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Answer:
Dr. Kenji Iijima, who is studying the physiological effects of vitamin C, kindly answered this question.
Dr Iijima noted, “I cannot promise that all the information in my article is correct, because immunology is not my major field.” If you have any suggestions, please
let us know.
Physiological function of vitamin C as related to immunity
First of all, vitamin C is highly concentrated in the white blood cells in our body. It is thought that vitamin C plays an important role in immune function, but its mechanism is under
investigation.
The following are physiological functions of vitamin C related to immunity:
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Vitamin C helps the formation of a protein called collagen, which can bring cells together like glue. This is related to the strengthening of skin and mucosa, which results in preventing viruses and bacteria from invading our body. Vitamin A also serves a similar function, but its mechanism is different from that of
vitamin C.
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Stress reduction is closely related to vitamin C. Although the detailed mechanism is not clear yet, it is true that vitamin C has an effect on reducing stress. This improves the power of resistance.
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Vitamin C is a water-soluble anti-oxidant vitamin. So it eliminates the excessively generated free radicals and active oxygen in our body. Vitamin E, which is fat-soluble, also serves a similar function. In addition, when vitamin E loses its anti-oxidant property (i.e. vitamin E is oxidized), vitamin C reduces oxidized vitamin E so that it can turn back to original vitamin E. This suggests that it is good for our health to take both vitamin C and E.
It is thought that free radicals and active oxygen are factors that cause inflammation such as atopic dermatitis. Many researchers are interested in the relationship between
allergies and anti-oxidant reagents such as vitamin C. When viruses, such as the cold virus, invade
our body, a large amount of active oxygen is generated in the white blood cells,
which oxidizes the virus, and destroys them. It is reported that massive vitamin C is consumed in order to remove the extra active oxygen. Therefore, we could say that vitamin C participates in the protection of normal tissue from excessive free radicals and active oxygen.
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It is observed that the factors related to immunity were increased when vitamin C is taken continuously in amounts which are ten times higher than
the nutritional requirement. This is especially observed in elderly people.
Is vitamin C effective
for colds?
We often hear that it would be good to take vitamin C for the protection of our body at the beginning of a cold. From empiricism, vitamin C might have some effects on a cold, and it would be preferable to obtain vitamin C as part of a balanced diet. The effects of vitamin C
might be better when it is taken with other vitamins rather than taken alone, as mentioned above.
I recognize that vitamin C is needed to maintain good health rather than to cure a particular disease. Vitamin C is also involved in detoxifying organic compounds, such as medicine, environmental pollutants, and food additives. In modern society, we are exposed to stresses and environmental pollution, which influence our health. This is the reason
why the nutritional requirement (recommended daily allowance) of vitamin C per day for an adult was increased from 50 mg to 100 mg. I think that it is important to make a positive effort to take vitamin C regularly.
Acknowledgement
Dr. Kenji Iijima
He is studying vitamin C from the point of nutrition science. He recently
focused on the physiological function of vitamin C in brain.
This article is translated by Chemistryquestion.com from the original article in Chemistryquestion.jp. Please let us know if you find any errors.
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