Vitamin C (ascorbic acid): what it is needed for and what foods it is found in. Which fruits, vegetables and berries contain the most vitamin C?

Vitamin C is a water-soluble vitamin. In fact, several forms of this substance are combined under this general name - ascorbigen, isoascorbic acid, ascorbyl palmitate, calcium ascorbate, etc.

In the old days, during long journeys, with a lack of vitamin C in the diet, people developed a disease called scurvy, and translated into Latin as “sorrow.” The name “ascorbic acid” comes precisely from this word, which means “anti-scurvy.”

Vitamin C is highly soluble in water and alcohol solutions, inactivated in alkaline and neutral media, and quite stable in slightly acidic media. In general, this is a very unstable substance that quickly breaks down at elevated temperatures upon contact with metals. Prolonged soaking of products leads to the transfer of most of the ascorbic acid into water, and after 2-3 months of storing fresh vegetables and fruits, half of the vitamin contained in them is destroyed.

Most vitamin C is found in foods of plant origin - fruits, berries, vegetables and herbs. They can contain it in oxidized, free and bound forms. In the bound state, ascorbic acid is absorbed much less well, and in the oxidized form its activity is the same as in the free form.

• Brussels sprouts – 120;
• Sweet green pepper – 150;
• Ground tomatoes – 100;
• Orange – 60;
• Fresh rose hips – 470;
• Black currant – 200;
• Horseradish – 55;
• Cranberry – 15;
• Sea buckthorn – 200;
• Spinach – 55;
• Parsley greens – 150;
• Sauerkraut – 30;
• Garden strawberries – 60;
• White cabbage – 45;
• Antonovka apples – 30;
• Lemon – 40;
• Mandarin – 38;
• Parsley root – 35;
• Fresh chanterelles – 34;
• Rutabaga – 30;
• Cherry – 15;
• Gooseberries – 30;
• Radish – 29;
• Full-fat kefir – 0.7;
• Fresh green peas – 25;
• Raspberries – 25;
• Radish – 25;
• Quince – 23;
• Potatoes – 20;
• Bean pods – 20;
• Lingonberry – 15;
• Salad –15;
• Apricots – 10;
• Bananas – 10;
• Onions – 10;
• Watermelon – 7.

Heat treatment destroys up to 90% of vitamin C in foods. During long-term transportation of fruits and vegetables from their place of growth, the vitamin C content in them also decreases. This does not happen if the food is quickly frozen before transportation. To preserve ascorbic acid in them for as long as possible, you should store them in a cool and dark place.

Vitamin C intake standards

The need for ascorbic acid differs at different periods of life; it is higher in living conditions in the Far North during pregnancy and breastfeeding, under stress and physical activity, and in the presence of bad habits.

Children in the first six months of life require 30 mg/day of ascorbic acid, from 6 to 12 months – 35 mg/day, from 1 to 3 years – 40 mg/day, from 4 to 10 years – 45 mg/day.

Boys from 11 to 14 years old need 50 mg of ascorbic acid per day, men under 50 years old 60 mg/day, over 50 years old - 70 mg/day.

For girls aged 11-14 years, 50 mg/day of ascorbic acid is enough, for women under 60 years old, 60 mg/day; during pregnancy, the need increases to 100 mg/day, during lactation up to 120 mg/day.

The role of ascorbic acid in the body

The role of vitamin C in the body can hardly be overestimated; it is involved in many important processes in the body:

• Takes part in the formation of collagen - the main component of connective tissue;
• Makes the walls of blood vessels stronger;
• Increases immune defense;
• Reduces cholesterol levels;
• Participates in the synthesis of adrenaline, in the metabolism of folic acid;
• Protects the body from oxygen free radicals;
• Reduces the harmful effects of excess sugar;
• Improves tissue regeneration;
• Increases resistance to stress;
• Stimulates the conversion of ferrous iron into trivalent iron, which is better absorbed by the body.

Signs of Vitamin C Deficiency

In the case of hypovitaminosis, the body's resistance to infectious diseases decreases, the appearance of the skin and hair deteriorates - the skin becomes excessively dry, flabby, wrinkles appear, pinpoint hemorrhages in the area of ​​the hair follicles, hair falls out easily and becomes dull.

Vitamin C deficiency can be recognized by the following symptoms:

• Increased bleeding of the gums, hemorrhages in the subcutaneous tissue (“bruises”);
• Pain in joints and muscles;
• Apathy, irritability, fatigue;
• Poor healing of wounds and cuts;
• Reduced blood pressure.

Hypovitaminosis predisposes to obesity.

