Vitamin C is an essential organic compound for the body. This micronutrient exists in many fresh foods and is also formulated into oral medicinal forms. Overdose with vitamin C can cause serious consequences such as: stomach ulcers, kidney stones, diarrhea, …
Table of Contents
What is Vitamin C?
Vitamin C is a type of organic compound scientifically known as Ascorbic Acid. This is a micronutrient that exists in abundance in nature. Vitamin C exists with a high content in the body of some plants, some foods such as oranges, tangerines, potatoes, tomatoes, kiwifruit, bean sprouts, amaranth, vegetables spinach,…
Vitamin C is an important micronutrient for the human body, helping many organs in the body to function sustainably.
However, the human body does not produce vitamin C on its own, it needs to be obtained from the outside and synthesized, metabolized. Humans can absorb vitamin C from their diet, by eating foods rich in vitamin C.
However, vitamin C doesn’t just exist in its natural form. Nowadays, with the development of science, scientists have been able to prepare and produce vitamin C in oral drug form.
In the case of patients with vitamin C deficiency, need to supplement vitamin C, the doctor will appoint the patient to take the drug. Today’s vitamin C drugs are very diverse and multi-type.
Regarding dosage form, vitamin C supplements come in the main forms such as: solution, oral tablet, effervescent tablet, lozenge, …
Each vitamin C supplement product will have different brands and brand names. Some popular vitamin C supplements for the body today are: B-Complex with Vitamin C, Vitamin C, Myvita, Ossizan C, …
The main ingredient in these products is Ascorbic Acid in the prepared form. However, the amount of Ascorbic Acid in each medicine is different.
Effects of vitamin C on health
1. Physiological effects
For the biological body, vitamin C is an important micronutrient that has the following functions:
- Vitamin C is the main ingredient in the production of collagen. This is a protein that plays a role in connecting tissues such as cartilage, joints, ligaments, … in the body. Since then, vitamin C also stimulates wound healing in the body.
- Vitamin C participates in the production of antibodies of the immune system, helps prevent colds, repel flu;
- Vitamin C works with several other enzymes in the body, supporting vitamin E in its antioxidant role.
2. Beauty effects
From a compound that plays an important role, it can even be said to be “indispensable” in the human body, vitamin C has a beauty effect, bringing many benefits to human health such as:
- Helps healthy gums and teeth;
- Improve immune system;
- Prevent the development of free radicals that damage the heart, cause cancer,…;
- Prevent or reduce bruises on the skin;
- Improve eye health, prevent some eye diseases such as macular degeneration, cataracts;
- Improve skin, create a amount of Collagen for the body, help skin firm, elastic;
- Help brighten skin, reduce inflammatory acne, improve dark scarring;
- Helps smooth, firm hair, does not easily lose hair;
- Helps to prevent the nail from drying out;
- Help healthy bones and joints, improve bone and joint health in the elderly;
- Help increase sperm quality, stimulate better sperm production in men.
Side effects of vitamin C
Undeniably the effect and function of vitamin C on the human body. However, vitamin C can also cause side effects if consumed in excess of what the body needs.
Some of the side effects you may experience if taking vitamin C in excess of your recommended threshold:
- Causing ulcers of the stomach and duodenum;
- Causes kidney stones;
- May cause difficulty in blood clotting;
- Have diarrhea if you overdose;
- In pregnant women, overdose of vitamin C will cause the newborn to get scurvy.
Is it good to take vitamin C every day?
When your body is deficient in vitamin C, you may be faced with unusual conditions or symptoms such as:
- Tired;
- Athritis;
- The structure of skin, nails, and hair is altered, resulting in loose, wrinkled skin, hair loss easily, rough nails and nails;
- Swollen gums, swollen gums;
- The wound takes a long time to heal;
- Flu recovers long;
- Potential for cancer, as free radicals damage the body without being contained;
- Chronic asthma;
- Some cardiovascular diseases such as heart failure, extravasation, weak vessel wall,…;
- Anemia.
However, if you add too much vitamin C to your body, you will experience unwanted side effects, affecting your quality of life.
So, need to supplement vitamin C in what dosage, can it be used daily?
According to specialist doctors, we always need to take vitamin C daily. However, should not be used arbitrarily but need to be used with a sufficient dose. There are two ways to get vitamin C for your body: eat foods rich in vitamin C and take medicines that contain vitamin C.
In case of taking the drug, users should not overdo vitamin C. At different ages, the oral dose of vitamin C will be different:
- For people from 4 to 18 years old, appropriate dosage ranges from 30mg to 40mg / day.
- For adult users (aged 18 years and over), the appropriate dose is 45mg / day.
- In case of pregnant women, the appropriate dosage is 55mg / day;
- For women who are breastfeeding, the amount of vitamin C supplementation is 70mg / day.
In addition, users can choose to supplement vitamin C by natural methods such as eating tomatoes, potatoes, green vegetables, oranges, grapefruit, tangerines, … to supplement vitamin C for the body.
Some things to keep in mind when taking vitamin C
When taking vitamin C supplements for the body, users should note the following:
- Before using any drug label, a specialist should also be consulted. Do not arbitrarily use vitamin C, especially to avoid giving vitamin C to children without permission because it can affect the child’s health if using the wrong dose;
- Taking vitamin C for a long time, drug abuse can cause disorders of the body’s functions, easily leading to diseases of the stomach, digestive tract and kidneys;
- Do not combine vitamin C with fresh milk, beer, wine, and coffee;
- Avoid letting the drug in direct exposure to the air for too long, exposure to sunlight because vitamin C will easily evaporate, reduce its effectiveness;
- Store at temperatures below 30 degrees C and out of reach of children;
- When the drug has expired or shows signs of moldiness or damage, users should not continue taking the drug;
- A specialist should be consulted when intending to combine vitamin C with any drug;
- In the course of taking vitamin C supplements, if you find that your body has strange symptoms, you should report to a specialist.
In summary, vitamin C is an important organic substance for human health, it participates in the production of collagen, connects tissues in the body, produces antioxidants and produces anti-antibodies. diseases. Vitamin C is abundant in fresh fruits, green vegetables, … Today, vitamin C has been prepared and synthesized in oral drugs, injections, … However, using vitamin C every day, used in large doses is dangerous thing. Users avoid overuse of drugs and take only the correct dosage prescribed by the doctor. Some harmful effects of long-term vitamin C abuse are: diarrhea, stomach ulcers, kidney stones, …
The information in the article is for reference only!
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Tốt nghiệp hệ Bác sĩ đa khoa, Trường Đại học Y Hà Nội (2011)
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