You’re probably taking vitamin C, but are you absorbing it? Vitamin C is water-soluble, which means when we take it, it goes right through us. 

Luckily, if we combine vitamin C with certain bioflavonoids like quercetin, it can be more easily absorbed into our bodies.

Vitamin C has some impressive benefits, which is why it’s important to ensure that we’re actually getting it in. Here, I cover 7 of those health benefits:

1. Powerful Antioxidant

A study shows that vitamin C can increase your antioxidant level by up to 30%. 

This means that vitamin C supports our body’s natural defense system against inflammation and chronic disease.

2. Lower Blood Pressure

If you bruise easily, vitamin C can not only help fix this, but also improve blood flow and the integrity of blood vessels at the same time.

People that take supplements for vitamin C reduce their systolic blood pressure (top number) by almost four points, and their diastolic blood pressure (bottom number) by a point and a half. 

That may seem small like a small change, but it can be the difference between being forced onto blood pressure medication and not. 

Vitamin C is great for supporting blood vessels and lowering blood pressure.

3. Lowers Risk Of Heart Disease 

A study was conducted with 300,000 people taking 700 milligrams of vitamin C every day for a 10-year period. Researchers found that there was a 25% reduction in heart disease among participants.

That is a massive reduction of one of the leading causes of death, all by taking a simple nutrient we can get easily.

13 other studies have shown that taking at least 500 milligrams of vitamin C on a daily basis reduces the risk of heart disease. It does this by lowering our blood cholesterol and triglyceride levels.

4. Lower Uric Acid

Too much uric acid in our system can lead to a condition called gout. Gout is a form of arthritis that is accompanied by severe pain and tenderness in joints.

When you take vitamin C, it significantly lowers the amount of uric acid inside of the blood. 

A study of 46,000 people over a 20-year period of time found that those who took vitamin C decreased their risk of gout by 44%.

5. Increases Iron Absorption

If you struggle with anemia, vitamin C can help you with the iron levels in your blood. Taking just 100 milligrams of vitamin C may improve your iron absorption by 67%.

Another study conducted with 65 children with anemia found that giving them vitamin C supplements helped control or even reverse their anemia.

Vitamin C may not provide your body with iron, but it can ensure that you’re absorbing the iron that you get from food and supplements.

6. Reduces The Risk Of Dementia

Those with dementia have been found to have lower levels of vitamin C. Studies show that supplementing with vitamin C has a protective effect on your thinking and memory.

Vitamin C is good to take if you want to protect your brain from conditions like Alzheimer’s and dementia. 

7. Boosts Immune System

Taking vitamin C increases our production of white blood cells, lymphocytes, and phagocytes, all of which protect our body against infections and viruses.

Vitamin C also enhances the function of white blood cells and protects them from being damaged by the chemicals, toxins, and free radicals that we take in.

Vitamin C strengthens our skin—which also boosts our defenses against bacteria—and helps protect wounds from infection.

People that have low amounts of vitamin C are more susceptible to pneumonia (infection in the lungs). Taking vitamin C has also been shown to decrease recovery time from immune system-related problems.

Foods High In Vitamin C

Now that you know how important vitamin C is for us, let’s look at the best sources of it. The best source of vitamin C is through food. Foods high in vitamin C include:

• Lemons
• Limes
• Strawberries
• Cantaloupe
• Orange
• Broccoli
• Red Cabbage
• Red & Green Peppers
• Tomatoes

Ideally, you should be trying to get 500-3,000 milligrams of vitamin C daily. The best way to get vitamin C in is through a food source, but if you’re going to take supplements, I encourage you to do it on an empty stomach. 

This is because vitamin C has to get past the stomach and into the small intestine, where a group of different proteins absorb it.

I also recommend you take vitamin C with bioflavonoids such as hesperidin, rutin, and quercetin. 

Quercetin has been found to reduce the oxidation of vitamin C, which means you’ll be able to absorb more vitamin C. I recommend taking vitamin C with quercetin on a daily basis of 500-1000 milligrams. 

If you experience diarrhea, that may be a sign you’re taking too much vitamin C, and you should spread your consumption of it out and/or have it on an empty stomach.

My own vitamin C comes from natural fruit sources as opposed to being chemical-ridden or sourced from corn. 

It’s easily absorbed by the body, and has bioflavonoids included. I use it myself when either my kids or me are feeling under the weather in order to bolster our immune system. 

This helps reduce the recovery time from immune system problems, and gives us all of the other benefits of vitamin C.

You may think that taking vitamin D is just as important, but it’s not. In fact, I think you should stop taking vitamin D immediately, and here’s why.