Signs of excess vitamin C

Ingestion of large doses of ascorbic acid causes an overdose, which manifests itself in a deterioration of neuromuscular transmission, and hence increased fatigue. Coordination of movements and their coordination with the visual analyzer are impaired. Malfunctions of the pancreas and liver occur, which provokes digestive disorders. Excess ascorbic acid acidifies the urine and can cause precipitation of urates and oxalates.

Use of vitamin C for medicinal purposes

Ascorbic acid is used in treatment regimens for allergic diseases, acute respiratory viral infections and colds, herpes, obesity, depression, increased anxiety, hyperactivity syndrome, atherosclerosis, osteochondrosis, osteoarthritis, anemia, alcoholism and others.

It is known that a lack of vitamin C provokes the development of cancer. The vitamin is taken to increase physical and emotional stability. Its doses are individual depending on age and disease. For prevention, adults take 50-100 mg of ascorbic acid after meals once a day. The average therapeutic dose is 50-100 mg 3-5 times a day. Preparations based on ascorbic acid for oral administration and solutions for intravenous and intramuscular administration have been created.

Contraindications to vitamin C

Vitamin C, also called ascorbic acid, is one of the most important vitamins for humans. It is involved in a huge number of chemical reactions, is necessary for the formation of tissues (including bone), participates in the processes of oxidation, hormone synthesis, and the formation of immunity. On the other hand, its deficiency leads to the development of severe syndromes, and in its neglected form - to deadly diseases, for example, scurvy.

And most importantly: this substance is not produced in the human body. Therefore, it is so important to constantly eat foods with vitamin C in order to fully cover the need for it.

Most people have a general idea of ​​what foods contain vitamin C - it is well known that fresh berries, fruits and vegetables are the richest in it; in somewhat smaller quantities it is included in processed products of natural plant materials and dishes containing the same vegetables and fruits are in prepared form. It is present in meat and fish, but in very small quantities, and very little of it in dairy products: they contain ascorbic acid, but they cannot be considered as a significant source of this vitamin.

Next, we will see that neither meat nor dairy products can cover a person’s daily need for vitamin C - a person simply does not eat enough of these products per day to contain the required dosage of ascorbic acid.

On a note

It is difficult to say how many people have died in the entire history of mankind due to scurvy, as a consequence of a lack of vitamin C. Until the 18th century, this was a common disease in the navy, and hundreds of gold miners who went to the north suffered from it - in all these cases, people did not know where vitamin C is contained, and even if they could consume large amounts of meat and bread, they did not have enough products with vitamin C, which is why vitamin deficiency developed. It is believed that over two centuries - from 1600 to 1800 - more than 1 million sailors died from scurvy in the navy alone - more than in all naval battles during the same time. According to the British navy, the number of sailors who died from scurvy was 90 times greater than the number of people killed in battle. It was only when the famous physician James Lind discovered that regular consumption of lemons and lemon juice can prevent terrible symptoms (for example, when people have scurvy, their teeth fall out), the story of man’s acquaintance with vitamin C began.

At the same time, a normal, balanced diet contains sufficient amounts of vitamin C, and there is usually no reason to worry about its deficiency. Understanding which foods and in what quantities vitamin C is found is usually necessary for people whose diet is severely limited for one reason or another. For them, the list of such products is very important; it is on this basis that they either have to adjust their diet and introduce foods containing large amounts of vitamin C into it, or use special medications.

However, today, according to data collected in Russian hospitals and clinics, it turned out that 80-90% of children are either permanently or temporarily deficient in vitamin C (usually this occurs in early spring). Interestingly, this figure is lower for children from cities - this is due to the higher availability of inexpensive fruits in cities in winter. This means that a “normal” diet, from the point of view of physiologists, is not available to everyone...

So let's look at the list of foods rich in ascorbic acid and find out which ones have the highest vitamin C content.

On a note

Let’s immediately give a guideline: the daily requirement of vitamin C for an adult is 60 mg. Children need about 40-50 mg of the vitamin per day, pregnant women - 75 mg, nursing mothers - 95 mg.

Record-breaking products for vitamin C content

The most vitamin C is found in the fruits of the myrciaria dubious tree, or camu camu. This plant is common in the Amazonian jungle in South America. 100 g of ripe fruit contains up to 2500 mg of vitamin C. In fact, 2.5% of the fruit’s mass is ascorbic acid.

It would seem - an ideal remedy for protection against vitamin deficiency! But no, due to such a large amount of acid, ripe berries are impossible to eat, they are so sour. On the other hand, to cover the daily requirement for the vitamin, you need to eat only 3 grams of the pulp of these fruits - this is not at all difficult, such a piece can be swallowed without even chewing.

