Vitamin C is vital to maintaining good health and keeping your immune system strong. Supplement companies, through their marketing, will lead you to believe that you need their pills to get adequate amounts of nutrients in your body. While supplements are definitely a useful tool to balance out an unbalanced diet, humans are built to process food, so why not get your vitamins the regular, natural way?
The National Institutes of Health recommends women and men get about 75 and 90mg of vitamin C per day, respectively. By incorporating your vital nutrients into your daily diet you can get your recommended daily dose of vitamin C, here are some easily accessible foods that you can get from non-pharmaceutical methods and are great natural vitamin c sources:
- Red Currants: Very popular in Europe, it also grows very well in the US. It has a high concentration of vitamin C, at 58-81mg per 100g.
- Rose Hips: Can be found in jelly form and tea form. It contains 1100-2500mg of vitamin C per 100g.
- Cantaloupes: At 42mg per 100g, cantaloupes are a good source of Vitamin C that can be eaten regularly.
- Kiwis: The green variety of kiwis holds 98mg per 100 g and the yellow variety 120-180mg per 100g. Trivia: Kiwis react with milk and give a bad taste, so pair the kiwi with something non-dairy.
- Oranges: A typical recommendation, but a true one! Oranges are the natural vitamin c source that makes the others jealous. Often referred to as the poor man’s source of Vitamin C, it comes by the bagload and contains 53mg of vitamin C per 100g. Can be eaten whole, or as a juice, just make sure the juice is freshly squeezed, with no sugar added.
- Strawberries: Strawberries are a seasonal treat, but they can be grown in your garden with little to no effort, and they require absolutely no work to eat, except maybe a wash. Luckily, they can be bought frozen year round. They contain 57mg per 100g of Vitamin C.
