Vitamin C is one of the most important vitamins needed by the body to function properly. Almost everything in the food that people commonly eat contains Vitamin C; it is one of the most abundant vitamins from a natural source. The richest sources of Vitamin C are kakadu plum, rose hip, camu camu, sea buckthorn, jujube and Indian gooseberry. The common food sources containing high amounts of Vitamin C are parsley, guava, broccoli, kiwifruit, and lychee.

Vitamin C to Improve Mood

According to a new study conducted by a team of researchers from the McGill University in Canada, supplementation of vitamin C in one’s daily diet can improve and promote the emotional well-being of patients confined in hospitals. Their findings were published in the Nutrition journal and suggested that by increasing the levels of vitamin C in hospitalized patients, who are often diagnosed of vitamin C deficiency, mood can improve by 34 percent. Dr John Hoffer, head of the research team and professor of medicine at the McGill University, said that around one in five intensive care patients in their hospital suffer from vitamin C deficiency. Their levels of vitamin C are low enough to be proportional to that of scurvy. The reason for this is that patients rarely receive vitamin C supplementation and that physicians in the hospital are, more often than not, unaware of the situation. Hoffer added that considering the influence of vitamins C and D to a person’s psychology, they decided to examine the different aspects of the matter through a clinical trial.

Vitamin C deficiency is also known as hypovitaminosis C. In the cases of hospitalized patients, their health condition can directly divert the supply of vitamin C in their bodies into immune cells in response to inflammation. This means that the patient may not necessarily be vitamin C deficient. The supply of vitamin C just doesn’t reach the tissues which needs it. Earlier studies have attempted to pinpoint the root-cause and the origin of vitamin C deficiency on a metabolic perspective by measuring the patients’ response to the supplementation of vitamin C.

Since mood is greatly affected by the insufficient supply of vitamin C in the body, the researchers also examined the mood of patients with the condition. They found that by supplementing vitamin C in their diet, patients experienced a 35 percent reduction in mood disturbances. But the findings of the study were difficult to confirm due to the lack of a control group and the suspicion of a placebo response from the patients.

The researchers used a better set up in order to obtain better quality results. They used a double-blinded clinical trial format to determine whether the new study will replicate the result of the study that they had previously conducted.

They concluded that the supplementation of vitamin C indeed improved the mood of patients by 34 percent. The researchers added that the results are very comparative to that of their previous findings which associated vitamin C supplementation with a 35 percent mood improvement. They also found that vitamin D supplementation had no direct and significant effects on patients’ mood which proves that placebo response is not the cause of the results. The insufficient supply of vitamin C in the cerebrospinal fluid creates negative effects to the person’s mood and mental functions, the researchers added.

Dr Hoffer said in the report that vitamin D’s lack of influence over the improvement of the patient’s mood is a good indication that the study’s findings are not a result of a placebo response. He added that their study will require larger studies, and for the meantime, vitamin C supplementation can serve as a cheap, simple and safe way of improving the mood of hospitalized patients.

The Functions of Vitamin C

The body needs as much antioxidant that it can get in order to combat the harmful free radicals brought about by the exposure to harmful elements. The antioxidant property of vitamin C is needed for more than 300 metabolic functions of the body. The insufficient supply of vitamin C in the body may lead to diseases and serious health problems.

Another one of the most important functions of vitamin C is its role in helping tissues grow and repair. It maintains the healthy and proper function of the adrenal glands and keeps the gums healthy. Vitamin C is also responsible for the breaking down of carbohydrates into glucose and other forms useable by the body. The deficiency in the supply of vitamin C is linked to the deficient production of insulin. Vitamin C, in short, is accountable for different essential processes and deficiency can lead to a negative chain reaction.

Recommended Dosage and Why We Need More

The recommended daily dietary intake of vitamin C is 60 to 95 milligrams, according to the US National Academy of Sciences. The World Health Organization recommends at least 45 milligrams in a day. Another organization with its own suggested vitamin C intake is the Linus Pauling Institute which recommends 4000 milligrams a day. But a person’s need for vitamin C may vary from another. Smokers, for example, may need to take more vitamin C since smoking significantly decreases the levels of vitamin C in the body. Drinking alcohol can also affect a person’s capacity to use vitamin C.

In food processing like canning, vitamin C will tend to be destroyed and the food’s vitamin C content may not be very accurate as to what the labels say. Cooking may also reduce the food’s vitamin C content. A person under medication and who are taking drugs like oral contraceptives, antidepressants, anticoagulants and analgesics will need to take more vitamin C than what is recommended since these drugs can reduce the vitamin C levels in the body. Since vitamin C is water-soluble, it can be directly released from the body through urination without having the chance to perform its highly needed role.

So always take as much vitamin C as you can. You can get enough vitamin C from the food you eat but taking vitamin C supplements will ensure that your body is getting enough.

Sources:
nutraingredients.com
healthvitaminsguide.com
wrongdiagnosis.com
vitaminherbuniversity.com