A vital component for maintaining and supporting a healthy immune system is our diet.

The food we eat plays a critical role in ensuring that our bodies digest and absorb the right vitamins and nutrients. Our very ability to produce immune cells (from bone marrow), for example, is supported by a variety of vitamins and minerals, and one of the most important is Vitamin C.

Vitamin C is water soluble so daily intake is vital

Vitamin C is known as an ‘essential’ dietary nutrient because humans are unable to produce it internally and so must digest it through food or nutritional supplements. 

Vitamin C is important to maintaining a healthy immune system because it supports a lot of our internal immune processes. Vitamin C, for example, helps the body to produce antibodies to help stave off infections and illnesses. It is also key to a number of mechanisms involving the production and protection of many different types of white blood cells to help protect our bodies from different foreign and toxic pathogens.

A study of over 11,000 people has shown that vitamin C can reduce the duration and/or the severity of the common cold.

It is important to note that just taking Vitamin C when you have a cold or infection may not help to reduce the length of time of your illness. It has been theorised that those that regularly take Vitamin C, and then increase their dosage when they are ill, are more likely to experience better results. 

Vitamin C is also water-soluble, which means it cannot be stored in the body, so regular intake is vital to see any benefits or improvements to your health.

Foods rich in Vitamin C include peppers, strawberries and citrus fruit however most people don’t eat enough fruit and vegetables and so are not able to regularly consume enough Vitamin C.

Vitamin C works in 6 vital ways to protect you from illness: 

1.  Supports the skin (our first line of defence) and the lining of our organs through the production of collagen. 

2.  Supports our immune response by boosting our production of white blood cells to fight infections and then provide protective resistance by boosting our B and T cells, specialised to recognise similar intrusions in the future. 

3. Acts as a powerful antioxidant to clear free radical toxin damage in the body.

4. Most complications from serious flu are due to Acute Respiratory Distress Syndrome (ARDS) by producing a massive state of inflammation which causes difficulty breathing and is the basis of pneumonia. Fortunately, our body can fight this inflammation but it needs the powerful antioxidant Vitamin C to do this.

5. Low levels of Vitamin C can cause feelings of tiredness and fatigue. When the body is tired it becomes more susceptible to illness and the energy from Vitamin C can help prevent this. 

6. It's also vital for your skin, joints, and eyes. Vitamin C is important for collagen production, the protein that makes skin, joints, and bones strong. It maintains skincare by protecting against sunburn, pollution, and ageing by neutralising free radicals. It also helps hay fever by acting as a natural antihistamine to reduce the effects of pollen allergy. And it supports eyesight by reducing the risk of the development of age-related cataracts. 

Why is Whole Food Vitamin C important? 

The human body struggles to recognise synthetic substances, and this includes vitamins. It is best able to absorb nutrients from natural whole foods. 

 

The Naturality Lab Vitamin C Immunity Boost is a unique whole food source of Vitamin C, derived from some of nature’s richest sources of this essential vitamin and antioxidant. Our high strength Vitamin C formula contains: 

	Acerola cherry: known as superfruits, due to their excellent nutritional value and exceptionally high vitamin C content. Acerola cherries provide a naturally bio-available and powerful source of vitamin C, which is fully utilised by the body. 1 small acerola cherry contains around 80mg of vitamin C - this is 30 times the amount found in oranges (of the same weight). These cherries possess an amazing array of nutrients, including potent antioxidants. In fact, researchers have identified that it contains 150 nutrients including bioflavonoids, proteins, mineral salts, iron, calcium, and phosphorus.
	Blackcurrant: these berries are extraordinarily rich in vitamin C and are actually far superior to navel oranges - containing more than three times as much of this powerful antioxidant. They also contain a good amount of calcium, potassium, phosphorus, iron, phytonutrients, vitamin E and other antioxidants. Blackcurrants are a great energy food and the seeds are rich in unsaturated fatty acids. They can also help to prevent joint inflammation, eye strain, and urinary infections.
	Rosehip: a great source of vitamin C and bioflavonoids. There is as much vitamin C in a cup of rosehip pulp as in 40 oranges! Vitamins A, B1-3, and K are also present. The bioflavonoids, present in the pulp and the rind enhances its absorption rate. Studies show that rosehips may also reduce the symptoms of osteoarthritis and help sore, achy joints to function better.
	Parsley leaf: has many health benefits and a host of nutrients, such as vitamins A, C, and E, bioflavonoids, iron, folic acid, volatile oils, coumarins, flavonoids, chlorophyll and other powerful antioxidants and phytonutrients. It is also a good source of manganese, calcium, and potassium. Raw parsley and juice are used to cleanse the blood, dissolve the sticky deposits in veins, help maintain the elasticity of blood vessels, help break down small kidney stones and gallstones, and as a natural breath freshener and diuretic.
	Elderberry: rich in vitamins A and B, flavonoids, and potassium, but they are most notable because they contain more vitamin C than other traditional fruits. Research indicates that they promote disease resistance. They also help lower cholesterol, improve vision, support heart health, improve diabetes symptoms, improve digestion, alleviate muscle aches, relieve arthritis symptoms, and support immunity. In fact, anthocyanins found in elderberries have more antioxidant capacity than either vitamin E or vitamin C! These potent antioxidants enhance immune function by boosting the production of cytokines - proteins that act as “messengers” in the immune system to help regulate immune response.

 

Sources: Carr A C & Maggini S (2017). Vitamin C and Immune Function ; Harri H & Chalker E (2013) VItamin C for preventing and treating the common cold.