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What Is Vitamin C & What Are The Benefits Of Vitamin C? | Nutritionist Explains... | Myprotein
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Jan 30, 2025
Our vitamin and nutrition expert explains what Vitamin C actually is, the benefits and why it's so good. Katie Brown, product developer at Myprotein, gives us several good reasons why Vitamin C is the OG of supplements. Vitamin C works to improve energy levels and reduce fatigue by supporting energy-yielding metabolism. Vitamin C contributes to normal collagen formation, for bones, cartilage and skin. That's not all, Vitamin C does so much more, find out in this video. *** Chapters: 00:00 - Intro into Vitamin C 01:33 - Vitamin C and Immunity 02:48 - Vitamin C and Iron Absorption 03:32 - Vitamin C and Collagen 04:13 - Vitamin C and Energy 05:30 - Any more Vitamin C questions? ********************************* Subscribe to our channel: https://www.youtube.com/user/MyproteinUK?sub_confirmation=1 If you like this, you'll love this: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dCWqxqI26NI&list=PLkb17OgnhB-GpfKPd8GtbR9hWoH03F56F&index=4 Find more expert advice here: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=IbLIyA6AlS4&list=PLkb17OgnhB-E3HuYJuEacRqMjrokvPxpI
View Video Transcript
0:00
experts say vitamin c is one of the
0:02
safest and most effective nutrients out
0:04
there but what actually is it and why is
0:06
it so good let's find out
0:10
i'm kitty braun product developer at my
0:12
protein did you know that vitamin c is
0:15
actually just the recognizable name for
0:16
ascorbic acid which is essential for our
0:19
overall health and well-being humans
0:21
can't make it ourselves though so we
0:22
must get our daily fix through our diet
0:24
it functions as a co-factor a helping
0:27
hand so to speak which eats the reaction
0:29
of enzymes to maintain essential
0:31
biological functions lots of which we'll
0:33
cover when we go through the proven
0:35
benefits of vitamin c it is classed as
0:37
water soluble so it can dissolve in
0:39
water both outside the body in foods
0:41
which have a high water content and
0:43
within the body the downside to this is
0:45
that if we don't utilize it quickly we
0:47
can lose it through urine it can't be
0:49
stored if we consume enough however
0:51
you'll find it most commonly in our
0:53
bodies in areas like white blood cells
0:55
our eyes and our brain vitamin c is an
0:57
antioxidant which means it's
0:59
anti-oxidation basically it prevents
1:01
damage to cells caused by oxidative
1:03
stress from free radicals free radicals
1:05
are unstable atoms which are highly
1:07
reactive on a constant surge in our body
1:09
to find other atoms to bind with this
1:11
can cause pretty unfavorable reactions
1:13
though that can range from dna to
1:15
cellular damage in all parts of the body
1:17
this is why researchers have taken great
1:19
interest in vitamin c for decades based
1:22
on the evidence that oxidative damage is
1:24
associated with or even in some cases
1:26
the root cause of many diseases right
1:29
that's your crash course on what vitamin
1:31
c is so let's talk through some of the
1:33
proven benefits the first one is
1:34
immunity vitamin c contributes to the
1:37
maintenance of normal function of the
1:38
immune system as i said vitamin c is in
1:41
white blood cells or lymphocytes
1:43
lymphocytes are the overarching term for
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a range of cells lymphocytes themselves
1:47
branded the natural killer cells which
1:49
respond to viruses t cells which are for
1:52
cell mediated immunity which doesn't
1:54
involve antibodies and b cells for
1:56
antibody driven immunity having an
1:58
adequate intake of vitamin c actually
2:00
aids the proliferation of lymphocytes
2:03
and this is where the connection with
2:04
immunity comes in more specifically on
2:06
immunity you may have heard a lot of
2:08
connections with vitamin c and the
2:09
common cold however research is still
2:11
pretty divided a scientific review which
2:14
examined doses of 200 mg a day concluded
2:16
vitamin c didn't prevent the common cold
2:19
however taking vitamin c on a regular
2:21
basis did reduce the average duration by
2:24
8 in adults and 14 in children and can
2:27
also reduce the severity of the colds
2:29
whilst it might not fight the sneezes
2:31
and sniffles from starting it could help
2:33
you ride out the common cold a little
2:35
easier since supplementing with vitamin
2:36
c is deemed safe can be done at
2:38
relatively low cost and has a range of
2:40
other benefits to your general
2:42
well-being if you're prone to the winter
2:44
woes it might be worthwhile to consider
2:45
supplementing and see if it works for
2:47
you the second benefit is iron
2:49
absorption vitamin c increases iron
2:51
absorption particularly important for
2:53
non-heme iron let's recap dietary iron
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has two main forms heme and non-heme
2:59
plants and iron fortified foods contain
3:02
non-heme iron only this form must be
3:04
solubilized and hydrolyzed before
3:07
absorption is possible and vitamin c can
3:09
help this as well ascorbic acid also
3:11
works to mitigate the negative effects
3:13
on iron absorption of the compounds
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phytates and tannins which hinder its
3:17
absorption these are compounds found in
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plant foods and widespread in our diets
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think beans and nuts plus tea in the
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case of tannins this is why you might
3:25
see orange juice being recommended as an
3:27
alternative to a cup of tea in an iron
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rich breakfast particularly if you're at
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risk of iron deficiency vitamin c also
3:33
contributes to normal collagen
3:35
information for bones cartilage and skin
3:38
collagen is a structural protein that
3:39
our bodies produce breakdown over time
3:42