Another overseas record holder for vitamin C content is the Barbados cherry, which grows on the islands of the Caribbean. 100 g of its berries contain up to 1600 mg of ascorbic acid, and specially dried berries contain up to 3300 mg. This is generally the highest content of vitamin C in natural foods.

This is interesting

It is known that Bruce Lee specifically consumed Barbados cherries as a source of vitamin C.

The picture below shows a Barbados cherry bush:

By the way, despite the name, the latter plant has nothing to do with cherries...

Another thing is that you can’t buy either camu-camu or Barbados cherries in Russia. But in fact, this is not necessary: ​​in our country there are a lot of food products, albeit with less vitamin C, but sufficient to protect any person from hypovitaminosis.

For example, rose hips contain significant amounts of ascorbic acid. In fresh berries, its concentration reaches 800-900 mg per 100 grams, and in dried ones - up to 1500 mg. Some rosehip varieties are considered record holders for this indicator. Thus, garland rosehip berries contain up to 2400 mg of vitamin per 100 grams of berries - the same as in overseas camu camu.

It is only important to remember that when preparing rose hips, part of the vitamin is destroyed. We'll talk more about this below.

In any case, if in late autumn you come across a bush with red ripe berries, feel free to eat one or two - this is enough to supply your body with vitamin C for the day.

Here is a list of other domestic record holders for vitamin C content:

• Black currant - 250 mg of vitamin per 100 grams;
• Red bell pepper - 250 mg of ascorbic acid per 100 grams;
• Horseradish root - up to 200 mg of vitamin C per 100 grams of product;
• Sea buckthorn - up to 200 mg per 100 grams of berries;
• Parsley - up to 190 mg per 100 grams.

It turns out that the amount of vitamin C required per day for an adult is contained in 25 grams of fresh pepper or black currants, or 35 grams of parsley. Surely, these food products are available to almost every resident of Russia.

But again, it’s not always possible to get sweet peppers in winter and spring (and if they are on sale, they are “plastic” greenhouse ones, which contain several times less vitamins than in the field), and in order to chew 30 grams of parsley every day, you need more have strong teeth (which is also not available to everyone). But this is not so necessary: ​​vitamin C is also found in large quantities in other foods that can be easily and happily eaten all year round in such quantities that a lack of ascorbic acid will definitely not threaten the body.

Content of ascorbic acid in food products

Vitamin C is found in almost all fruits, berries, vegetables and herbs. Is that the content of it in them varies, and therefore they all need to be consumed in different quantities in order to cover the body’s need for the vitamin.

Below is a table with a list of sources of vitamin C, which indicates the amounts of this substance in different products, the norms of their consumption to fully provide the body with ascorbic acid, as well as their calorie content (to make it easier for those who control their weight to understand how these daily allowances will affect figure standards).

Wheat, corn and other cereals also contain a lot of ascorbic acid. As for cereals, it is recommended to soak their grains for up to 4 days before use and then grind them together with the sprouts that they manage to sprout during this time. However, if you don’t want to bother with sprouting grains, the lack of vitamin C can easily be compensated for by green onions added to the salad.

But determining the amount of vitamin C in specific food products on the table is a task that is practically impossible to implement at home. For example, the content of ascorbic acid in different varieties of apples varies significantly, but it is impossible to determine exactly how much of it is in a particular variety and a particular apple. So you will have to consume such sources with reserve...

On a note

Back in the times of Peter the Great, and then under Empress Anna Ioanovna, participants in northern expeditions to explore Siberia in the winter cooked and drank a decoction of spruce needles as an antiscorbutic remedy. The taste of this brew is, to put it mildly, unpleasant, but it remarkably saved people from scurvy.

Interestingly, animals do not lack vitamin C, since it is produced in their bodies in sufficient quantities, and they do not need to consume it with food. Of the entire class of mammals, only primates (including humans) and some rodents (in particular, guinea pigs) do not produce endogenous vitamin C, and they require it to be taken into the body with food. Therefore, by the way, there is no need to rack your brains over which pet foods contain sufficient amounts of ascorbic acid - animals, as a rule, do not need it in their diet as urgently as humans.

Features of storage and processing of products containing vitamin C

It is important to remember that during storage and cooking of any food, the amount of vitamin C in it decreases. For example, cabbage boiled for an hour loses almost 50% of vitamin C, stewed cabbage contains 6 times less ascorbic acid than fresh cabbage, and cooked mashed potatoes contain only 20% of the original amount of ascorbic acid.

