Still working on my immune system-Vitamin C

I am one of those "people", people that read medical journals.  So as I am working on rebuilding my immune system, I wanted to see what the "research" actually says about Vitamin C. Vitamin C is the most know vitamin that we turn to when we get sick.  There is a lot of controversy over its effectiveness. 

So what I found is that it probably does work. Most of the studies show that taking vitamin C will help to decrease the duration of the common cold by 1-15 days. I will note there are a few that show that it didn't make a difference at all.  Interestingly, it might work better in children than in adults.  And the part I found most important is that several studies revealed that you are more likely to get results from Vitamin C foods than you are from supplements.  So instead of reaching for pills, let's make some healthy meals with high vitamin C foods.

Let's step outside of the box.  We can get Vitamin C from a lot more than Orange Juice!  Red & Green Hot Chili Peppers are a great source of Vitamin C.  You can also eat guava, bell peppers, leafy greens, broccoli, cauliflower, brussel sprouts, kiwi, papaya & strawberries and get the same amount or even more Vitamin C than we get from oranges!

Extremely high doses don't work in a protective way to help your immune system prevent colds so don't waste your  money on taking mega doses when you aren't getting sick.  But make sure you are eating those Vitamin C foods.  This is one vitamin has some great research to support its role in preventing or managing at least 20 different common health problems including high blood pressure.

I will caution that Vitamin C research shows that it is most likely ineffective for Bronchitis, Alzheimers, Diabetes, Prostate Cancer, pancreatic cancer,  and stroke.  There are a bunch of conditions that there isn't really enough evidence either way too like allergies.

If you decide , you need to take mega doses, remember too much can cause GI distress and diarrhea. Also remember what I said about the Vitamin A. Vitamins can interact with medications so be sure to check with your pharmacist if you are going to take a supplement of Vitamin C.