Remember the days when your mother peeled you an orange everyday? Well, she was right in doing so as she was ensuring that you get your daily dose of Vitamin C, a nutrient that though required by your body in small amounts, is essential for its optimal functioning. However, as adults, we ignore our health and don’t enough of this substance. Vitamin C is present in fruits like oranges and amla, both of which can be consumed either whole or more easily in juice form.

To know more about how amla juice can have positive impacts on your health, click here.

The recommended daily amount of Vitamin C is 90 mg, 75 mg and 45 mg for men, women and adolescents respectively. You can easily get this from commonly available food items like oranges, colored peppers, papayas, strawberries, cauliflowers, pineapples etc. And it is vital to do so since Vitamin C deficiencies can result in various problems like fatigue, mood swings, lowered immunity, infections and allergies, etc.

Consuming the required amounts of Vitamin C can have several positive impacts on your body, like:

1. Good for Your Heart

Vitamin C works on maintaining your blood cholesterol levels and ensures your blood is pumping at a steady healthy rate through the body by eliminating any blockages. Both these actions help in keeping your heart functioning optimally, reducing the risk of cardiovascular diseases and strokes.

2. Benefits Your Brain

Studies show that Vitamin C is essential to keep your brain and nervous system functioning right. Not only does this nutrient fight age-related neurological disorders like Alzheimer’s, it also reduces the impact of and even goes to the extent of preventing depression and anxiety attacks since it contributes to your body’s production of hormones like adrenaline that help combat stress.

3. Prevents Common Colds and Allergies

Vitamin C not just keeps you safe from contracting common colds and allergies, but also reduces the duration and severity of their impact, since it works to control the levels of histamine in your body.

4. Improves Your Body’s Immunity and Disease-Fighting Ability

Doctors recommend that you get sufficient amounts of Vitamin C to ensure your immune system is functioning at optimal levels so that diseases can be prevented from affecting your body. Also, Vitamin C helps in the healing process, making it a must in the diet of any person recovering from anything, right from cuts and wounds to surgeries and burns, since it catalyses the production of collagen, speeding up your recovery process.

5. Keeps Your Skin Healthy

Vitamin C nourishes your skin and prevents it from getting affected by the sun’s harmful rays or natural aging process. From tanning to sagging skin and wrinkles, this essential nutrient is the answer to your dermatology problems. It is also used as an ingredient in skin products.

6. Prevents Respiratory Disorders

Research shows a link between adequate consumption of Vitamin C and healthy respiratory function. The histamine content of this nutrient can help prevent severe respiratory disorders like bronchitis, asthma, tuberculosis, etc.

In addition to the above, getting your daily dose of Vitamin C also has other benefits  - It maintains your blood sugar levels, regulating and preventing diabetes; its antioxidant properties eliminate free radicals from your system, thereby preventing cancer; its anti-inflammatory nature works to reduce the impact of arthritis on your limbs and joints and it even keeps your eyes young and healthy preventing the onset of cataracts and vision loss.

While oranges are considered to be a good source of Vitamin C, few people actually know that amla or Indian gooseberries contain 20 times the amount of this nutrient as oranges, along with being a powerhouse of other good food value. While amla is available only in the winters, amla juice, which contains as much nutrition and is more palatable, is easily available throughout the year. For more information on this magic potion, click here.