Vitamin C and Human Body

The human body has a mechanism to sense ingestion of toxic substances and discharge them to the outside of the body, thereby eliminating vitamin C. People often unknowingly ingest hazardous substances including food additives, preservatives, and agricultural chemicals in their normal diet as well as trihalomethane in drinking water. Medicines are perceived as foreign substances when ingested into the body. Tobacco fumes and cosmetic additives may also be absorbed into the body through skin. Due to these factors, human beings are continually vulnerable to several kinds of nonliving substances getting into the body. Vitamin C is used in the body to help eliminating those unwanted substances, protecting the human body.

The Japanese Ministry of Health, Labor and Welfare recommends 100mg per day. (The Vitamin Society of Japan recommends 500mg per day.) It is also suggested that pregnant women take 10mg more and breast-feeding mothers 50mg extra. There are several other factors necessitating further vitamin C intake: advanced age and aging, habitual smoking, drinking, exercise, work, stress, injuries, infections, and imbalanced hormone secretion. It is also wise to take vitamin C after meals to improve the rate of vitamin C absorption.

People with high blood pressure or cholesterol, those suffering minor or uncertain health problems, and those having obvious illness require 1 to 2 grams or more for its pharmacological effect. For people taking other medications, it is also desirable to take vitamin C at the same time. Some medications reduce the body’s discharge of vitamin C, while vitamin C in turn improves pharmacological effect of some medications and prevents side effects.

Let's have a look at some examples of the major benefits of vitamin C.