Vitamins Information
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Vitamin C: Tips For Increasing Your Intake
A new RDA?
According to a recent issue of the Journal of the American Medical Association (JAMA), the National Institutes of Health is taking another look at the Recommended Daily Allowance (RDA) for vitamin C. The current RDA for vitamin C is 60 milligrams per day—about the amount you get from one orange. Due to recent findings on the potential health benefits of this wonder vitamin, the NIH is now considering boosting the RDA to somewhere between 100 and 200 milligrams per day, two to three times the current recommendation.
Why all the hype?
Vitamin C has long been known for its value as an antioxidant. Antioxidants are natural compounds found in many of the foods we eat. The most well known antioxidants are vitamin C, selenium, beta carotene and vitamin E. Antioxidants work by inhibiting toxic substances in the body (also known as "free radicals") which may lead to the development of cancers, heart disease and the aging process. There has been a strong correlation between diets high in fruits and vegetables (which are rich in antioxidants) and reduced risk of chronic diseases. Vitamin C may account for much of this protection. However, we are also finding numerous other compounds within fruits and vegetables, collectively called "phytochemicals", that may also play a preventative role. Phytochemicals are defined simply as chemicals found in plants. They occur naturally in fruits, vegetables, grains, nuts and seeds. These substances, many of which also have an antioxidant effect, may protect our bodies from cellular damage that can lead to cancer and other chronic diseases.
Due to the strong correlation between diets abundant in fruits and vegetables and disease prevention, The National Cancer Institute launched the "5-A-Day" program. The basis of this campaign promotes the intake of a minimum of five fruits and vegetables daily as a good defense against cancer and other diseases. A specific recommendation of this program is to include vitamin C rich fruits and vegetables in the diet each day since vitamin C is a particularly well-researched antioxidant. The mainstay of the program, however, is that by eating five servings of produce daily we can easily take in not just a good dose of vitamin C, but the minimum amount of protective plant chemicals shown to be effective in reducing risk of chronic diseases. Remember, five is the minimum amount. In the case of fruits and veggies it's definitely a situation where more is better!
Study Explains How Cranberries Prevent Urinary Infections
THURSDAY, July 31 (HealthDay News) -- Researchers at Worcester Polytechnic Institute say that have solved the mystery of how cranberry juice prevents urinary tract infections.
Their study, published in the current issue of Colloids and Surfaces: B, shows that the juice changes the thermodynamic properties of bacteria in the urinary tract to form an energy barrier that prevents infections from developing.
The research team found that when bacteria with hair-like projections known as fimbriae, which is present on virulent bacteria that cause urinary tract infections, is exposed to even low concentrations of cranberry juice that energy levels increased to levels that made it difficult for the bacteria attach to a cell.
When the bacteria and urinary tract cells were placed in a solution, fewer and fewer attachments were observed as the concentrations of cranberry juice were added to the mix.
Cranberry juice did not appear to affect bacteria without fimbriae, which suggests something in the juice may directly change the molecular structure of the fimbriae themselves.
"Our results show that, at least for urinary tract infections, cranberry juice targets the right bacteria -- those that cause disease -- but has no effect on non-pathogenic organisms, suggesting that cranberry juice will not disrupt bacteria that are part of the normal flora in the gut," Terri Camesano, an associate professor of chemical engineering at WPI, said in a university news release. "We have also shown that this effect occurs at concentrations of cranberry juice that are comparable to levels we would expect to find in the urinary tract."
Camesano said that unpublished work also shows cranberry juice has potent effects on disease-causing bacteria, but that the effect is temporary. "This suggests that to realize the antibacterial benefits of cranberry, one must consume cranberry juice regularly, perhaps daily," she said.
Other work her lab did shows that regular cranberry juice cocktail and sugar-free cranberry juice both work effectively to prevent urinary tract infections.
More information
The U.S. National Library of Medicine has more about urinary tract infections.
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