Effects of vitamin C

There are many tips to whiten your skin in life. The most common one is to drink more lemon water. The main explanation is that lemons are rich in vitamin C, which can effectively decompose the melanin in cells and prevent skin oxidation. But in addition to whitening, VC actually has quite a few other functions. In order to let everyone better understand the impact of vitamin C on our body, let’s learn about this issue today.

Drug Action Vitamin C participates in a variety of reactions in the body, such as participating in the redox process, and plays an important role in biological oxidation and reduction as well as cellular respiration. From the tissue level, the main function of vitamin C is related to the synthesis of extracellular matrix. Includes collagen, the matrix of teeth and bones, and the junction between capillary endothelial cells. Therefore, when scurvy is caused by vitamin C deficiency, it is accompanied by collagen synthesis defects, which manifests as difficulty in healing wounds, impaired tooth formation and capillary damage causing a large number of ecchymosis points, which fuse to form ecchymosis. Vitamin C and scurvy have a long historical connection. Hippocrates was the first person to mention scurvy. He described the soldiers' gums being ulcerated and their teeth falling out. . . Early sea travel attracted people's attention to scurvy. When the fleet left the port for 3-4 months, the crew would often suffer from scurvy. People began to realize that this was due to the lack of fresh vegetables and fruits during sea travel. In 1932, British military doctors isolated a crystalline substance with anti-scurvy properties from lemon juice. In 1933, Swiss scientists synthesized vitamin C, also known as ascorbic acid. Modern studies have shown that VC is essential to human health:

1. The synthesis of collagen requires the participation of vitamin C, so if VC is deficient, collagen cannot be synthesized normally, leading to cell connection disorders. The human body is composed of cells, which are connected by intercellular matrix, and the key component of the intercellular matrix is ​​collagen. Collagen accounts for 1/3 of the body's protein, produces connective tissue, and forms the body's skeleton. Such as bones, blood vessels, ligaments, etc., they determine the elasticity of the skin, protect the brain, and help heal human trauma. 2. Scurvy. The strength of blood vessel walls has a lot to do with VC. Microvessels are the smallest of all blood vessels. The walls of microvessels may be only as thick as a cell. Their strength and elasticity are determined by collagen, which acts as glue and connects cells. When there is insufficient VC in the body, the capillaries are prone to rupture and blood flows into nearby tissues. If this happens on the surface of the skin, it will cause bruises and purpura; if it happens inside the body, it will cause pain and joint swelling. In severe cases, bleeding may occur in the stomach, intestines, nose, kidneys and under the periosteum, and even death may occur. 3. Gum atrophy and bleeding. Healthy gums tightly wrap around each tooth. Gums are soft tissues, and when they lack protein, calcium, and vitamin C, they are prone to gum atrophy and bleeding. 4. Prevent arteriosclerosis. It can promote the excretion of cholesterol, prevent cholesterol from depositing on the inner wall of arteries, and even dissolve deposited atherosclerotic plaques.

5. It is a powerful water-soluble antioxidant. It can protect other antioxidants, such as vitamin A, vitamin E, and unsaturated fatty acids, and prevent free radicals from harming the human body. 6. Treat anemia. It can reduce the difficult-to-absorb trivalent iron into divalent iron, promote the absorption of iron by the intestines, improve the utilization of iron by the liver, and help treat iron deficiency anemia. 7. Prevent cancer. Rich in collagen, it helps to strengthen the antioxidant effect of vitamin C, which can resist the damage of free radicals to cells and prevent cell mutation; it can block nitrite and secondary amines from forming strong carcinogens such as nitrosamines. Someone once performed an autopsy on a patient who died of cancer and found that the VC content in the patient's body was almost zero. 8. Protect cells, detoxify, and protect the liver. In human life activities, it is crucial to ensure the integrity of cells and the normal metabolism. For this purpose, glutathione and enzymes play an important role.

Glutathione is a short peptide composed of glutamic acid, cystine and glycine, which has redox effects in the body. It exists in two forms, oxidized and reduced. The reduced form plays an important role in ensuring the integrity of cell membranes. VC is a strong antioxidant. It is oxidized itself, which reduces oxidized glutathione to reduced glutathione, thereby exerting an antioxidant effect. Enzymes are catalysts for biochemical reactions, and some enzymes require free thiol (-SH) groups to remain active. VC can reduce disulfide bonds (-SS) to -SH, thereby increasing the activity of related enzymes and exerting an antioxidant effect. From the above, we can see that as long as VC is sufficient, VC, glutathione, and -SH will form a powerful antioxidant combination to scavenge free radicals, prevent lipid peroxidation and the toxic effects of certain chemicals, and protect the liver's detoxification ability and normal cell metabolism.

9. Improve body's immunity. White blood cells are rich in VC, which decreases sharply when the body is infected. VC can enhance the chemotaxis and deformability of neutrophils and improve their bactericidal ability. Promote the formation of lymphoblasts and improve the body's recognition and killing of foreign and malignant cells. Participates in the synthesis of immunoglobulins. Improve the activity of CI complement esterase and increase the production of complement CI. Promote the production of interferon, interfere with the transcription of viral mRNA, and inhibit viral proliferation. 10. Improve the body's emergency response capabilities. When the human body is subjected to abnormal stimulation, such as severe pain, cold, lack of oxygen, and strong mental stimulation, it will induce a state of tension in order to resist the abnormal stimulation. This state is accompanied by a series of physical effects, including sympathetic nerve excitement, adrenal medulla and increased cortical hormone secretion.

6. The main physiological functions of vitamin C: 1. Promote the biosynthesis of collagen. It is beneficial to faster healing of tissue wounds. 2. Promote the metabolism of tyrosine and tryptophan in amino acids and prolong body life. 3. Improve the utilization of iron, calcium and folic acid. 4. Improve the metabolism of fats and lipids, especially cholesterol, and prevent cardiovascular diseases. 5. Promote the growth of teeth and bones and prevent gum bleeding. 6. Enhance the body's ability to resist stress and immunity to the external environment.