VITAMIN C FOODS THAT YOU NEED-min

VITAMIN C FOODS THAT YOU NEED

///

Vitamin C is mostly found in fruits and vegetables. Consuming a lot of these will provide your body with plenty of benefits. This essential vitamin, commonly called ascorbic acid, needs to be incorporated into your daily meals.

Vitamin c is not absorbed in the body. So,you have to feed your body every day. It easily dissolves in water, and through urine, the excess amounts are eliminated. What foods are rich in vitamin C? How will you introduce them to your diet, and what is the importance of taking a diet full of these vitamins? Let’s discuss.

Foods that provide vitamin C

Citrus fruits

Citrus fruits will offer your body enough amounts of vitamin C. An orange being the leading provider of this nutrient gives 70mg of vitamin C.A grapefruit will deposit about 56mg in your body. If you want to get more nutrients, take citrus fruits in juice form instead of raw. With only a glass of 225 mg orange juice, you’ll get 125 mg ofvitamin C. Isn’t that amazing? You can start walking with a bottle of citrus fruits when going to work to boost the levels of this nutrient and get healthier with only a few sips.

Broccoli

You only need a cup of broccoli to give your body the amount of vitamin c it needs. Apart from ascorbic acid, this vegetable offers other vitamins and essential minerals like calcium, iron, riboflavin, niacin, folate, phosphorus, and potassium.

Bell peppers

What’s interesting about peppers is their low amounts of calories and high amounts of nutrients like fiber, vitamin A, folic acid, potassium, and ofcourse, vitamin C. Among all the peppers, red bell peppers are the most nutritious. Especially if you’re looking for ways to boost your vitamin C amounts. Although they’re the most bitter, their beta-carotene is about 11 times more than those found in green varieties. Their vitamin C is almost one and a half more than the other type.

Kiwi

One full kiwi provides your body with 71 mg of vitamin C. This is 79% of your daily requirement. This fruit will reduce your oxidative stress, minimize your cholesterol levels, and boost your immunity. You can choose to peel off its skin or eat it. The second option is healthier. Consuming about 3 kiwis daily will improve your blood platelets within 4 weeks and lower the triglycerides by about 15%. You can be sure to stay protected from blood clots, stroke, and other heart illnesses. More so, it optimizes the activities of your white blood cells. Don’t you think it’s time to make kiwifruit your favorite snack?

Cantaloupe

Melons are generally beneficial to the body, and cantaloupe being one of them, offers varieties of benefits; Vitamin B, copper, carotenoids, potassium, flavonoids, and magnesium. Not forgetting it contains 30 mg of vitamin C in only ½ a cup. Double this amount, and you give your body twice the amount of vitamin C with only 50 calories.

Tomatoes

Most individuals use tomatoes as the main ingredient in cooking almost all types of food. That’s recommendable. However, you can grab most of the vitamin C from tomatoes by eating them raw instead of cooking them. You can add them fresh to your sandwichfor lunches and cook them in your dinner meals.

Potato

While fries are unhealthy, you can get a healthy version of potato by baking it. One baked potato contains 20 mg of vitamin C. In addition, it’s excellent in fiber and potassium. Ditch frying as your preparation method and roast them in the oven after dipping them in olive oil. You’ll love it. You can make it yummier by topping it with healthychoices like low-fat cheese.

Cauliflower

Several florets provide almost 40 mg of vitamin C and other nutrients like folate, fiber, and vitamin K. There are different ways of preparing it. You can take them raw, steam, or roast them in olive oil. Boost the nutritious profile by dressing it up with herbs like thyme, which will add 4 mg of vitamin C with only a tablespoon.

Papaya

You’ll get 90 mg of vitamin C by consuming a cup of papaya. It’ll also provide you with fiber, carotenes, magnesium, flavonoids, potassium, vitamin B, and folate. A combination of all thesenutrients strengthens your heart and protects you from colon cancer. Enjoy it by removing the seeds, splashing some kosher salt on top, and some lime to have a taste you’ll always crave for.

Kales and spinach

Vegetables are superfoods when it comes to vitamin C. You’ll get 195mg of vitamin C from a cup of rawspinach. From a cooked version, you’ll get 117 mg of vitamin C. As for kales, one cup of raw version will give you 80 mg of vitamin C. It’ll also give you carotenoids and vitamin K. For the cooked version, you’ll get 53 mg of vitamin C. If you want more antioxidants from kales and spinach, boil, fry, or steam.

Which provides more vitamin c, cooked or raw foods?

How you prepare your food greatly affects the levels of nutrients you’ll get. Being a water-soluble vitamin, vitamin C will get reduced in amounts when cooked. Avoid using water-based cooking methods like poaching, simmering, or boiling. Boiling is the worst method because it reduces 50% or more amounts of vitamin C.

Vitamin C is known to be sensitive to heat. So,vegetables will leach out when placed in hot water.

What are the best ways of preparing your vitamin C foods?

Roasting and baking

It involves using dry heat from the oven to prepare your food. Loss of vitamin C is very low with this type of food preparation.

Sautéing and stir-frying

It involves cooking food in a saucepan using medium or high heat with small splashes of butter or oil. Ensure the cooking preparation is shorter to minimize therate of losing vitamin C.

Frying

Not all foods are appropriate for frying. Still, this kind of cooking preserves vitamin C. Ensure you use little oil and don’t let your food stay heated at very high temperatures for too long.

Steaming

Steaming is always the best alternative if you want to preserve nutrients, especially water-soluble vitamins. It accommodates their sensitivity to heat and water. The disadvantageis that the food will be tasteless. But you can overcome this drawbackby seasoning it after cooking.

Conclusion

It’s essential to eat vitamin C foods to maximize the nutritional profile of this important vitamin. No perfect style of cooking that holds all the nutrients exists. So, the only way out is tochoose eating them raw or using methods that have the lowest impact on reducing vitamin C. From today onwards, take vitamin C foods daily!

Charlotte Cremers
Latest posts by Charlotte Cremers (see all)

MS, University of Tartu
Sleep specialist

Using the acquired academic and professional experience, I advise patients with various complaints about mental health - depressed mood, nervousness, lack of energy and interest, sleep disorders, panic attacks, obsessive thoughts and anxieties, difficulty concentrating, and stress. In my free time, I love to paint and go on long walks on the beach. One of my latest obsessions is sudoku – a wonderful activity to calm an unease mind.

Latest from Health