On a note

Even in the time of Dr. Lind, it was known that lemons protected sailors from scurvy more effectively than lemon juice. However, it was difficult to store lemons on ships, but lemon juice in tightly sealed barrels could be stored throughout the voyage. And in his stories about the Gold Rush in Alaska, Jack London repeatedly said that it was raw, not boiled potatoes that were used by gold miners and hunters in the north as a means of protection against scurvy.

What rules for preserving vitamin C should be followed when cooking food? Here is a list of basic recommendations:

1. Dishes are best eaten fresh. It’s better to cook borscht or cabbage soup twice than to finish eating old ones for a week;
2. If it is possible to use fresh products in a recipe instead of fermented, pickled or boiled, then it is better to do so;
3. Aluminum or stainless steel cookware is better for cooking than cast iron;
4. The less salt there is in a dish, the more vitamin C it will retain.

Finally, any dish can be additionally fortified with synthetic (crystalline) food ascorbic acid.

How to properly create a diet with a normal amount of ascorbic acid

As you can see, to get a daily dose of vitamin C, it is enough to eat one orange, or two bananas, or 3-4 fresh apples, or a glass of strawberries. Similarly, you can drink two glasses of tomato juice (made from tomatoes, not tomato paste) or 20-30 ml of rose hip syrup.

If a person, even on a winter day, eats several boiled potatoes, snacks on a salad with herbs and sauerkraut, washes it down with a glass of tomato juice, and treats himself to 1-2 apples between meals, he gets his vitamin C requirement. And in the summer it’s even easier to get the same amount - just eat two tomatoes, then eat raspberries or strawberries, or eat a peach - and all the need for the vitamin will be covered.

On the other hand, you shouldn't count on getting vitamin C from meat or dairy products. The human digestive tract, in principle, is not capable of digesting such quantities of these products that contain the required dose of ascorbic acid.

This is interesting

Vitamin C was first isolated by scientists from meat products. Hungarian biochemist Albert Szent-Gyorgyi isolated it from bovine adrenal glands and from several fruits. Although before this it was already well known about the content of this substance in lemons, other citrus fruits and fruits in general, it was not possible to obtain it in its pure form.

In any case, to get enough vitamin C, you should:

1. Eat fresh fruits, vegetables, herbs or berries every day. This is not at all difficult: apples, cabbage, radishes, greens, carrots can be bought all year round, they are not expensive and are quite rich in vitamin C. Moreover, it will be useful if you eat citrus fruits in season. In summer, special emphasis should be placed on available berries and fruits;
2. Regularly prepare complex traditional dishes with a lot of vegetables and herbs - borscht, cabbage soup, soups, stews;
3. Porridge, pasta, potatoes must be served with dressings made from fresh herbs and vegetables, horseradish;
4. Prefer potato side dishes to pasta;
5. Accustom yourself to enjoy dried fruits and nuts as dessert instead of sweets, cookies and chocolate.

On a note

In remote areas of the North, hunters and aborigines use the already mentioned pine needles and berries dried in the fall as a source of vitamin C in winter and early spring. And as soon as the first thawed patches appear, wild garlic appears on the tables of the inhabitants of the taiga - one plate of salad with it a day is enough to reliably protect a person from a lack of ascorbic acid.

In general, excess vitamin C is easily tolerated, and it is almost impossible to develop hypervitaminosis C from food. The experience of raw fruitarians is eloquent: with a diet of only fresh fruits, a person constantly receives many times more ascorbic acid than he needs, but no disorders arise. Hypervitaminosis C is possible only with the abuse of synthetic vitamin complexes.

Vitamin C Products Best for Children

For children, normal natural sources of vitamin C are the same foods that adults consume for this purpose - vegetables, fruits and greens. The only caveat to consider is that many foods very rich in vitamin C are allergenic to children. For example - citrus fruits. After consuming many of them, children get sprinkled (usually under the age of 6-7 years), and therefore such products cannot always be used as a source of vitamins and not for all children.

In general, “neutral” fruits and vegetables are most suitable for children: bananas, apples (in winter - late-ripening varieties, since at the time of purchase they are less likely to be in warehouses), cucumbers, potatoes, bell peppers (especially green ones, even if they are not so rich in ascorbic acid, like red). In winter, children can be given jam from black currants, strawberries and raspberries, apples, compotes and dried fruit uzvars, prunes, pickled cucumbers and cabbage. Together they all provide sufficient amounts of the vitamin.

Finally, as a natural and very powerful remedy, you can use an aqueous infusion or syrup of rose hips. For example, 1 ml of syrup contains 4 mg of vitamin C, and to fully cover the need, a child needs to drink only 10 ml of such syrup. If you dilute 10 ml with water, you can get a glass of a wonderful, tasty drink.

