What is Vitamin C?

Vitamin C, also known as ascorbic acid, is a water-soluble nutrient that our body needs to absorb daily as we cannot produce it ourselves. Because our body doesn’t store water-soluble nutrients, we need to keep them in our diet all the time to maintain healthy levels. The best is to eat vitamin-C-rich fruits and vegetables raw or cook them with minimal water, so you don't lose vitamins in simmering water.

The good news is that it can be found in many fruits and vegetables. The most known fruits and vegetables packed with vitamin C are oranges, strawberries, broccoli, kale, and spinach. Although Avocados does not make the top list in Vitamin C it can not only boost your intake but help you absorb more from other fruits and vegetables in your diet.

What does vitamin C do for our body?

Vitamin C is a key nutrient to support a healthy immune system. Our body’s ability to build immune cells depends on our cells having enough Vitamin C.

Vitamin C does not only help us stay healthy, it also helps our body produce collagen – a fibrous protein in connective tissue which can be found throughout our body. Collagen is key in the maintenance of our skin, cartilage, tendons, ligaments, bones, teeth and blood vessels. It is also important in wound healing.

Vitamin C plays an important role in absorbing nonheme iron - the type of iron you find in plant foods. This means that your body absorbs more iron from let’s say spinach if you add avocado and oranges to your salad vs. eating a plain spinach salad.

Vitamin C also helps fight off free radicals which can build up in our body and contribute to the development of health conditions such as cancer, heart disease and arthritis

How much Vitamin C is recommended?

The recommended daily amount for vitamin C is 75 milligrams (mg) a day for women and 90 mg a day for men. A medium size Hass avocado contains 12mg of Vitamin C, or 27% of the recommended daily intake.

So how about starting your day with an avocado toast & fresh orange juice or adding avocado to your daily salad?