Ah cold and flu season! "Oh how we've missed you", said no one ever!!! I mean really, this time of year full of stuffy noses, hacking chest colds, sore throats and the dreaded flu. Can we please fast forward to the April showers already!
Well since we can’t move time how about an immunity superhero to get you back to feeling 100% again. What's the superhero I'm referring to you ask? Drum roll please....
It's Vitamin C! Vitamin C, or ascorbic acid, is an important nutrient found in many foods, such as oranges, strawberries, red and green peppers, broccoli, spinach, kale and kiwi. It is also available in supplement form. Vitamin C is an essential vitamin, meaning your body can’t produce it. Yet, it has many roles and has been linked to impressive health benefits. Vitamin C is a powerful antioxidant that can strengthen your body’s natural defenses. Antioxidants are molecules that boost the immune system by protecting cells from harmful free radicals.
More specifically for immune health Vitamin C helps encourage the production of white blood cells known as lymphocytes and phagocytes, which help protect the body against infection. It also helps the white blood cells function more effectively and can reduce the severity of colds and recovery time.
I’m a huge fan of getting your key nutrients from foods but if you do want to supplement your vitamin C the Recommended Dietary Allowance (RDA) for adults 19 years and older is 90 mg daily for men and 75 mg for women. However Mega dosing which was discovered in 1949 has been known shown to have promising results as healing therapy.
When it comes to supplementing with vitamin C, you just can’t go wrong. There is no harm in it. Vitamin C is non-toxic and cannot build up in your body; any excess is excreted in your urine. And if you take too much you could have some diarrhea, so you may need to lower your dose. However, your body can adapt to higher levels of supplementation over a short period of time. So, once you reduce your intake of vitamin C to your bowel tolerance, you can try increasing the amount slowly.
If you are treating an infection, you will need to take a significantly higher amount than the RDA—I’m talking more like 1gram or more. Again, you want to try it out and see what works for you. Take it to bowel tolerance. But, remember that when you are sick, your bowel tolerance typically increases in proportion to the toxicity your body is experiencing.
When you are taking larger doses it’s best to spread your doses out throughout the day and have a buffer for your stomach. Water is fine if you are unable to eat something every time you take a dose.
There are so many more health benefits of vitamin C supplementation that I have not mentioned here. It truly is an Immunity Superhero! Are you taking vitamin C?
WANNA GET EVEN HEALTHIER! Want help learning how to boost your immunity naturally and other good-for-you habits? Curious about how health coaching can help you make your own healthy changes? Let’s talk! Schedule a free discovery call with me today—or pass this offer on to someone you care about!