What Taking Vitamin C Every Day Does to Your Body | Eat This Not That - Eat This, Not That

Vitamin C, aka L-ascorbic acid, is naturally present in some foods, added to others, and also available as a dietary supplement, explains the National Institutes of Health—but do you know what taking vitamin C every day does to your body?

According to Darren Mareiniss, MD, FACEP, Emergency Medicine Physician at Einstein Medical Center in Philadelphia, the vitamin is essential to every diet—and knowing what taking vitamin C every day does to your body is important.

"Vitamin C is naturally present in many foods and is not synthesized by the body," he explains to Eat This, Not That!

Mareiniss explains that Vitamin C is an antioxidant, meaning they can help prevent cell damage.

"Most case-control studies have found an inverse association between dietary vitamin C intake and cancers of the lung, breast, colon or rectum, stomach, oral cavity, larynx or pharynx, and esophagus," they reveal. .

According to the NIH, there is some evidence that vitamin C can help keep cardiovascular disease at bay.

One of the largest studies, involving over 85,000 women, found that intake of vitamin c in both dietary and supplemental form reduced the risk of coronary heart disease.

The NIH also offers compelling evidence that vitamin c may help prevent and even treat age-related macular degeneration and cataracts, the two leading causes of vision loss in older people. .

Signs of scurvy can appear within a month of vitamin c deficiency

Vitamin C can help shorten the duration of the common cold, says Dr

"Vitamin C supplements might shorten the duration of the common cold and ameliorate symptom severity in the general population" possibly due to the anti-histamine effect of high-dose vitamin C," explains the NIH. 

There is some conflicting evidence that high amounts of vitamin C could "increase urinary oxalate and uric acid excretion" which could contribute to the formation of kidney stones. 

As for yourself, consider whether you're getting enough vitamin C, and to get through this pandemic at your healthiest, don't miss these 35 Places You're Most Likely to Catch COVID