Vitamin C

Vitamin C, also known as ascorbic acid, is one of the most commonly known about and used vitamins for humans. Vitamin C is not made within the body, although in some living organisms, it is. One of the most well-known facts on vitamin C is that it is a vitamin C deficiency that is known to cause scurvy. Vitamin C is an antioxidant that helps the body fight outside stressors, including illness-causing mechanisms and more.

Vitamin C is often used as a food additive, not only as an antioxidant, but also as an acidity regulator, which is why foods high in vitamin C are commonly known to be citrus fruit and juices. There are many benefits of vitamin C, and many proponents of the vitamin consider it to pretty much be a preventative medicine and a curer of many diseases and illnesses. Vitamin C boosts the immune system within the body, and some vitamin C indicator studies have shown that it can help with AIDS, heart disease, and more. There have also been studies showing that hypertention and garlic or vitamin C can make a difference, reducing levels. Among the many vitamin C experiments, one study that is in the process, but will take years to show results, is the use of a vitamin C serum given intravenously to cancer patients who have exhausted all other medical options. Vitamin C supplements are available in a variety of forms including many natural foods, a topical vitamin C powder, liquid vitamin C and vitamin C pills or tablets.

The FDA warns against taking in too much vitamin C, and states that one can experience a vitamin C overdose which begins with the symptom of diarrhea. To avoid an overdose of vitamin C, the FDA recommends that the average healthy adult take in no more than 2,000 milligrams per day (this is the highest limit set, but recommended amounts are about 1/10 of this). However, many scientists have been trying to prove for years that this is too low of a number, and that vitamin C is absorbed and used so quickly in the body that more benefits would be reached if this amount were raised. In the past, the United States and Europe had the highest number of ascorbic acid manufacturers, but China is slowly moving past both of these to become the top supplier. Regardless of who the manufacturer is, vitamin C remains one of the most commonly taken vitamin supplements on the market.