In general, it is not worth getting carried away with exotic things in pursuit of vitamin C for a child. Regularly consumed domestic apples, pears, currants and rose hips are quite sufficient to ensure that the child does not experience a lack of this component in the diet. It is only important to ensure that the child can eat them when he wants it (and not just on holidays).

Vitamin complexes with ascorbic acid

An alternative to products with vitamin C can be considered various vitamin preparations containing ascorbic acid. The best known among them are round tablets of the same name, sometimes available in orange, mint or lemon flavors. They are suitable in cases where the patient is diagnosed with a deficiency of only vitamin C, and there is no need for additional amounts of other vitamins.

“Ascorbic acid” and “Ascorbic acid” are different drugs. “Ascorbic acid” can be used as a source of vitamin C in the treatment of certain diseases, but “Ascorbic acid” is not a drug.

Most vitamin complexes for seasonal prevention of vitamin deficiencies contain vitamin C and can be used as its sources. There are a lot of such tools, for example, some of them can be cited:

This list can be continued for a very long time, and for each category of people who need vitamin C, manufacturers of vitamin complexes add it to most multivitamin preparations. However, given the presence of other vitamins in such products, you should choose them with your doctor in order to avoid unwanted hypervitaminosis.

It is important to remember that such vitamins, especially for the prevention and treatment of hypovitaminosis, can only be used in consultation with a doctor. Excess of some vitamins can be dangerous!

Cautions for consuming foods containing large amounts of ascorbic acid

The allergenicity of many fruits containing vitamin C has already been mentioned above. Now let's look at a few more points that need to be taken into account when consuming foods with a high content of ascorbic acid.

Firstly, the more acid the product contains, the more aggressive it is towards tooth enamel and the digestive tract. Foods with the highest amount of vitamin are incredibly acidic and difficult to eat. Food and dishes with acidic fruits and vegetables easily set the teeth on edge, and if you do not rinse your mouth with water after eating, excess acidity can provoke demineralization of tooth enamel (the development of caries in the white spot stage).

In people with diseases of the digestive tract, acidic vegetables and fruits can cause exacerbations, and if they are constantly consumed in large quantities, they can even lead to ulcers. Such patients need to formulate a diet together with a doctor, who will select sources of the vitamin that are as gentle as possible for the digestive tract.

If products with vitamin C are selected for the treatment of hypovitaminosis, and even more so - vitamin deficiency, this should only be done with a doctor. Only a specialist can correctly assess the patient’s condition, identify possible concomitant diseases and decide whether it makes sense to compensate for the lack of vitamins with the help of products, or whether it is necessary to use vitamin complexes. Moreover, consultation is needed for pregnant women and nursing mothers, for whom radical changes in diet can affect the course of pregnancy or the well-being of the infant.

Interesting video: details about vitamin C and foods that contain it in the largest quantities

Important nuances when preparing rosehip decoction

To be healthy and vigorous, a person must receive sufficient amounts of vitamins from food, especially vitamin "C" (C). When physical activity increases, as well as during pregnancy, breastfeeding, and illness, the body's need for vitamin C becomes greater. If the body lacks this vitamin, vitamin deficiency develops: performance decreases, palpitations appear, pain in the legs, gums begin to bleed, and teeth deteriorate. Resistance to infectious diseases decreases. To prevent this from happening, you need to eat foods with the most Vitamin C.

Vitamin C: where is it found most?

Forest fruits are rich in vitamin C: rowan berries, bird cherry. But contains the most vitamin C in the rosehip.

Rose hips are a real record holder for Vitamin C content. Fresh berries contain 470 mg (per 100 g), dried berries contain about 1000 mg (per 100 g)

Vitamin C is well preserved in dried rose hips: 10 grams of it contain the daily requirement of the vitamin.

Rose hips can be prepared for future use, for the winter. It is collected before frost, since fruits touched by frost lose a significant part of the vitamin. You can prepare delicious and healthy decoctions from dried rose hips. For a glass of fortified broth you need to take a full tablespoon of berries. The washed berries are poured with boiling water and boiled for 10 minutes. Then the broth is infused for 2-3 hours, filtered through gauze, carefully squeezing out the contents.

In almost every forest there are thickets of rose hips. In autumn, you can’t pass by without admiring the red scatterings of shiny berries. Stay, pick them: they will help you stay healthy and energetic.

