All of us are aware of the importance of vitamins to keep our bodies healthy and strong. These vitamins play an essential role in supplying the needed nutrients needed by our different body systems to function effectively and protect it from the development of infections and diseases. Vitamin C is one of those vitamins. Actually many people take it as a supplement everyday to help boost their immune system. In fact, it is believed that vitamin C is the most consumed vitamin by most people.

A good source of vitamin C would be fruits and vegetables. Examples of fruits that are rich in this vitamin include those that belong to the citrus fruit family like oranges, lime, lemons and grapefruits. Other fruits are strawberries, cantaloupe, kiwi fruit, papaya, and guava. Vegetable rich in vitamin C are brussel sprouts, tomatoes, cabbage, broccoli, green peppers, chilies, and cauliflower.

Vitamin C helps prevents colds and is an anti-oxidant which means that it helps rid the body of harmful radicals. It also helps produce the connective tissue found on bones and in the skin called collagen. It enables faster healing of wounds and helps in iron absorption.

Vitamin C also helps prevent the development of infections and fights it in its early stages. It also gives you strong resistance against other viruses.

The recommended daily dose of vitamin C is between 75-90 mg. Although others like chain smokers are recommended a much higher dosage of between 100-200 mg a day since the vitamin C found in the body is destroyed by smoking.

People actually benefit from increased intake levels of vitamin C as long as it is not over 1000 mg per day. It is even advised that you increase your vitamin C dosage when experiencing stress or when you are exposing yourself to infections like a friend having colds or a sick sibling. The body also uses more vitamin C if you are taking in oral contraceptives and antibiotics.

For your body to best absorb vitamin C it is recommended that you take throughout the day several small doses of it. Increased dosages actually lessen the percentage of absorption and the excess that is not absorbed would just be released by the body like when you urinate.

Vitamin C is water soluble so even if you take it in high doses it is not harmful because the excess will just be eliminated by your body. But when in extremely high doses it can cause nausea, diarrhea and stomach cramps. It can even increase the possibility of you developing kidney stones.

I would recommend that to get your daily dose of vitamin C you should eat a good serving of fruits and vegetables daily instead of relying on supplements.