Vitamin C, is not a vitamin to always be alone. It is a co-operative vitamin, you can combine it with other minerals to get a much better effect on your health.
Aside from its numerous advantages, vitamin C has shown yet another role to be played when combined with either calcium or iron.
Vitamin C and Calcium:
>> As we all know, calcium is probably the most important mineral to be mentioned when you’re talking about bone health, building and protecting the structure of our skeletons, in bone growth and in teeth growth, all of those roles basically require calcium.
>> Vitamin C can very easily be combined with calcium in a diet, despite the many negative interactions that might take place when two vitamins or minerals are taken together, these two actually have a positive influence on one another, as it turns out vitamin C, when given in the right doses can enhance and support the absorption of calcium.
>> So for people who are trying to increase their calcium levels in the blood and protect their soft tissues from calcification, vitamin C could be a solution.
>> It is also believed that high levels of calcium can lower the stomach acids, so taking in vitamin C in this case will lead to a better digestion.
>> As for deficiency and lower levels of either or both of these nutrients, it is thought to be a co-factor in the development of periodental problems, as well known to all of us, calcium is a neccessity for strong teeth, whereas vitamin C as an antioxidant plays its part to protect against free radical and another part in the repairing of connective tissues.
>> So in the end, finding the right balance of doses for the two nutrients to be taken together can result in a stronger and a healthier body.
Vitamin C and Iron:
>> As for the part vitamin C plays with iron absorption, it is not all that different.
>> Iron is an essential mineral that acts as a carrier of oxygen throughout our blood and to produce energy.
>> It comes in two forms, one that is obtained from animal sources such as meat and poultry and that form is called heme iron, whereas non-heme iron is the form obtained from plant sources like spinach.
>> The absorption of those two forms differ, our bodies can much better absorb the heme form than the non-heme form, which is where vitamin C is useful.
>> Vitamin C when taken exactly at the same time with the non-heme form of iron will increase its absorption.
>> Which is why people suffering from anemia or iron deficiency are recommended to take vitamin C along side their iron supplements.
Finally, among the many known uses of vitamin C, its fortifying effects on the absorption of such essential minerals make it a much more influential vitamin than most of us would have expected, so be sure to help yourself to a daily intake for a better life.
**It is safe to note that calcium and iron supplements should not be taken together, as studies have shown that calcium interferes with the absorption of iron which may even lead to iron deficiency.