Foods High in Vitamin C

There is a lot of vitamin C in cabbage, fresh and pickled, in horseradish, green onions, tomatoes, potatoes, black currants, gooseberries, strawberries, oranges, lemons, dogwoods. Some berries and fruits are good to prepare for future use, not only dried, but also raw. For example, black currants, minced and then mixed with sugar, which is taken twice as much as berries, will become a good source of vitamin C in winter.

The amount of vitamins in vegetables and herbs depends on their growing conditions, storage methods and cooking methods. Thus, tomatoes growing in the shade contain less vitamin C than those grown in sunny areas. Those who do the wrong thing are those who place green tomatoes picked from the bush on the stove and cover them tightly. It is better for tomatoes to ripen in sunlight. List of foods high in vitamin C We presented it in the form of a table. It is worth noting that the data differs from different sources.

Table. Vitamin C content per 100 g of product

Top list

We preserve vitamin C in products to the maximum

Vitamin C is very unstable and is destroyed by prolonged heating. If cabbage soup with sauerkraut is cooked for an hour, and this is quite enough, half of the vitamin C is retained in them. But if they are left in a Russian oven for a long time, the vitamin is destroyed; after three hours only a fifth of it remains.

It is also necessary to remember that light and air have a detrimental effect on vitamins. Therefore, it is better to peel and cut vegetables and herbs shortly before cooking. Vegetables should be cooked in a tightly sealed container and placed in boiling water or broth. If peeled potatoes are placed in boiling water, they lose about 7 percent of vitamin C during cooking. Potatoes placed in cold water lose up to 35 percent of this vitamin. Potatoes boiled in their skins retain 75 percent of vitamin C. It is preserved even better when potatoes are fried. It is good to add green onions and dill to prepared dishes.

In frozen vegetables and berries, vitamin C is preserved almost completely. But when thawed, it collapses very quickly. Therefore, the berries are eaten immediately after thawing. Vegetables are placed frozen in boiling water. When cooking compotes and jelly, frozen berries also need to be placed in a boiling solution of sugar in water.

The benefits of vitamin C can hardly be overestimated. This antioxidant is needed to strengthen the immune system, remove toxins, tissue regeneration and many other processes. It is consumed in large quantities and is not deposited in tissues, so it must be supplied daily with food. Which foods have the most vitamin C?

What is vitamin C

Vitamin C is a water-soluble L-ascorbic acid that is found in many foods and is required by the body regularly. There are 4 known isomers of ascorbic acid:

• L-ascorbic acid;
• L-isoascorbic acid;
• D-isoascorbic acid;
• D-ascorbic acid.

Only L-ascorbic acid is biologically active.

Essentially it is a carbohydrate with the formula C 6 H 8 O 6, its external structure resembles glucose. According to physical properties, it is a white, acidic crystalline powder. It dissolves well in water and alcohol, melts at a temperature of +190 ... +192 °C.

The discovery of the vitamin belongs to the American chemist Albert Szent-Gyorgyi. This event occurred in 1928, and 4 years later it was proven that the absence of this substance in food causes scurvy.

Today, vitamin C is used as a food additive that prevents the oxidation of foods, is included in cosmetics, and even plays the role of a developer in photochemistry. But the main area of ​​application of the substance was and remains pharmacology.

Role in the body

The body's needs for ascorbic acid are quite high, since it is involved in various processes and does not accumulate in tissues and organs.

Vitamin C takes on several functions at once.

• Antioxidant: participates in redox processes.
• Vascular elasticity factor: under the influence of vitamin C, collagen protein is formed; when it is deficient, blood vessels become brittle.
• Activator of immune defense: increases the phagocytic activity of leukocytes, and hence the body’s resistance to infections.
• Hepatoprotector: increases the antitoxic potential of the liver, forms a glycogen reserve, promotes the evacuation of mercury and lead.
• Cholesterol metabolism regulator: converts cholesterol into bile acids.
• Regeneration stimulator: promotes tissue healing.

Ascorbic acid also normalizes the blood coagulation system and is necessary for the normal functioning of the nervous and endocrine systems, thyroid and pancreas. In the presence of vitamin C, iron, calcium, proteins are absorbed, and hormones are synthesized. Its presence in the diet serves as a prevention of cancer and atherosclerosis.

Daily norm

The daily requirement for vitamin C depends on age. Children under 6 months need 30 mg of ascorbic acid per day, up to 12 months - 35 mg, at the age of 1-3 years - 40 mg, 4-10 years - 45 mg, 11-14 years - 50 mg. Adults require an average of 70 mg of vitamin C per day. Pregnant women need 95 mg per day, and nursing women need 120 mg.

The daily requirement of vitamin C for an adult is 70 mg.

