Why Vitamin C Important, Especially Right Now
With the novel coronavirus present across the globe, it’s now more important than ever to keep yourself as healthy as you can. Vitamin C is essential to your everyday health and can help to boost your immune system. Making sure you’re eating enough Vitam
in C rich foods, like sweet red grapefruits, is a great way to supplement your other COVID-19 precautions.
Remember, you should talk to your doctor before making any major changes to your life or diet in an effort to combat or prevent COVID-19. Based on guidelines from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), the best way to protect yourself and your loved ones right now is to wear a mask, socially distance, avoid social contact, and maintain a healthy diet and physical activity.
What Is Vitamin C?
Vitamin C is a key nutrient necessary for all sorts of bodily systems. Vitamin C helps maintain your body’s collagen which is essential for your fibrous tissues including your skin, bones, cartilage, tendons, ligaments, blood vessels, and gut. According to the National Institutes of Health, men and women 19 years or older should consume 90-75 mg of Vitamin C respectively as a part of their diet every day.
The best sources of Vitamin C are vegetables and fruits. Citrus fruits like grapefruits consistently top the list of Vitamin C foods, but others include tomatoes, peppers, kiwis, broccoli, cantaloupe, and even potatoes! In fact, our Winter Sweetz Rio Red grapefruits can provide 100 percent of your daily value for Vitamin C.
Benefits of Vitamin C
There are many benefits of a healthy intake of Vitamin C. First, it may protect against heart disease and other blood pressure issues by widening the blood vessels. It may also help to lower cholesterol levels, lead levels, and levels of inflammation-causing histamine. It can also help lower your risk of several other issues including cataracts and macular degeneration, diabetes-related deterioration, and anemia. High intake of Vitamin C has also been shown to aid in healing wounds, fighting infections, and preventing respiratory infections.
Why It Is So Important Now
Beyond special behaviors we take like wearing masks to avoid the virus, your best bet for staying healthy right now is the same as it’s always been: staying active and eating right, and Vitamin C is a vital component of any healthy diet.
With COVID-19 still very much present in most places around the world, it’s important to keep your body as healthy as possible to make sure your immune system can effectively combat the virus. Eating enough Vitamin C rich foods like Texas Red grapefruits can help keep your immune system, and the rest of your body, strong.
There are also some reasons to believe that Vitamin C could help your body fight some effects of coronavirus. First, Vitamin C levels drop when we get sick, but the body needs Vitamin C to fight off illnesses, so increasing your Vitamin C intake could help. Vitamin C can also support white blood cell development which also aids the immune system.
There’s also evidence that Vitamin C could help combat the inflammation associated with some cases of COVID-19. However, the virus is still relatively young, so research into this subject is incomplete, and you absolutely should not rely on Vitamin C alone to treat the virus. In fact, one popular, but false, narrative claimed that ultra-high doses of Vitamin C can prevent or cure the novel coronavirus, but it’s important to remember that taking Vitamin C alone cannot protect against COVID-19. Protection comes from a variety of factors including mask-wearing, social distancing, and a healthy diet. That last point is where Vitamin C comes in!
There is one exception: IV Vitamin C. IV, or intravenous infusion, of Vitamin C is being researched by some doctors as a treatment for COVID-19 damage. This treatment has not been fully proven yet, but you can speak to your doctor about IV Vitamin C if you feel it could help you.
Texas Rio Reds and Staying Healthy
Eating enough Vitamin C should be a primary component of your efforts to stay healthy, outside of or during a global health crisis. While this nutrient may not directly treat or prevent the virus, keeping your body healthy can help ensure that you’re able to effectively combat COVID-19 without lingering effects should you be exposed. If you’re looking for an excellent source of Vitamin C, not to mention many other essential nutrients, look no further than the sweet red grapefruits of Winter Sweetz!