Vitamin C – Not Just for Colds
Vitamin C is the vitamin of choice when it comes to treating the common cold; it is one of the most popular vitamins for boosting immunity but did you know Vitamin C is not just for colds? Vitamin C (ascorbic acid) is an antioxidant vitamin; it helps prevent free radicals which may generate cellular injury and disease. Vitamin C has been shown to stimulate the immune system; stimulate antioxidant function thereby helping in the prevention of infections and other diseases.
Did you know that another important function of vitamin C is the formation and maintenance of Collagen? Collagen is an important body protein that is the basic matrix of 
the connective tissues, skin, cartilage, ligaments, vertebral disks, joint linings, capillary walls, bones and teeth. Vitamin C and collagen are needed to give support to the body, to help wounds heal, and to maintain healthy blood vessels. Ascorbic acid (C) works as a co enzyme to convert proline and lysine to hydroxyproline and hydroxylysine – important to the collagen structure. So what does all this mean to us, the general population? Well, if vitamin C is helpful in maintaining healthy collagen by allowing it to support the body’s cells and tissues, bring rapid healing to injured or aging cells, then I would say this is the vitamin most recommended for the healing of inflammatory pain – sometimes associated with rigorous training. I myself would highly recommend taking a dose daily to see how it helps you. You will quickly discover that Vitamin C is not just for colds, but for all healing and inflammatory pain you may be experiencing.
Requirements – Vitamin C needs are increased with all kinds of stress; so that also
means over-training your body too. Smoking depletes C levels as well as using birth control pills, cortisone use, viral infections and alcohol use. It is a good idea to up your dosage of vitamin C in these conditions. Vitamin C is water-soluble, meaning it is excreted out approximately every 2 hours. It is safe to take up to 500-1000mg daily (taken about every 2-3 hours throughout the day). For maintenance one can take 100-250mg daily as a part of your supplement regimen.
Be sure to stop by our uptown store and chat; I will be giving some feed-back on what my benefits are from re-introducing the amazing C into my supplement regime. Looking forward to hearing your thoughts on what your experiences are too!