as we age and therefore supplementing
3:44
helps to boost our natural levels whilst
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it does support muscle growth its
3:48
primary role is actually boosting the
3:49
health of these high turnover cells in
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the body during collagen production
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individual collagen subunits we describe
3:56
as pro-collagen are linked together in
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threes by a molecule named
4:00
hydroxyproline to create the final
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collagen fibers vitamin c is an
4:04
essential element in the levels of
4:06
hydroxyproline in the body so you can
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see how our body supplies are essential
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to facilitate this mechanism for
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collagen production vitamin c also works
4:15
to improve energy levels and reduce
4:16
fatigue by supporting energy yielding
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metabolism simply it helps our bodies
4:21
make the most of the energy we can get
4:22
from our food in particular it plays a
4:25
vital role in the production of
4:27
carnitine this is a molecule that
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transports fatty acids to the
4:30
mitochondria the poor house of our cells
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here they are converted to available
4:34
energy it also works to reduce fatigue
4:36
through its relationship with cortisol a
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steroid hormone this is because your
4:40
adrenal glands contain high
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concentrations of vitamin c when
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consuming enough and they use it to
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produce cortisol when your body is
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subject to stress and that can be both
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mental and physical like inflammation
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adrenal glands release cortisol to help
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the body cope less stress equals less
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tiredness all in all studies have shown
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that people who consume high amounts of
5:00
vitamin c have a lower risk of chronic
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diseases like heart disease cancer and
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neurodegenerative conditions however
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it's worth remembering that on
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population studies so the studies
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examining everyday people like you and
5:12
me and relating their intakes of vitamin
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c with the risk of disease in general
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people with high vitamin c intakes are
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going to tend to have a more balanced
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diet and healthier lifestyle these
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things go hand in hand so bear in mind
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that the more healthy diet or lifestyle
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they have in general that will be
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contributing to the level of vitamin c
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too remember too that high vitamin c
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intakes often aren't a conscious choice
5:34
the makeup of our diets across
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demographics cultures and geographical
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locations as well as the accessibility
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to foods like fresh fruit and vegetables
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all impact our levels of macronutrients
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and can be to a large extent out of our
5:46
control currently evidence from
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controlled clinical trials so ones where
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we give people specific vitamin c doses
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and control other elements across the
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groups like diets we haven't
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conclusively established that higher
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intakes of vitamin c alone will help
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prevent chronic degenerative diseases
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its role as an antioxidant however plus
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all the benefits mentioned make us
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pretty confident that vitamin c
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has earned its place as the vitamin og
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so that's vitamin c what do you think
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have any more questions let us know in
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the comments below and if you're new
6:18
here or haven't done it yet remember to
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like this video and subscribe to the my
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protein youtube channel for more great
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evidence-based nutrition information
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