If adding a vitamin C rich food or taking a simple supplement was as beneficial to your body as walking, would you do it? Of course you would! This super vitamin can do amazing things to improve your health, increase longevity and prevent disease.

How can adding Vitamin C to your diet compare to walking?

Vitamin C and taking a daily walk can both do the following things for your body:

• Increase longevity
• Prevent heart disease
• Strengthen your muscles and bones
• Contribute to weight loss
• Improve brain function and mood.

Wow, how does Vitamin C do all that?

Vitamin C is mostly known as an antioxidant but it also has many other health boosting abilities up its sleeve.

Heart

Studies have shown that consuming vitamin C and walking both reduce the effects of the protein endothelin-1 that creates blood vessel constriction leading to heart disease. This fact makes it especially helpful to those who are overweight or unable to exercise.

Vitamin C increases vasodilation or the ability of arteries to expand, allowing blood to flow easily, which is essential for the prevention of heart attack, stroke, angina, and high blood pressure. Those who have cardiovascular damage from arteriosclerosis, heart attack, or stroke have impaired blood flow and reduced artery flexibility making vasodilation extremely helpful in maintaining heart health. The American Heart Journal published a study that showed if everyone ingested 500mg of vitamin C daily it could save over 200,000 lives each year while another study showed that an increase in Vitamin C levels reduced death from heart failure by nine percent.

Bones

Vitamin C keeps bones healthy by increasing osteoblasts (the cells that build bone) and decreasing osteoclasts (cells that destroy bone.) It also helps the body produce collagen to keep joint cartilage in tip-top shape. It reduces inflammation, lessening the joint pain from arthritis

Skin

This vitamin increases collagen production, strengthens your immune system, speeds wound healing and helps skin repair itself

Cells

Everyday things such as poor diet, pollution and medication cause free radical damage to cells, which in turn causes aging and disease. Vitamin C stops free radicals before they damage your cells.

Brain

Vitamin C fights depression by helping your body make serotonin, the feel good hormone. It also promotes vasodilation that increases the blood supply to your brain helping it function better.

Metabolism

Vitamin C is essential in enhancing your body’s production of carnitine. This amino acid is responsible for changing fat into energy helping you lose weight.

How to add Vitamin C to your Diet

Your body does not store this vitamin because it’s a water-soluble, unlike vitamins E and A that are fat-soluble and are stored in your liver. Your body’s daily requirement of this vitamin must come from either the foods you eat or supplementation. If you are elderly, smoke or have an unhealthy diet, your vitamin C levels could be low. Add plenty of fresh fruits and raw or lightly steamed vegetables to your diet to up your vitamin levels.

Foods high in Vitamin C

• Vegetables: peppers, broccoli, kale, Brussels sprouts, cauliflower, sweet potatoes, and carrots
• Fruits: papaya, kiwi, strawberries, acerola cherry, citrus fruit, raspberries and cantaloupe

If you chose to take a vitamin C supplement make sure to take a 'buffered' version as this will be more gentle on your stomach. Just because it has great benefits for your body, don’t put off exercising. Low impact exercise such as walking, yoga, tai chi or free weights combined with vitamin C can keep your body even healthier. 'Ask a naturopath' about more ways  vitamins can boost your health and which supplements are the best ones for you.