Vitamin C Deficiency... A Widespread and Easily Treated Health Problem

Although vitamin C deficiency is not thought of as being common in developed countries, you need more vitamin C than average if you have health problems.

**Vitamin C Powder Supplement Aids Deficiency**

Most of you may have heard the word scurvy, and have an awareness that it killed many people in the past, especially on long sea voyages.

Scurvy is caused by a lack of vitamin C, and in the past eating citrus fruit... which are high in vitamin C, was how they treated it. They would take limes with them as they were known to prevent scurvy.

While most people today do not get the symptoms of scurvy that made this a killer disease, there are many health problems that a lack of this essential vitamin can cause.

Many health problems are helped by taking vitamin C, but it particularly helps those with seasonal allergies.... also known as hay fever or spring allergies. A deficiency of this important antioxidant is the direct cause of scurvy.

Many of the symptoms that caused scurvy are not common today. Yet some of them can be seen in the lives of people who do not get sufficient vitamin C in their diet or who do not take sufficient vitamin C as a supplement.

Some Facts On Vitamin C

The Latin name for scurvy is scorbutus. You may note that vitamin C is also known as ascorbic acid as this is because there has historically been a strong correlation between this disease and the role of vitamin C for preventing it.

If you have severe allergies you may suffer from some of these symptoms.

They are also common if you have health problems such as multiple chemical sensitivity or chronic fatigue syndrome.

While in most people these are of short duration, if you have these symptoms supplementing with vitamin C may be beneficial.

Vitamin C Deficiency Symptoms

There are a number of symptoms of vitamin C deficiency and although some of these are not common if you have a number of the health problems on the list you may benefit from supplements and from adding vitamin C rich foods to your diet if you can.

**Strawberries are high in Vitamin C** cc-sa

Lets start by looking at the symptoms of scurvy that related to the deaths of many people in the past:

Severe tiredness and lethargy
Bleeding from mucous membranes
Wounds that are slow to heal
Severe gum disease

Other symptoms of Vitamin C deficiency that are more common these days are:

Gingivitis, bleeding gums or mouth ulcers
Seasonal allergies
Weakened immunity
Frequent colds, flu and chest infections, caused by lowered immunity
Increased severity and number of allergies
Swollen painful joints
Rough, dry skin
Bruise easily

If you suffer from any of these symptoms, taking a vitamin C supplement may benefit you. As it is one of the specific vitamins for immune system health it may help to boost your immune system. It will also benefit you to increase foods that are high in vitamin C in your diet as it is one of the natural cold remedies.

There are a number of good food sources of vitamin C, including guava, kiwi fruit, pawpaw or papaya, lychee, citrus fruit, strawberries and other berry fruit, broccoli, red bell peppers also known as capsicum and brussel sprouts.

Why Would You Have A Vitamin C Deficiency?

If you have been taking any type of medication for any condition you may have... including for allergies, many of these can decrease the amount of vitamin C in your body. Specific drugs that are known to do this are aspirin, corticosteroids (cortisone drugs), often prescribed for asthma and allergies, oral contraceptives (birth control), NSAIDS (anti-inflammatory drugs) and a number of different antibiotics.

**Red Pepper aids vitamin C deficiency**
Image © Iulius Costache|Dreamstime.com

The body cannot make vitamin C, so you need to get sufficient of this important vitamin in your diet, or taking a supplement.

A lack of vitamin C may be one of the reasons that your allergies are worse than they have been in the past.

Vitamin C is water soluble which means that it needs replenishing constantly. There are two ways to get vitamin C.

The best natural health approach to get adequate amounts is in your diet, by eating foods that are good sources of Vitamin C. The second way is to take vitamin C supplements. There are a good range of natural vitamins and mineral supplements available, that have vitamin C as one of their ingredients.

Best Vitamin C Supplements

You can get the pure vitamin on its own or what is called buffered vitamin C ... which means its mixed with minerals to make it work better. This formulation is said to make it easier to digest but if you believe you have a vitamin c deficiency and need to take higher doses this is not recommended as you get too much of the minerals. Vitamin C complex is also available... and it contains the bioflavonoids... rutin, hesperidin and quercetin along with bromelain.

As Vitamin C supplements come as tablets, capsules and even in liquid formulations you have a lot of choices but the best and easiest type to use is vitamin C powder or crystals.

There are so many varieties of vitamin C available... but if you have allergies or chemical sensitivity there are two important criteria to take into consideration.

The first is quality... make sure that you buy good quality supplements. The second is taking your allergies into consideration.

This is why I believe that the products made by Ecological Formulas are better as they are made from tapioca... which gives you a non GMO corn free Vitamin C.

Ecological Formulas Vitamin C comes in powder or crystal form and as capsules... and they also produce buffered vitamin C as well, so you have a wide range of different types of vitamin C made from tapioca.

There has been a lot of work done by a number of eminent physicians and scientists on the value of Vitamin C mega doses including Linus Pauling... who has written a number of very illuminating books.

How Much Vitamin C To Take?

**Vitamin C Powder Is Easy To Use**

One of the easiest ways to take vitamin C is by using vitamin C powder or crystals.

The good thing to know is that it is difficult to overdose on Vitamin C, because it is water soluble and passes through you.

If you do take a lot you can get loose bowels, and for some people who have been constipated this may be a blessing.

It is a common practice for many naturopaths to recommend that you do a vitamin C flush at some point to see how much you really need.

This is done by increasing the amount you take, by increasing it every day, until you get diarrhea. You then decrease it in 500 milligram increments until it stops and this is the amount you can take.

Most natural health practitioners recommend that you take at least 2000 milligrams of vitamin C per day and in divided doses.

If you know that you have major health problems such as seasonal allergy symptoms, and especially if you have been taking drugs as part of the treatment for them, you may be deficient in this vitamin.

**Citrus fruit help Vitamin C deficiency**
Image © Sandra Cunningham|Dreamstime.com

In many cases this ends up being around 5000 milligrams. This amount is taken in divided doses... and usually you may choose to take it divided up... taken 3-4 times over the course of the day.

By taking the Vitamin C powder... mixed with filtered water it absorbs easily and you may find you feel better quite quickly.

Along with taking vitamin C it is also important to increase the amount of filtered water you drink ... as there are a number of health benefits of drinking water. It is advantageous to also get as much of your vitamin C as possible from your diet.

You may do this by adding lots of fresh fruits and vegetables... and there are a number of organic food advantages. Choose to eat fresh organic food... as it is important to include natural sources of Vitamin C in your diet to help prevent vitamin C deficiency.