Kids Research Express

Vitamin C or ascorbic acid, a well-known vitamin is important in the formation and maintenance of collagen, the protein that supports many body structures and plays a major role in the formation of bones and teeth. It also enhances the absorption of iron from foods of vegetable origin. Scurvy is the classic manifestation of severe ascorbic acid deficiency. Its symptoms are due to loss of the cementing action of collagen and include hemorrhages, loosening of teeth, and cellular changes in the long bones of children. Assertions that massive doses of ascorbic acid prevent colds and influenza have not been borne out by carefully controlled experiments. In other experiments, however, ascorbic acid has been shown to prevent the formation of nitrosamines—compounds found to produce tumors in laboratory animals and possibly also in humans. Although unused ascorbic acid is quickly excreted in the urine, large and prolonged doses can result in the formation of bladder and kidney stones, interfere...

Ascorbic Acid or Vitamin C, a food substance needed by humans to prevent scurvy , a disease of the gums, bones, and blood vessels, and to increase the body’s resistance to infection. Ascorbic acid acts as an antioxidant, a nutrient that chemically binds and neutralizes the tissue-damaging effects of substances in the environment known as free radicals. As a result, ascorbic acid is vital for the growth and maintenance of healthy bones, teeth, gums, ligaments, and blood vessels. Because of its role in the formation of collagen, the body’s major building protein, ascorbic acid is a central component of all body organs. Ascorbic acid occurs naturally in many fruits and vegetables, particularly in tomatoes, citrus fruits, cantaloupe, broccoli, spinach, green peppers, cabbage, and potatoes. The vitamin is easily destroyed by cooking or canning foods and by exposure to air and light. A healthy diet generally contains sufficient quantities of ascorbic acid, but the body requires more of the v...