Vitamin C (a.k.a. ascorbic acid) made its worldly debut in the 16th century when sailors discovered that by eating citrus fruit on voyages, they could prevent scurvy, even though they did not realize it was the vitamin C that was preventing the disease. English sailors of the 18th century carried limes on board their ships for this reason, which is how they became known as "limeys." The recognized benefits of vitamin C have been broadened beyond avoiding nutrient deficiency and have been linked to curing the common cold, lowering blood pressure, reducing the risks of heart disease and cancer, reducing diabetes complications, assisting lung function and enhancing immune function. Vitamin C definitely keeps scurvy at bay, but the other benefits that have been attributed to this powerful antioxidant have not been proven definitively, though numerous studies certainly point to the fact that vitamin C is integral to staying healthy.
what does it do?
Vitamin C prevents scurvy by helping the body produce collagen, the protein that makes up the connective tissues of the body. Vitamin C deficiency leads to a lack of collagen, which causes the connective tissues to break down. For this reason, those suffering from scurvy face broken blood vessels, bleeding gums, loose teeth, weakness, fluid retention and anemia. One paper called "Vitamin C and Vascular Disease," published by Ron Kennedy, M.D., (based on the works of Linus Pauling and Matthias Rath), expands this theory to attribute vitamin C with the prevention of heart disease. Vitamin C deficiency does not immediately lead to broken blood vessels and death. The first thing that happens is a weakening of the blood vessel walls, which manifests in cracking. These cracks, if they cannot be repaired with collagen because of a lack of vitamin C, are blocked with lipoprotein(a), which is a collection of fat and cholesterol molecules surrounded by a layer of protein. While this is effective at warding off scurvy, the lipoprotein(a) attracts other lipoproteins to it, and the collection of cholesterol and fat eventually leaks into the blood stream of the vessel they protect constricting it. This clogging effect is what leads to blood vessel disease, high blood pressure and eventually heart attack or heart disease.
