If you’re only using vitamin C for slowing down a cold… You have to take a look at this. Here are five ways you can use vitamin C to look and feel healthier.

5 Overlooked Benefits of Vitamin C

In All Health Watch, Anti-Aging, Diet and Nutrition, Featured Article, Longevity, Skincare

What’s one of the easiest—and cheapest—ways to boost your health from head to toe? Get more vitamin C.

You’ve heard about its immune-boosting abilities… It fights off illness and helps you recover from colds faster. But there are other reasons why this nutrient is a superstar you want to get more of…

Here are five unsung benefits of vitamin C you can start taking advantage of today.

1. Stay Smiling Longer: Add more vitamin C to your diet, and your dentist will be impressed by your gum health. Imagine no irritation or bleeding when they poke around with their tools.

Vitamin C keeps gingivitis—inflammation of the gums—in check. It also helps fight gum infections.1 One study found vitamin C chewing gum can reduce plaque buildup and bleeding in your mouth.2 We don’t recommend relying on gum… But it shows how getting more of this vitamin is an easy way to help keep your mouth healthy.

2. Breathe Easier: You may have heard this vitamin can relieve congestion… But did you know it can help people with severe breathing problems, too? Even asthma sufferers.

That’s because vitamin C fights airway inflammation. It does this in two ways. First, it suppresses histamines from being released…and helps break down any that do get out. It’s also a potent antioxidant that fights the free radicals you breathe in wherever you go.

You’ll want to take 1–2 grams a day to experience this benefit.3 That may seem like a lot… But unlike inhalers and other asthma prescriptions, the risk of side effects is low. Even at higher doses.

3. Save Your Skin: Health Watch readers know vitamin D3 protects your skin from burning in the sun. But it’s not the only natural solution for saving your skin. Vitamin C can also help prevent sunburns.4

And if you’ve built up some sun damage in your lifetime… You’ll be happy to know getting more vitamin C may help fight the resulting signs of aging. Participants in one study applied a serum with 10% vitamin C to their skin every day. After three months, their skin had fewer fine lines, less roughness, and an overall younger appearance.5

4. Keep the Bugs Out: I’m talking about H. pylori, to be specific. These bacteria destroy the mucous lining in your stomach. Then they put out a welcome mat for other “bad” bacteria by lowering your stomach’s acidity. And to make matters worse… These bugs are known to cause stomach cancer.6

You can avoid this problem just by adding more vitamin C to your diet. Researchers in Italy found taking 500 mg of vitamin C once a day for six months is all it takes to keep H. pylori out of your stomach.7

5. Keep Your Blood Flowing: You may recall that eating healthy fats and exercising can keep your cholesterol levels and blood pressure balanced. Well, vitamin C is another way to give your circulatory system a healthy boost.

If you have mild elevations in blood pressure, taking a vitamin C supplement may be able to lower it by 5 mm/Hg.8 Better yet, eating the fruits and vegetables highest in vitamin C may protect you from having a stroke.9 Broccoli, red peppers, and strawberries are good options. They all contain more vitamin C than oranges.10

The best source of supplemental vitamin C is the liposomal kind. That means it’s mixed with fat. This makes it easier for your body to absorb. You can find it at some health food stores… But it’s easier to find online. Try to get one that is free of soy.

There are plenty of lotions and serums infused with vitamin C for your skin as well. Look for the options that say “phthalate and paraben-free” on the label.

What other perks are there to getting more vitamin C? Tell us how you use it to improve your health.

In Good Health,

Angela Salerno
Publisher, INH Health Watch

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If you’re only using vitamin C for slowing down a cold… You have to take a look at this. Here are five ways you can use vitamin C to look and feel healthier.

References:
1https://naturalmedicines.therapeuticresearch.com/databases/food,-herbs-supplements/professional.aspx?productid=1001
2http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/15693825?dopt=Abstract
3Murray, M. (2002). Vitamin C. In The Pill Book Guide to Natural Medicines: Vitamins, Minerals, Nutritional Supplements, Herbs, and Other Natural Products (pp. 92-93). New York, New York: Bantam Books.
4http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/9870553?dopt=Abstract
5http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/10522500?dopt=Abstract
6http://www.cancer.gov/about-cancer/causes-prevention/risk/infectious-agents/h-pylori-fact-sheet#q3
7http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/11012475?dopt=Abstract
8Idem, pg. 95
9http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/10517425?dopt=Abstract
10http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2012/04/27/vitamin-c-foods_n_1457397.html