Fruits and Vegetables Rich in Vitamin C

Ascorbic acid (vitamin C) is vital to the maintenance and growth of most of our body tissues, such as collagen, which is also needed for healthy skeletal tissues and wound healing.

Vitamin C also makes your teeth and bones stay strong. It aids the absorption of non-heme iron and iron form present in plant foods, and it is also pivotal to make certain neurotransmitters and protein breakdown/metabolism. The activeness of our immune system also relies on ascorbic acid.

Since it is among the water-soluble vitamins, our bodies do not store this ascorbic acid, so you need to keep replacing your systemic vitamin C daily. According to the National Institutes of Health, women should get up to 75 milligrams of vitamin C daily and men up to 90 milligrams on a daily basis.

Why Is Vitamin C Important?

Ascorbic acid is an antioxidant that protects our body cells from risks from harmful free radicals. Free radicals can cause a lot of changes in DNA and cells that can lead to ill health, including cancer.

The vitamin also plays a rather important role in most body tissues. Without ascorbic acid, the body cannot produce collagen, a protein that is very essential for maintaining and building:

• skin
• joints
• healthy bones
• digestive tract tissues

Ascorbic acid is an important compound to the immune system, which helps to defend against pathogenic organisms, including viruses, bacteria, and others. Some studies show that reduced vitamin C levels lead to complications with the immune system and some other illnesses.

Deficiency in Vitamin C can lead to a condition called scurvy. This deficiency is often rare in the US.

Consequences of this vitamin C deficiency (scurvy) include:

• fatigue
• joint pain
• problems with wound healing
• bleeding gums
• tooth loss
• depression

Health Benefits of Vitamin C Intake

Let us go through the health importance of this important vitamin to our dear health;

Encourages Good Heart Health

Some research evidence suggests that ascorbic acid may help reduce the risk of heart disease or related complications. Another study indicates that folks who consume more vitamin C have a reduced risk of death from heart diseases.

Other researchers are yet unconvinced that only ascorbic acid improves cardiac health. However, consuming more fruits and vegetables helps to boost heart health by providing a wide range of minerals, vitamins, antioxidants, and fiber.

Strengthening The Immune System

Vitamin C (ascorbic acid) has an immune-boosting ability that helps the body combat illnesses symptoms, such as cold and headaches.

A study found that ascorbic acid prevented pneumonia and aid tetanus treatment. Also, some animal study findings claim that vitamin C plays a vital role in reducing pneumonitis (lung inflammation) resulting from the flu.

Lowering The Risks of Cancer

Ascorbic acid is an antioxidant, so it helps prevent damages from harmful free radicals. This, in turn, helps to avoid debilitating issues like cancer.

Investigations into ascorbic acid’s efficiency on cancer prevention have yielded more mixed findings. However, the results of a few studies have been positive:

• A meta-analysis discovered that ascorbic acid was linked to a reduced risk of some types of brain tumors.
• Another research study claimed that high doses of ascorbic acid impaired the development of colorectal tumors in mice.
• Another meta-analyst observed that higher ascorbic acid intake was associated with a reduced risk of pneumonitis.

Fruits Rich in Vitamin C

If you consume a diet that has a lot of fruits and vegetables, you ought to be getting enough of the C vitamin. But if you are not very sure, it might be pertinent to include these 10 delicacies that are very high in vitamin C to your daily ration;

01.   Mango

Mangoes are very high in this ascorbic acid and beta-carotene, and it helps in strengthening immunity as well. Green mangoes have more ascorbic acid (vitamin C) content than their red or yellow counterparts.

02.   American Persimmons

Persimmon is an orange-colored fruit that looks like a tomato. There are many known varieties of it.

Although the Japanese persimmon remains the most known, and the American persimmon (Diospyros virginiana) contains about nine times more vitamin C.

A single American persimmon has about16.5 mg of vitamin C (18% of DV)

3. Oranges and Orange Juice

One glass of orange juice contains about 120 mg of vitamin C, so you only have to takes one serving to meet your daily requirement of vitamin C.

Oranges and their juice are also brilliant folate sources, lutein potassium, and vitamin A (retinol). Whole oranges are also very high in fiber, with most of the fiber lost whenever you drink the juice.

04.   Broccoli

Apart from being a very good vegetable for our overall health, broccoli is also a brilliant and natural source of ascorbic acid, which helps to repair worn out tissues and enhancing a strong immunity.

05.   Brussels Sprouts

One-and-half cup of cooked Brussels sprouts offers about 49 mg or 54% of the daily requirement for ascorbic acid (vitamin C). Like almost all cruciferous vegetables, Brussels sprouts are also very high in dietary fiber, vitamin K, folate (vitamin B9), retinol (vitamin A), potassium, and manganese.

Both vitamins K and C are important for our healthy bones. In particular, vitamin C aids the synthesis of collagen, which is the rigid and fibrous part of our bones.

6. Grapefruit

Grapefruits are so much related to oranges. So it is not really much of a surprise that they are also very high in ascorbic acid. One-and-half of a grapefruit has almost 45 mg of the vitamin, plus potassium, fiber, and plenty of retinol (vitamins A). Grapefruit provides only but 41 calories, making it a-good-news for folks who crave eating healthier or reduce weight.

Grapefruits are mildly sour, although ruby red specie tends to be sweeter. You might also wish to add a light sprinkle of sweeteners such as sugar before taking them. You may also slice up the grapefruits and add them directly to your salads.

07.   Guava

Red and yellow fruits are often credited with having high levels of vitamins, but guava is yet another fruit that stands tall to falsify the credits. Just a single guava fruit of 100 g weight has over 200mg of ascorbic acid content (according to the USDA), which is about twice as high as the vitamin C level in an orange.

08.   Lychees

One lychee fruits provide roughly 7 mg of the vitamin or about 7.5% of the DV, and just a one-cup serving provides 151% of the DV.

Lychees are rich in omega-6 fatty acids and omega-3, which helps to maintain the normal functioning of your heart, brain, and blood vessels.

Studies specifically on lychee are unavailable. Nonetheless, this fruit provides plenty of vitamin C, which is known for its inevitable role in collagen formation and blood circulatory health.

A 196,000 people observational finding discovered that those who took the highest vitamin C had an approximate 42% reduction in stroke risk. And each additional unit serving of vegetables or fruits reduced the risk of stroke by a further 17 percent.

9. Green Peppers

A medium-sized green bell pepper claims about 95 mg of ascorbic acid, which is just optimum for a full day’s requirement. Green peppers also offer about 8 percent of our daily requirements of vitamins K and A and 15 percent of that of vitamin B6. One full green pepper has just 24 calories.

You may slice your green peppers or chop them to be added to a salad or used as spices in a variety of delicacies. Ensure to choose green peppers with unblemished skin and are bright green.

10. Cooked Cabbage

Raw cabbage can add a little amount of vitamin C to your daily intake; nonetheless, cooked cabbage has even more. Though cooking lowers the amount of vitamin C in any food, it also decreases the volume, so you will likely get more vitamin C for every cup of cooked cabbage.

Cooking cabbage makes it to shrink. Thus the amount of vitamin C in equal portions of raw against the cooked cabbage should be higher in the cooked form. It may take about two cups of raw cabbage to yield a single cup of cooked cabbage.

That’s probably why one cup of raw cabbage has about 30mg of vitamin C, whereas a cup of cooked cabbage has close to 60 mg.