{"id":7714,"date":"2024-12-27T16:27:17","date_gmt":"2024-12-27T08:27:17","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/wise-mag.com\/?p=7714"},"modified":"2024-12-27T17:18:53","modified_gmt":"2024-12-27T09:18:53","slug":"vitamin-c-and-flu-prevention-does-it-work","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/wise-mag.com\/index.php\/2024\/12\/27\/vitamin-c-and-flu-prevention-does-it-work\/","title":{"rendered":"Vitamin C and Flu Prevention. Does it Work?"},"content":{"rendered":"\n
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I have noticed that every time my aunt falls sick, she will consume a mega dose of Vitamin C. A mega dose would mean dosages of more than 1000mg\/1g. Also, my friend recently bought a bottle of vitamin C for her fianc\u00e9e as he falls sick often. She claims it will prevent him from falling sick too often.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Do you sometimes wonder if vitamin C works to build immunity or do you think it\u2019s a marketing gimmick? Nevertheless, let’s start by delving into vitamin C and it\u2019s many functions.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Vitamin C or its scientific name, ascorbic acid is a water soluble vitamin. This vitamin is available in many fruits and vegetables and has many functions. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Some of the functions of vitamin C are:<\/p>\n\n\n\n

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A simplified diagram on the function of vitamin C<\/strong><\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n

What is the recommended amount of vitamin C?<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n

\n
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Vitamin C is readily available in fruits and vegetables. Consuming an orange gives 50mg of vitamin C. <\/strong><\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<\/div>\n\n\n

The recommended daily intake of vitamin C is 75 milligrams (mg) a day for women and 90 mg a day for men.<\/strong> During pregnancy, 120 mg\/day is recommended. The maximum limit for all adults is 2,000 mg a day.

Although too much of dietary vitamin C is not that harmful and will be excreted by the body via urine, large doses of vitamin C supplements (>2000mg) may still result in:
\u2022 Diarrhea
\u2022 Nausea
\u2022 Vomiting
\u2022 Heartburn
\u2022 Stomach (abdominal) cramps
\u2022 Headache

Coming to the big question, does vitamin C actually boost immunity and reduce flu? <\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

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Vitamin C supplements. They come in many shapes, sizes and flavours. <\/strong><\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n

Although vitamin C has long been a popular supplement for strengthening immunity, research shows that for most people, vitamin C supplements do not reduce the risk of getting the common cold.

However, people who take vitamin C supplements regularly might have slightly shorter colds or milder symptoms when they do get a cold. Consuming vitamin C supplements at the on start of flu-like symptoms is not helpful.

Who needs more Vitamin C? <\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

Most people do get sufficient amounts of vitamin C from food. However, certain population may be at risk of vitamin C deprivation or may need extra doses of vitamin C.

Here are those groups:<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\"\"
A smoker and a second-hand smoker at the back<\/strong><\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n

\u2022People who are smokers and those who are exposed to secondhand smoking.<\/strong> Smoking increases free radicals in the body and vitamin C is needed to repair this damage. People who smoke need 35 mg extra vitamin C per day than nonsmokers.

\u2022Infants who are fed evaporated or boiled cow\u2019s milk<\/strong> because cow\u2019s milk has very little vitamin C and heat can destroy vitamin C. Cow\u2019s milk is not recommended for infants under 1 year of age. Breast milk and infant formula have adequate amounts of vitamin C.

\u2022People who eat a very limited variety of food<\/strong> e.g. kids with autism who are picky eaters.

\u2022People with certain medical conditions such as severe malabsorption, some types of cancer, and those requiring hemodialysis due to kidney failure.<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n

\n
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A picture of a young lady having scurvy. Scurvy is the inflammation of gums.<\/strong><\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<\/div>\n\n\n

Those who get little to no vitamin C (less than 10mg) daily may suffer from scurvy.

Reference:<\/strong>
1. National Institutes of Health. Vitamin C.
<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

I have noticed that every time my aunt falls sick, she will consume a mega dose of Vitamin C. A mega dose would mean dosages of more than 1000mg\/1g. Also, my friend recently bought a bottle of vitamin C for her fianc\u00e9e as he falls sick often. She claims it will prevent him from falling…<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":385,"featured_media":7717,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"om_disable_all_campaigns":false,"_mi_skip_tracking":false,"_kad_post_transparent":"","_kad_post_title":"","_kad_post_layout":"","_kad_post_sidebar_id":"","_kad_post_content_style":"","_kad_post_vertical_padding":"","_kad_post_feature":"","_kad_post_feature_position":"","_kad_post_header":false,"_kad_post_footer":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[6,2],"tags":[835,839,838],"class_list":["post-7714","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-wise-health","category-wise-moves","tag-flu","tag-immunity","tag-vitaminc"],"aioseo_notices":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/wise-mag.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/7714","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/wise-mag.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/wise-mag.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/wise-mag.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/385"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/wise-mag.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=7714"}],"version-history":[{"count":13,"href":"https:\/\/wise-mag.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/7714\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":7751,"href":"https:\/\/wise-mag.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/7714\/revisions\/7751"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/wise-mag.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/7717"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/wise-mag.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=7714"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/wise-mag.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=7714"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/wise-mag.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=7714"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}