With increased physical and sports activity, the need for vitamin C increases. For planned exercises, the daily dose can be 150–200 mg. On days of competition and extreme stress - from 200 to 300 mg. With large doses of vitamin C, the daily amount is divided into several doses, this allows you to use it evenly.

The most vitamin C is found not in citrus fruits, as many believe, but in wild and garden berries, and the record holder among them is rose hips. The compound is also found in other products of plant origin - fruits, vegetables, herbs, mushrooms. To get an idea of ​​where the vitamin is found and how much you need to eat to meet your daily requirement, use the following table.

This is not a complete list of foods high in vitamin C. To maintain a regular supply of ascorbic acid from food, it is not necessary to eat exotic fruits. The compound is found in fruits that are quite accessible in our latitudes.

Processing methods

Not all vitamin C from food enters the body. Some of it is destroyed during cooking and storage. Therefore, it is important to know what food processing methods can be used to preserve vitamin wealth.

Vitamin C is destroyed by low heat, so plunge vegetables directly into boiling water or fry them for a short time. In addition, it allows you to destroy ascorbinoxylase and ascorbinase - enzymes that are called antivitamins.

If you need to cook food for a long time, keep the pan tightly closed - this will limit the access of oxygen. Acidify soup, stew or other vegetable dish during cooking: the vitamin is preserved better in an acidic environment. Do not cook vegetables and herbs in copper or iron cookware. The ions of these metals destroy ascorbic acid. The longer food is cooked, the less vitamins it ends up containing.

Eat ready-made meals fresh; the biologically active compounds in them are destroyed over time. So, for example, only 20% of vitamins remain in cabbage soup 3 hours after cooking, and 10% after 6 hours.

But the surest way to get enough vitamin C is to eat vegetables, fruits and berries raw. Do this as often as possible. Cut fruits only before eating them. This way you can get the most vitamin C from your diet.

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G-Lactone 2,3-dehydro-L-gulonic acid.

Description

Vitamin C is a water-soluble vitamin. First isolated in 1923-1927. Zilva (S.S. Zilva) from lemon juice.

According to the results of numerous scientific studies, ascorbic acid is involved in the regulation of redox processes, carbohydrate metabolism, blood clotting, tissue regeneration, in the synthesis of steroid hormones, collagen; increases the body's resistance, reduces vascular permeability, which is important for various capillary bleeding, infectious diseases, nasal, uterine and other bleeding. Helps maintain healthy skin, participates in immune reactions, improves iron absorption. Has antioxidant properties.

Plays an important role in the functioning of the immune system, helping to increase the body's resistance to viral and bacterial infections.

In diseases accompanied by fever, as well as with increased physical and mental stress, the body's need for vitamin C increases.

Vitamin C is one of the body's defense factors against the effects of stress. Strengthens reparative processes. There are theoretical and experimental prerequisites for the use of vitamin C to reduce the risk of developing cancer.

Sources of ascorbic acid

A significant amount of ascorbic acid is found in products of plant origin (citrus fruits, leafy green vegetables, melon, broccoli, Brussels sprouts, cauliflower and cabbage, black currants, bell peppers, strawberries, tomatoes, apples, apricots, peaches, persimmons, sea buckthorn, rose hips, rowan, baked jacket potatoes). It is present insignificantly in products of animal origin (liver, adrenal glands, kidneys).

Herbs rich in vitamin C: alfalfa, mullein, burdock root, chickweed, eyebright, fennel seed, fenugreek, hops, horsetail, kelp, peppermint, nettle, oats, cayenne pepper, red pepper, parsley, pine needles, yarrow, plantain , raspberry leaf, red clover, skullcap, violet leaves, sorrel.

Remember that few people, and especially children, eat enough fruits and vegetables, which are the main dietary sources of the vitamin. Cooking and storage lead to the destruction of a significant part of vitamin C. In states of stress, exposure to adverse environmental factors (smoking, industrial carcinogens, smog), vitamin C in tissues is consumed faster.

To prevent hypovitaminosis, rose hips are often used. Rose hips are distinguished by a relatively high content of ascorbic acid (at least 0.2%) and are widely used as a source of vitamin C. The fruits of different types of rose hips collected during the ripening period and dried are used. They contain, in addition to vitamin C, vitamins A, E, sugars, organic acids, and dietary fiber. Used in the form of infusion, extracts, syrups.

