Vitamin C : Lost or Found

Vitamin C; the vitamin most associated with immunity and orange flavoured things is an essential micronutrient for your body. It aids in multiple vital functions from tissue regeneration and repair to brain and bone health. While we assume that we consume the required daily intake of this necessary nutrient, do we really?
We already know that cutting, peeling, steaming and any other way of processing leads to loss of nutrients from raw fruits and vegetables, but what we don’t pay much attention to is the extent of it. Especially with a water-soluble, antioxidant (meaning it reacts with oxygen quickly) nutrient like Vitamin C there is a high chance of losing it while consuming it in the simplest of ways.

Let’s take a look at the ways in which we lose Vitamin C from our diet, and how we can prevent it from happening;

There are various ways to prevent loss of vitamin C from our food without compromising on taste and other qualities. Here are some of them;

1. Add back juices leftover from steaming and blanching, into other dishes.
2. Cook your veggies in less amounts of water, to prevent vitamin loss.
3. Use the shortest cooking time needed, for safe consumption of green leafy vegetables.
4. Consume the leftover liquid left in the pan, after cooking vegetables.
5. Avoid adding more than necessary amounts of salt and sugar into anything.
6. Cut food after cooking, rather than before. This prevents the loss of nutrients.
7. Avoid using baking soda in your cooking, it denatures vitamin C.
8. Use as little water as possible when steaming, simmering or boiling.
9. Try to consume foods as fresh as possible, they tend to lose their nutrient content over time.
10. Cook vegetables for not more than a few minutes.

Vitamin C is an indispensable micronutrient, very essential for bodily functions. It is crucial to keep track of it’s level and consumption since it can be very easily denatured. Check out your body’s vitamin C levels using Neodocs Wellness Cards; urine dipstick tests at your doorstep yielding quick and accurate results.