Vitamin C

Vitamin C

Also known as ascorbate, Vitamin C is a water soluble vitamin that is essential for human development. There are many different compounds under the Vitamin C descriptor that carry out the vitamin function in the body. These include any salts of ascorbic acid; they carry out many fundamental reactions in the body.

Functions of Vitamin C

Vitamin C acts in two general ways in the body: as a growth and repair enzyme cofactor and as an antioxidant. As a growth and repair enzyme cofactor, vitamin C helps to speed up a reaction that makes collagen. Collagen is an important protein found in skin, tendons, ligaments, and blood vessels. Vitamin C therefore promotes general healing, and can prevent or treat diseases involving the heart and cardiovascular system.

As an antioxidant, Vitamin C can donate electrons to free radicals in the cell. This destroys the reactivity of the radical and prevents any harmful reactions from occurring. An increased amount of free radicals in the body is characteristic of many cancers and diseases, showing that Vitamin C may be beneficial at preventing these conditions.

Vitamin C and OptiHealth Products

Because of its solubility, vitamin C is quickly excreted from the body. This means in order to get the benefits of the vitamin, we need to periodically replenish our body with it. One serving of OptiHealth Products’ OPCXtra contains 51% of the daily recommended value, while the rest can be obtained through diet. In the OPCXtra formulation, vitamin C acts synergistically with citrus extract bioflavonoids so that each nutrient performs at their optimal level for your optimum health.