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Also called ascorbic acid, vitamin C not only boosts the immune system but also maintains a healthy heart, bones, eyes, teeth and gums, aids in collagen production, and helps heal wounds.
Warning
Never change your diet without first consulting your physician.
Step 1: Eat fruit
Eat citrus fruit, like oranges and grapefruits, and squeeze lemon and lime juice over cooked dishes like chicken. Other fruits high in C include strawberries, kiwi, mango, and cantaloupe.
Step 2: Make a salad
Make a salad with dark, leafy greens like spinach and kale, which are loaded with C. Top it with a citrus vinaigrette for an added C boost.
Step 3: Get your veggies
Get several daily servings of veggies like tomatoes, broccoli, and cabbage. And choose sweet red, orange, and yellow peppers, which have double the vitamin C of green peppers.
Tip
Eating at least five servings of fruits and vegetables daily will ensure you get the recommended allowance of vitamin C.
Step 4: Think outside the box
Think outside the box by trying more obscure vegetables like jicama, kohlrabi, Brussels sprouts, and water chestnuts.
Step 5: Have a potato
Have a baked potato. At 25 milligrams, it has nearly half the FDA recommended daily allowance of 60 milligrams of vitamin C. And keep the skin on to get the most nutrients.
Step 6: Look for fortified foods
Look for vitamin C-fortified foods, such as fortified breads, grains, and breakfast cereals.
Did You Know?
Did you know? Two-time Nobel Prize-winning chemist and physicist Linus Pauling popularized the use of vitamin C to battle colds and other illnesses.
