Vitamin C Foods - More Than Just Oranges
The most famous of all vitamin C foods is probably oranges or orange juice. But there are a few vitamin C foods that actually provide a bigger dose of this important nutrient. Vitamin C is probably the most popular vitamin, and it is estimated that up to 40 percent of Americans take some form vitamin C every day.
Vitamin C, also known as ascorbic acid, helps the body fend off infections and that's what it is most famous for. Many people will up their intake of vitamin C foods when they feel a cold or the flu coming on. Vitamin C also helps the body with the healing of cuts and wounds. In fact, one way to determine if a person is vitamin C deficient is by evaluating how quickly a wound heals.
Besides those benefits, vitamin C protects the teeth and gums from damage and helps prevent cataracts. Vitamin C is also an antioxidant, which means that it can help prevent cancer, cardiovascular disease, joint problems and other chronic illnesses.
Now to the tasty stuff. There are actually five different foods that have a higher vitamin C content than oranges, with papayas topping the list of vitamin C foods at over 300 percent of the recommended daily allowance, or RDA.
Other vitamin C foods are:
• bell peppers
• broccoli
• Brussels sprouts
• cabbage
• cantaloupe
• cauliflower
• kale
• kiwi fruit
• strawberries
• tomatoes
Besides the whopping amount of vitamin C found in papayas, bell peppers, broccoli, Brussels sprouts and strawberries all provide more than 100 percent of the RDA. And of course there are the citrus fruits. But oranges are not the only vitamin C food in the citrus category. There are also grapefruits, lemons and limes.
Some lesser-known vitamin C foods include: apples, avocados, bananas, beets, cayenne pepper, celery, cucumbers, grapes, greens, raspberries, snow peas, spinach and zucchini.
The RDA of vitamin C is 90 milligrams for adult males and 75 milligrams for adult females. Lactating females are usually advised to boost their intake of vitamin C to 120 milligrams per day.
The disease known as scurvy is directly caused by a diet deficient in vitamin C foods. Scurvy is uncommon in the United States, but poor healing after being cut or repeated bouts with colds and flue are signs of vitamin C deficiency that are even seen here in America. The most common reason for lack of vitamin C is the failure to have enough vitamin C foods in the daily diet.
There are no documented cases of vitamin C overdose, although supplemental doses of 5 grams or more have been known to cause diarrhea. The maximum recommended tolerable dosage of vitamin C for adults is 2 grams, or 2000 milligrams.