The modern cure-all for everything from the common cold to gum disease seems to be Vitamin C. But how much do you take, and which form of the vitamin offers the most health benefits?
There are chew tablets, usually flavored with sugar to make them more palatable. It’s a bit like rubbing hard candy all over your teeth when you chew. Let’s say you’ve chosen a tablet to swallow– is it timed-release? Did you pick one with rose hips in it? The idea behind timed-release is that your body can only absorb so much Vitamin C at a time, and this is one of those vitamins that washes through your system and any extra gets eliminated by your kidneys fairly quickly. If the vitamin is presented over time, your body has a better chance of absorbing a higher dosage. And rose hips are one of the best natural providers of Vitamin C. The closer a vitamin is to it’s natural original form, the easier for your body to absorb it.
Of course, you could just brew up some rose hip tea, and drink your naturally delicious Vitamin C straight from the source. If you decide to go this route, you won’t have much control over dosage, but your body will be more likely to absorb the nutrients in the tea. I recommend putting your unbleached reusable tea bag full of whole rose hips in just-boiled water, and covering the container for at least five minutes, and up to ten minutes for full potency. Consider adding a stick of cinnamon in the last minute, and maybe putting a bit of crushed dried orange peel or dried stinging nettle leaf into the bag as well. This herbal tea cocktail offers a variety of natural tools to help your body take in Vitamin C, and fight off head colds and other illnesses based in nutritional deficiencies.
Other natural sources for Vitamin C include fortified unprocessed undiluted orange juice, Elderberry Tea, apples, peppers, and any sort of dark leafy green vegetables. Dark leafy greens are also a good source of Iron. Since Iron is best absorbed by the body when paired with Vitamin C, you can see that taking your vitamins in their natural form offers many side-benefits as well.
Thanks to the pioneering research of Nobel Prize-winning scientists like Dr. Linus Pauling (and his wife, Ava Helen Pauling), we now know not only the benefits of Vitamin C, but also some of the hazards and risks of overdosing for long periods of time. Extreme doses of Vitamin C– say 10,000 milligrams a day– taken regularly over a long period of time can build up in the body faster than your kidneys can work to eliminate them. Any vitamin or food taken exclusively in such extremely high quantities can become toxic for the body. And a build up of toxins in the system often leads to cancer. Low dosages of Vitamin C, either through multivitamins or a healthy and varied diet are beneficial. And they allow your body to benefit from the occasional week or two of extra Vitamin C when fighting off colds, infections, and other health problems. Go natural, get healthy!
