Ingredient Spotlight: Vitamin C

Vitamin C is one of the most popular vitamin supplements, and perhaps one of the most misunderstood. In this blog post, we take a deep dive into what Vitamin C does for your body and why it matters.

What Is Vitamin C?

Vitamin C is a nutrient and antioxidant found in foods. It protects cells in your body from free radicals (compounds made from the breakdown of food in our bodies, also found in cigarette smoke and pollution).  

What Does Vitamin C Do in the Body?

Skin: Did you know that Vitamin C and collagen work together? Vitamin C is essential to the production of collagen which is responsible for keeping skin supple and healthy, as well as healing cuts and scrapes. Vitamin C has also been shown to increase skin barriers for protection.

Blood: Vitamin C helps your body absorb iron from foods. This is especially important for people on low-or-no meat diets who may experience iron deficiencies. Since iron plays an important role in the production of red blood cells, Vitamin C is a sort of secondary helper for that process.    

Wellness: No studies have shown that Vitamin C is a cure for the common cold, despite the prevalent urban legend stating otherwise. However, Vitamin C does support the Immune System, and people who take Vitamin C experience shorter, less severe symptoms of the common cold, according to this study.

Where can I get Vitamin C?

Bell peppers, oranges, strawberries, broccoli, and the new Nuun Instant all contain Vitamin C. The general daily recommended dose of Vitamin C is 90mg for men and 75mg for women. Nuun Instant contains 90mg of Vitamin C, so it’s got your daily Vitamin C dose covered in just one serving.

What If I don’t get enough Vitamin C?

Vitamin C deficiency manifests as scurvy. And as much as we all love dressing up as pirates for costume parties—actual scurvy is no fun at all. Symptoms include depression, aches and pains, fatigue, and gum bleeding. Our advice: avoid getting scurvy. Take some Vitamin C!