On Vitamin C
Richest vitamin C sources: not what you think.
It’s the cold season and parents will now have an extra reason to buy their children “healthy” orange juice with extra vitamins to "boost" their little one's immunity.
✅ CHILDREN
How is it that I have 2 children who rarely catch colds - even though they never drink orange juice or oranges?
My children never drink orange juice.
How is it that I’ve only had a cold about 3 times in the past 15 years - even though I don't eat oranges? 🤷♂️
✅ BEDTIME
I pay close attention to all aspects of my daily routine.
I think the most important aspect for strong immunity is an early bedtime.
Do you want to never catch a cold again? Do you want to have healthy children?
Then let’s do an earlier bedtime. Make it 9:00 PM at the latest.
Do you need me to list dozens of studies and books in order to convince you to go to bed earlier?
✅ VITAMIN D3
Actually, the 2 problems are:
a late bedtime
and a lack of vitamin D3 (probably the most common deficiency at a global level).
For this reason, we constantly take vitamin D3 supplements and stay out in the sun as much as possible. Shirtless. Regardless of the season. Yes, even in winter.
We all go to bed super early, usually around 9:00 PM, but often even at 8:30 PM or 8:00 PM.
In addition to rest, the immune system also needs a wide range of minerals, vitamins and protein for optimal functioning, not just vitamin C, vitamin D3 and zinc...
One of the most appreciated articles in the history of Body Engineering is about vitamin D3.
A strong immune system needs not only good food, rest, sun and coled exposure, but also exercise.
If you drive your kids around all day and then leave them with some device in their hands, how do you think they'll develop strong immunity? (Or strong anything, for that matter)
But let's get back to vitamin C.
✅ DAILY RECOMMENDED INTAKE OF VITAMIN C
Here are the minimum daily recommended intakes of vitamin C (RDIs).
For women: 75 mg.
For men: 90 mg.
For children: 25 mg.
🏆 PRO Tip: RDI does not mean optimal doses for peak performance, but only the minimum doses to combat malnutrition. That is, you can have a little more.
The reason I don't get all worked up online about vitamin C is simple.
✅ SCURVY
I don't think you've ever heard of anyone suffering from a case of scurvy.
“Scurvy is a disease that occurs due to insufficient intake of vitamin C and leads to the formation of livid spots on the skin, soft gums and bleeding of all mucous membranes.
The spots are more abundant on the thighs and legs, and a person with this condition is pale, depressed and is partially immobile.
Scurvy was once common among sailors, whose ships were at sea longer than fresh fruits and vegetables could be preserved, and among soldiers, who were similarly deprived of these foods for long periods."
Source: CLICK.
A lot of adults and children do not touch vegetables (potatoes are not vegetables) and do not suffer from scurvy.
Do you know why?
Because the daily requirement of vitamin C is met with extremely modest amounts of vegetables or fruits.
🏆 PRO Tip: Did you know that a child can get all the vitamin C they need from 20g of bell peppers?
✅ POWERED BY BELL PEPPER
One hundred grams of oranges contain 57 mg of vitamin C.
One hundred grams of bell peppers contain 127 mg of Vitamin C. So, bell peppers have 2.5x more vitamin C than oranges (or lemons).
Brussels sprouts contain 60% more vitamin C than oranges.
Even boiled broccoli contain 15% more vitamin C than an orange.
Even red cabbage contain 10% more vitamin C than oranges.
I think you got the idea.
If I search just a little bit, I can find at least 10 common vegetables that have more vitamin C than oranges.
Basically, if you eat 200-300g of any kind of vegetable per day, you will easily exceed the minimum recommended intake for vitamin C.
However, it would be excellent if you could increase the amount of vegetables you eat to at least 1.2 kg per day - as sensei recommends.
I believe you do want the full spectrum of minerals and vitamins, not just vitamin C.
✅ FRESH IS SEXY
You can put pate on bell peppers, which contains iron. This way, we can successfully combat anemia.
Parsley has almost 3x more vitamin C than oranges - if we compare them per 100g.
Install the Cronometer app and search for "Parsley, Fresh"
Do you know how well 50g of finely chopped parsley goes with a 4-egg omelet?
Perfectly - just like my grandmother used to make back in the countryside.
Except that it she didn’t use 4 eggs, but 7.
Yes, I know: it's much sexier to drink orange juice than to eat liver pate with bell peppers or make an omelet.
It looks good on Instagram if you're an influencer.
✅ LIGHT FOODS
You know those people who come to the office with 2 bags of oranges and brag that they're eating "light" today?
It's OK, one kilo of oranges contains an average of 100 grams of sugar.
A liter of Coca Cola / Fanta / Pfanner also contains 100g of sugar.
✅ FAT ASS
Those bags of oranges will go straight to your stomach and butt.
Then you'll be surprised that you gained weight during the holidays even though you didn't eat too many "sweets"...
Don't panic. I used to do the same thing 15 years ago and I was as fat as a pig.
Alright, enough jokes. I would like you not to repeat my mistakes.
✅ DON’T OVERREACT
I don’t want you to misunderstand me.
It’s perfectly alright for you to eat a large orange or 2-3 tangerines if you have a craving for something sweet.
What I was saying was that it’s nasty for you to eat bags of oranges or drink fresh juices.
Many times, women will eat a bowl of oranges instead of food. (And they even brag about it)
There may be fewer calories, but their protein and Omega 3 are on the verge of malnutrition.
The truth is that grapes go out of season and then we end up with dozens of kilos of healthy oranges – when winter comes.
Then you realize at Christmas time that you weigh more than in September.
✅ KIND REMINDER
Just a reminder of something basic:
Refined sugar = glucose + fructose
Fruit sugar = glucose + fructose
The metabolic effect is almost identical, especially if you turn orange into "fresh juice".
If you don't believe me, I invite you to drink 2 liters of fresh orange juice every day for a month and then weigh yourself.
Still don't believe me? Read one of my most appreciated articles
✅ VITAMINS
Ah, I almost forgot. In case you just landed from another planet - forget about "fruits have vitamins and minerals".
These are just urban myths.
Still don't believe me? Install the Cronometer app and play around with it.
Choose any food from any category (vegetables, legumes, root vegetables, oilseeds, cereals, pseudocereals, meat, fish, fisheggs, seafood, cheese, eggs) and compare 100g of those with 100g of any fruit you want.
Let's see who is right then.
Basically, when comparing 100 grams of fruit with 100 grams of any food on the planet, most of the time fruits will have fewer vitamins and minerals.
The exceptions are, of course, sugar, oil, bacon and lard which are effectively the definition of empty calories.
✅ ONE MORE THING
A bell pepper is actually a fruit, just like a zucchini, tomato, cucumber or olive.
✅ SUPPLEMENTS
"And yet, when is it worth taking a vitamin C supplement?"
"What supplement do you recommend for children?"
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As well as 30 paragraphs about supplements, vegetables and collagen.
Yes, even collagen.
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