Foods Highest in Vitamin C: List and Table

The positive effect of this vitamin on the human body. What fruits, vegetables and berries contain this useful element. Thousands of articles and dissertations have been written about the benefits of vitamin C. Moreover, the element itself was discovered back in 1927. The famous scientist St. Gyori managed to extract ascorbic acid from cabbage and orange juice, as well as red pepper. Initially, the element was called hexuronic acid, and it began to be called “ascorbic acid” only in 1932.

Without a sufficient amount of this substance in the diet, normal functioning of the body is impossible. Many of us know that ascorbic acid is a reliable assistant in strengthening the immune system and providing preventive action. But is this the only element capable of doing this? What vegetables and fruits with vitamin C should be added to your diet? What should its norm be? There are many questions, and each requires detailed consideration.

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About the dangers of vitamins

The beneficial substances contained in plant foods are extremely rarely accumulated by the body in excess, but it is still possible to become oversaturated with some of them:

• ascorbic acid causes allergies;
• tocopherol (E) provokes colitis and constipation;
• participants in group B cause muscle cramps, dizziness, and stool disorders.

Knowing what vitamins can be found in vegetables and fruits, it is easier for people with health problems to adjust their diet and create a daily menu. For example, vitamin D is especially useful for those who are prone to overeating and suffer from obesity, but it can be dangerous for chronic inflammation of the liver and kidneys.

Plant foods rich in vitamin A are contraindicated for allergies and drowsiness, and C is harmful for obesity and diabetes. Therefore, having serious health problems associated with the need to give up certain foods, doctors recommend replenishing the lack of nutrients with the help of medicines and dietary supplements.

Lack of ascorbic acid

It is important to notice a lack of vitamin C in time. This will help alleviate a person’s painful condition.

Indicators of ascorbic acid deficiency are a number of manifestations associated with dysfunction of organs or systems:

• frequent colds that occur with complications - problems with the immune system;
• dry skin, fragility, hair loss, frequent splitting of nails - decreased collagen production;
• fatigue, apathy – drop in serotonin levels;
• frequent nosebleeds – weakness of the capillary walls;
• bleeding gums, loosening and loss of teeth are a clear sign of scurvy (a disease characterized by an acute lack of vitamin C);
• dizziness, weakness - symptoms of low hemoglobin levels;
• joint pain – decreased carnitine production;
• low weight in newborns is a sign of a lack of ascorbic acid in the mother’s body in the first three months of pregnancy.

If you feel unwell, you need to visit a doctor and get tested to determine your body’s vitamin status. You cannot self-prescribe medications.

People with kidney disease, impaired blood clot formation, gastric ulcers in the acute phase, or impaired copper and iron metabolism should be careful when taking vitamin C.

About storing and preparing plant foods

Root vegetables can become a worthy replacement for fruits that are unavailable in winter and spring. But no one is stopping us from preparing the same sweet peppers and green beans for the winter. Are vitamins preserved in frozen vegetables, berries and fruits? Certainly.

Tips regarding freezing rules will help ensure maximum preservation of beneficial properties:

• use the “fast freezing” mode;
• put fruits in the freezer immediately after washing and cutting;
• set the temperature to no lower than – 25°C;
• Divide foods intended for freezing into small portions sufficient for one-time use.

Proper heat treatment can preserve the nutritional value of foods that cannot be eaten raw. This is especially important when preparing dishes from fruits rich in ascorbic acid.

How to properly cook vegetables to preserve vitamins? They only need to be placed in boiling water and the pan must be covered with a lid. After cooking, remove from the broth. All this will allow you to preserve the maximum of nutrients. But cooking is not the most preferable option. It is better to steam vegetables or microwave them. Read more about how to preserve vitamins in food →

Foods with the highest content: table

The table provides a list of foods richest in ascorbic acid. By reading it, you can find out which foods have the highest vitamin C content.

The level of ascorbic acid in all products depends on the conditions of how and where they were grown. Its concentration decreases if chemical fertilizers were used during cultivation and the storage conditions of the products were violated. In addition to the fact that rose hips contain a lot of vitamins, they are also useful because they contain bioflavonoids that improve the absorption of ascorbic acid.

