Think that morning orange juice is just a tasty beverage? Think again. Vitamin C’s many benefits make it a powerhouse in anti-aging therapy.
Vitamin C, also known as ascorbic acid, is a water-soluble vitamin that’s crucial to the body in many respects; it’s needed for tissue growth and repair, healing of wounds, and to produce healthy cartilage, bones, and teeth. It’s not stored in the body so it must be constantly replenished through a diet rich in fruits and vegetables, which are the most important sources of the vitamin.
Though vitamin C was not identified and isolated until the 1930s, it’s protective properties have been known for centuries. In the 1700s the British navy discovered that adding citrus fruits to sailors’ diets effectively prevented scurvy, a debilitating and often fatal disease that is the direct manifestation of severe vitamin C deficiency. In addition, the vitamin has also been shown to be effective at preventing the common cold.
But recent research is indicating that vitamin C is important to health in many more ways, including the treatment and prevention of a wide range of age-related diseases and disorders.
A Powerful Antioxidant
One of the most exciting discoveries about vitamin C is its antioxidant capability. Antioxidants are substances which can prevent and repair cellular damage caused by free radicals, unstable molecules formed during the natural but potentially harmful process of cellular oxidation. Free radical damage is closely associated with many age-related diseases, so antioxidants are one of the first lines of defense in anti-aging therapy.
Vitamin C For Heart Health
A growing body of research indicates that vitamin C is crucial to heart health. Low levels of the vitamin are directly associated with increased risk of coronary and cardiovascular disease, with some studies showing that supplemental vitamin C lowered the risk for men by as much as 42% and for women by 25%.
In addition, studies have shown that supplemental vitamin C may actually be cardioprotective. The Nurses’ Health Study, a 16-year project monitoring more than 85,000 women, showed that higher levels of the vitamin were associated with a 27-28% reduction in coronary heart disease risk.
Vitamin C for Cancer Prevention
One of the most exciting aspects of the vitamin is its potential as a cancer preventative. Both case-control and prospective studies show that a substantial boost in vitamin C intake (amounts greater than 83 mg per day) significantly lowered the risk of a wide range of cancers, including cancers of the cancers of the mouth, throat, esophagus. stomach, colon, rectum, and lung.
Raising vitamin C levels has also been shown to lower risk of breast cancer, with studies indicating risk reductions of more than 60% in women who consumed more than 200 mgs of the vitamin daily.
Vitamin C for Brain Function
Getting enough vitamin C can be important to brain function, mental alertness, and mood, particularly in older people. One of the vitamin’s most important tasks is to help in the body’s synthesis of norepinephrine, a crucial neurotransmitter. In addition, Vitamin C’s potent antioxidant properties help protect brain cells from free radical damage and can help prevent depression, increase learning capability, and enhance motor skills.
Vitamin C for Better Vision
As a strong antioxidant, vitamin C excels at protecting the eyes against age-related diseases like cataracts and macular degeneration.
Cataracts, a condition in which the lens of the eye becomes opaque, are a common and widespread age-related disorder found in more than half of all people over age 65. Research on how vitamin C effects cataracts is ongoing, but early studies show tremendous potential for cataract prevention.
A Tufts University study of 247 women indicated that long-term vitamin C supplementation could dramatically lower the risk of cataract development. According to the study, women who had taken supplements of the vitamin for 10 years or more had a 77% lower risk of early lens opacities and an 83% lower risk of moderate lens opacities than women who did not take supplements.
A lower risk of macular degeneration, one of the leading causes of blindness, has also been associated with increased vitamin C levels. A major clinical trial sponsored by the National Eye Institute showed that supplementation reduced the risk of moderate or severe AMD-related vision loss by as much as 25 percent.
