We have all heard about Vitamin C and how we need it daily but it can be easily overlooked, as our bodies do not create it or store it. We must get it from our diet or in the form of a supplement each day. Vitamin C is found in citrus fruits, berries, potatoes, tomatoes, peppers, cabbage, brussels sprouts, broccoli and spinach.
Vitamin C (ascorbic acid) is a nutrient our body needs to form blood vessels, cartilage, muscle and collagen in bones. Vitamin C is also vital to your body's healing process. Vitamin C also helps your body absorb and store iron.
Vitamin C is an antioxidant that helps protect your cells against the effects of free radicals — molecules produced when your body breaks down food or is exposed to tobacco smoke and radiation from the sun, X-rays or other sources. Free radicals might play a role in heart disease, cancer and other diseases. Severe vitamin C deficiency can lead to a disease called scurvy, which causes anemia, bleeding gums, bruising and poor wound healing.
Most people get enough vitamin C from a healthy diet. Vitamin C deficiency is more likely in people who:
- Smoke or are exposed to secondhand smoking
- Have certain gastrointestinal conditions or certain types of cancer
- Have a limited diet that doesn't regularly include fruits and vegetables
While the recommended daily amount of vitamin C is 90 milligrams for adult men and 75 milligrams for adult women, a more personal dosage can be identified by taking 1000 mg every hour until you notice your stools are looser. Take note of how much your body needs and your personal daily needs are 1000 mg less. Of course, this amount will vary based on your food choices for that day. Vitamin C can also be used in higher doses to reduce unwanted symptoms. Again pay attention to your stools and stop when they begin to loosen.
Vitamin C is needed daily so if your food choices are not supporting your body's needs then you may supplement.
The digestive process starts with your thoughts and it needs water to support it. Now let’s just talk a little bit about how it goes through the body.
You put something in your mouth and you chew it, then you swallow, it goes down your esophagus, goes into your stomach, there it moves to your intestines and out the bowels. OK that’s simplified, but I want you to get the basic idea that there is a beginning and an end and it’s pretty much a tube that goes through the body.
That is the picture I want you to have in your mind, maybe think of a straw. It has an opening at the top and it has an opening at the bottom, something goes in the top and it comes out the bottom. This brings us to tip number 3.
Our current culture encourages us to eat more often than our bodies can handle . We generally need a minimum of a 12 hour fast each day to completely process what we have consumed that day.
That means if you eat at 8 PM then you won’t eat anything else until after 8 AM the next day that’s reasonable right?
Maybe it is reasonable but I have found it’s not so easy for me to change my habits! I was a middle of the night eater and I struggled to get my body to be content with a twelve hour fast daily.
You want to eat slowly so that you don’t overfill the tube, allowing your mind to catch up with the body. You also want to eat at one sitting and then you want to stop for a few hours to digest completely. Remember to drink your water during the hours you are not eating.
Want to learn more?
