Vitamin c in winter

Since hurting myself, I've done a lot of research into nutrition to aid recovery. Apparently the human body can't repair damaged tendons or ligaments without the presence of vitamin c.

This got me to thinking, nowadays it's not a problem because we can easily get all the vitamin c we need from supplements or from fruit shipped from abroad or grown out if season in artificial conditions. But what did our forefathers do to get their required vitamin c in winter?

Vitamin c is very volatile. It is quickly destroyed by heat and/or exposure to oxygen, so dried and preserved stuff is actually very low in vitamin c, and our bodies can't store it. People obviously managed, without even thinking about it, but they must have been vitamin c defficient right at a time of year when I reckon they were more likely to injure themselves.

 

They got scurvy?

I thought (I may be wrong ) that sprouts and broccoli were a source of vitamin c?

 

Excellent point. I'd completely forgotten about winter brassicas.

Now you mention it, I wonder if that's why as kids were were always forced to eat our greens.

 

Vitamins are added to quiet a lot of foods nowadays because children with their poor diets are lacking essential vitamins to aid growth and repair to their growing bodies.Another reason why breakfast clubs have sprung up at a lot of schools because a lot of children are missing out even on breakfast as parents either haven't got the time because of work commitments to feed them or else they are so overstretched with paying al, their bills they can't afford to give kids at least one good meal of the day.

When we were walking round Tescos last weekend trays of fruit had been put at the ends of some of the isle with a note pinned to the front inviting parents to help themselves to some fruit to give to their kids while they shopped.Sod the kids how about going free fruit to us adults to eat while we shop

There was a case in the papers last year and the parents have been on trial recently because in Wales they refused to ever take their young son to school(home schooled) never let him be seen by Dr's or Social Workers dentists etc and he has died an agonising death from Scurvy.It is a death I would never want to go through

Don't ever suffer with a VitaminD3 deficiency,now that is bloody painful

 

Sea thrift (Armeria maritima) and scurvy grass (Cochlearia anglica) would both have been eaten along with various other brassicas.
Sauerkraut, Kimchi, and other fermented pickles contain high levels of vitamin C.

 

Elderberry has a very high vitamin c content, and used to be used for jams, cordials and wine...
(Still is in this household!)

 

But given that vitamin c is destroyed by both heat and air, the process of turning it into jam would significantly reduce the vitamin c content.

 

True, but when you start with as much as elderberry has, that must still leave you with a useful amount? (Wish I could test my elderberry syrup...)

 

I'm willing to bet if you really looked into what people were eating a couple of hundred years ago they probably consumed more natural vitamins than a lot of people do now days who only eat processed stuff.
Which is why they flog so much of the vitamins in pills these days.

Most of the people taking them are hypochondriacs or just brainwashed.

 

Indeed this is true. When doing my research, I found so many articles from so many sources all insisting that this supplement or that supplement was pretty much essential. But I always dig a bit deeper, looking for actual studies into such stuff. In almost all cases, little or no benefit was found for the supplement being studied. In fact in some cases, actual potential for harm was found. Incidentally, a notable example of potentially harmful supplements was that age old one, cod liver oil. The excessive vitamin a was found to inhibit the replacement of bone tissue, contributing to osteoporosis.

But vitamin c is a bit of an exception. Lots of studies found significant and numerous benefits from vitamin c supplements, while many studies found no detrimental effect even from very high doses.

I'm taking high dose vitamin c supplements because I have a number of tendon and ligament injuries that are taking a long time to heal, despite making sure I eat plenty of protein. No matter how much protein you consume, ligaments and tendons don't heal without vitamin c, because they're made of collagen which needs vitamin c in its manufacturing process. Since adding the vitamin c supplements, I must say I've noticed significant improvements in my injuries.