You know what I say to all the people who scoff at vitamin C because it doesn’t really prevent colds?
“Who cares?”
Vitamin C may or may not stop or shorten colds, but let’s look at some of the much more important reasons to supplement with this vitamin. Without vitamin C, your immune system is toast. When you’ve got an infection, your lymphocytes—white blood cells—kick in to defend the body. Lymphocytes use up a ton of vitamin C. So does a process called phagocytosis, which is how the immune system removes cell debris, bacteria, pathogens, and dead tissue cells. You need vitamin C for that “cleanup crew” to do its job!
Then there’s the fact that vitamin C is a powerful—and I mean powerful—antioxidant. Oxidation is a kind of cellular aging—you can see what oxidative damage looks like by leaving apple slices out in the hot summer sun for a day. That’s what happens to your cells (and skins) when you have oxidative—or free radical—damage. That’s not only a big part of aging, it’s also a component of absolutely every single degenerative disease you can think of (and many that you’ve never heard of).
Vitamin C is one of the most powerful antioxidants on the planet. It’s a natural weapon against cellular damage from a host of enemies. It’s also no accident that vitamin C—ascorbic acid—is an important ingredient in so many high-end skin care products.
