid, is an essential nutrient vital to the body’s healing process. It’s a water-soluble vitamin that is carried to the body’s tissues, but not stored in the body. Our bodies don’t produce this vitamin, so we get vitamin C from food and dietary supplements.
Vitamin C plays a role in the cellular functions of both the innate and adaptive immune system and this is why we need it:
1. Vitamin C is an antioxidant. Antioxidants are substances that can prevent or slow down the damage to cells caused by free radicals1. Free radicals are waste substances produced by cells as it processes food and reacts to the environment. We are exposed to free radicals in the environment such as air pollution, cigarette smoke, pesticides and ultraviolet light from the sun. If the body can’t process and remove the free radicals, oxidative stress can occur, resulting in cell damage.
2. Vitamin C stimulates the migration of white blood cells to the site of an infection, enhances oxidant generation, and microbial killing. It also enhances antibody levels, modulates the production of cytokine (proteins that regulate the cells of the immune system) and decreases histamine levels. In short, it helps the immune system to mount and sustain a response against pathogens, while protecting the host tissue from excessive damage.
3. Vitamin C is also a cofactor for a number of biosynthetic2 and gene regulatory enzymes. It helps with the biosynthesis of collagen, L-carnitine, and certain neurotransmitters. Collagen is a protein that helps wounds heal.
4. Vitamin C improves iron absorption from plant-based foods.
5. Vitamin C helps in the metabolism of folic acid, some amino acids and hormones.
Sources of vitamin C
The best sources of vitamin C come from fruit, vegetables, fortified food or supplements.
Vitamin C can be found in:
• Citrus fruits, such as oranges and grapefruit,
• Red and green pepper
• Kiwifruit
• Broccoli
• Strawberries
• Sweet melon
• Tomatoes
• Baobab powder
• Raw liver, fish roe and eggs. (A diet of only animal foods doesn’t contain enough vitamin C.)
Recommended dosage
In South Africa, the Recommended Daily Amount of vitamin C is 100mg for adults, though the individual recommended dose depends on your age, gender, pregnancy and breastfeeding status.
Though most people get enough vitamin C from a balanced diet, certain groups are at risk of having vitamin C insufficiency:
• Smokers and passive smokers,
• People who have limited food variety, and
• People who have malabsorption or certain chronic diseases.
Severe vitamin C deficiency, despite being rare, can cause scurvy, which is characterized by anaemia, bleeding gums, bruising and poor wound healing.
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