An infusion of rose hips is prepared as follows: place 10 g (1 tablespoon) of the fruit in an enamel bowl, pour in 200 ml (1 glass) of hot boiled water, cover with a lid and heat in a water bath (in boiling water) for 15 minutes, then cool at room temperature for at least 45 minutes, filter. The remaining raw materials are squeezed out and the volume of the resulting infusion is adjusted with boiled water to 200 ml. Take 1/2 cup 2 times a day after meals. Children are given 1/3 glass per dose. To improve the taste, you can add sugar or fruit syrup to the infusion.

Daily requirement for ascorbic acid

A person’s daily need for vitamin C depends on a number of reasons: age, gender, work performed, the physiological state of the body (pregnancy, breastfeeding, presence of disease), climatic conditions, and the presence of bad habits.

Illness, stress, fever and exposure to toxic substances (cigarette smoke, chemicals) increase the need for vitamin C.

In hot climates and in the Far North, the need for vitamin C increases by 30-50 percent. A young body absorbs vitamin C better than an older one, so in older people the need for vitamin C is slightly increased.

It has been proven that contraceptives (oral contraceptives) lower the level of vitamin C in the blood and increase the daily requirement for it.

The weighted average physiological requirement for the vitamin is 60-100 mg per day.

Table. Norms of physiological need for vitamin C [MP 2.3.1.2432-08]

The body quickly uses up incoming vitamin C. It is advisable to constantly maintain a sufficient supply of vitamin C.

Signs of hypervitaminosis

Vitamin C is generally well tolerated in doses up to 1000 mg/day.

If taken in too large doses, diarrhea may develop.

Large doses may cause hemolysis (destruction of red blood cells) in people lacking the specific enzyme glucose-6-phosphate dehydrogenase. Therefore, people with this disorder can take increased doses of vitamin C only under the strict supervision of a doctor.

When using large doses of ascorbic acid, pancreatic function may be impaired with impaired insulin synthesis.

Vitamin C promotes the absorption of iron in the intestines.

Gummies and vitamin C chewing gums can damage tooth enamel, so you should rinse your mouth or brush your teeth after taking them.

Large doses should not be taken by people with increased blood clotting, thrombophlebitis and a tendency to thrombosis, as well as diabetes. With long-term use of large doses of ascorbic acid, inhibition of the function of the pancreatic insular apparatus is possible. During treatment, it is necessary to regularly monitor its functional ability. Due to the stimulating effect of ascorbic acid on the formation of corticosteroid hormones, during treatment with large doses, it is necessary to monitor kidney function, blood pressure and the level of hormones in the blood.

The maximum permissible level of vitamin C intake for adults is 2000 mg/day (Methodological recommendations “Norms of physiological needs for energy and nutrients for various groups of the population of the Russian Federation”, MP 2.3.1.2432-08)

Symptoms of hypovitaminosis

According to the head of the laboratory of vitamins and minerals at the Institute of Nutrition of the Russian Academy of Medical Sciences, prof. V.B. Spiricheva, the results of surveys in different regions of Russia show that the vast majority of children of preschool and school age lack vitamins necessary for their normal growth and development.

The situation is especially unfavorable with vitamin C, the deficiency of which was identified in 80-90% of the children examined.

When examining children in hospitals in Moscow, Yekaterinburg, Nizhny Novgorod and other cities, vitamin C deficiency is found in 60-70%.

The depth of this deficiency increases in the winter-spring period, however, in many children, an insufficient supply of vitamins persists even in the more favorable summer and autumn months, that is, it is year-round.

But insufficient intake of vitamins significantly reduces the activity of the immune system, increases the frequency and severity of respiratory and gastrointestinal diseases. According to domestic researchers, a lack of ascorbic acid in schoolchildren halves the ability of leukocytes to destroy pathogenic microbes that have entered the body, as a result of which the frequency of acute respiratory diseases increases by 26-40%, and vice versa, taking vitamins significantly reduces the incidence of acute respiratory infections.

Deficiency can be exogenous (due to the low content of ascorbic acid in foods) and endogenous (due to impaired absorption and digestibility of vitamin C in the human body).

If there is insufficient vitamin intake over a long period of time, hypovitaminosis may develop. Possible signs of vitamin C deficiency:

• bleeding gums
• cyanosis of lips, nose, ears, nails, gums
• swelling of the interdental papillae
• ease of bruising
• poor wound healing
• lethargy
• hair loss
• pale and dry skin
• irritability
• joint pain
• feeling of discomfort
• hypothermia
• general weakness

Preservation of vitamin C during cooking

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When studying the effect of vitamin C on passive smokers, it was found that people staying in smoky rooms experience oxidative stress, which accelerates the progression of atherosclerosis.

Conclusion: passive smokers need vitamin C supplements.

* dietary supplement. NOT A MEDICINE