Vitamin C needed for balanced diet

It is a common misconception that too much vitamin C can harden a person’s arteries, but dietitians say in most cases, reasonable doses of vitamin C are necessary to be healthy. \n“Vitamin C is good for people because it helps in many aspects of benefiting your body,” said Samantha Schaefer, registered dietitian for Bloomington Hospital.\nA person only needs to consume 10 milligrams of vitamin C per day, said Hilary Elliot, registered dietitian for the IU Health Center. However, 60 milligrams is the recommended amount.\nTomatoes, cabbage, green peppers, potatoes and, of course, all citrus fruit contain vitamin C, said Shari Zee, registered nurse for Wishard, a hospital in Indianapolis. And just one cup of strawberries or one medium orange will give the consumer the needed allotment of vitamin C, according to the Yale-New Haven Hospital Web site. \nHowever, pregnancy, breast feeding, hyperthyroidism, surgery and burns can all increase the body’s need for vitamin C, Zee said. \nWhether people get their daily intake through citrus or some other vitamin entity, it protects the body and defends it against illness and viruses, Zee said. \n“Vitamin C supports the body in an effort to heal,” she said. “Vitamin C has healing qualities that help with all tissue and blood cells in the body.” \nTherefore, consuming the vitamin through drinking orange juice might help students heal when they are sick. \n“Vitamin C is essential for cell formations,” Zee said. “Vitamin C is also a proven antioxidant.” \nHowever, in high doses vitamin C can cause diarrhea, kidney stones and for women, changes in the menstrual cycle, Zee said. A high dosage is any amount more than 5,000 milligrams per day, according to the Yale-New Haven Hospital Web site. \nAnd if a person is on medication, such as those for blood clotting, too much vitamin C can undo the effects of the medication, Schaefer said.\nStill, a lack of vitamin C in the average diet can cause adverse effects in the body, such as bleeding on the skin around the gums and hair, and can affect a person’s heart rate, Zee said. In the most serious instance, scurvy can occur, Zee said. Scurvy can cause formation of liver spots, spongy gums and bleeding from all mucous membranes. \nBut all vitamins and minerals in the body work together as one, Elliot said. Therefore, the lack of one vitamin or mineral alone will not entirely make a person sick, but it can help weaken the body’s defenses. \nSchaefer said this misconception that too much vitamin C can harden a person’s arteries stems from a study conducted in 2000 by James Dwyer. However, Schaefer said the study was never published, nor were the results ever confirmed.