A glass of fresh strawberries or one medium-sized orange covers the daily intake.

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Nutritionist opinion

No matter how healthy fruits, berries and vegetables are, they will not be a complete replacement for protein foods, and vice versa. But you still need to know what vitamins are contained in vegetables and fruits.

Information about the vitamin composition of fruits and vegetables will be useful to people who are on a diet or who deliberately refuse to consume meat products. It is worth considering that fruits contain less B vitamins than food of animal origin, and find a worthy replacement for them.

It is difficult for city residents to get the freshest vegetables and fruits, and their long-term storage leads to a partial loss of beneficial properties. Therefore, to prevent vitamin deficiencies, which often appear in the spring, it is advisable to resort to multivitamins. But they should be taken only after consulting a doctor.

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Review - vegetables, fruits, berries:

• Top vegetables and fruits rich in vitamin C
• What foods contain vitamins table
• Vegetables in human nutrition
• Vitamins in vegetables table
• Eggplants - benefits and harms
• What do I know about the benefits of viburnum
• What do I know about blueberries!

Vitamins contained in plant foods, especially C and A, are chemical substances that cannot be replaced in the diet. They are important nutrients because they play the role of catalysts and regulators in the human body, with the exception that each vitamin complements and potentiates each other.

Vegetables contain vitamins , as well as quite a few important microelements for the human body. The important elements in the table are: iron in vegetables, calcium in vegetables, magnesium in vegetables, phosphorus in vegetables, carbohydrates in vegetables and calories in vegetables.

Contents of the most important nutrients in vegetables, table:

Vitamin C, or ascorbic acid, is present in large quantities in various parts of plants, especially vegetables, excluding seeds. Products from other groups, such as milk, liver and kidneys contain this vitamin in very small quantities. The human body cannot synthesize vitamin C or store it, i.e. “keep in reserve for a long time,” so regular supplies of it to the body are necessary. Providing sufficient amounts of this substance is only possible if you eat enough fruits and vegetables every day.

For centuries, sailors who suffered from a dangerous disease called scurvy during long voyages suspected that its manifestation was associated with a long-term lack of fresh fruits and vegetables in the diet. Their suspicions were fully confirmed by the research of Holst and Fröhlich at the beginning of the twentieth century, and the production of synthetic vitamin C began in 1932.

Scurvy develops in extreme cases with prolonged vitamin C deficiency, the first signs of which are: weakness in the body, constant fatigue, swelling of the gums, tendency to bleed, rapid heartbeat, loss of appetite, pain in the joints and bones, rheumatism, redness of the mucous membranes of the mouth and increased sensitivity to infections. Such symptoms are often observed in our climate zone, especially in early spring. Because in winter the consumption of fresh vegetables and fruits decreases.

Vitamin C not only ensures health, but is also closely associated with anti-aging effects.

To protect the body from the dangers associated with the absence or deficiency of ascorbic acid, it should be remembered that consuming a certain amount of plant foods is not enough, since vitamin C is very sensitive to many factors that cause its degradation.

Therefore, inappropriate preparation or processing of even the richest foods can destroy almost all of the ascorbic acid content. The vitamin degrades at high temperatures, soaking in water, peeled and especially cut products (dissolves and migrates to water), exposure to atmospheric oxygen, and is washed out during the preparation of plant-based products in large quantities of water.

Oxidation of vitamin C is facilitated by the presence of copper and iron, as well as an enzyme called oxidase, which occurs even faster if the foods are fragmented.

The loss of ascorbic acid must be taken into account in practice in the basic principles of daily preparation of vegetables. The average daily dose for vitamin C averages around 70 mg.

The next group of vitamins present in vegetables is a group of vitamins with basic similar properties to vitamin C, such as water solubility and heat sensitivity. Not only vegetables and fruits are a source of these vitamins, they are primarily found in: yeast, grain products (flour and cereals), meat, meat by-products, fish, eggs, seeds and legumes. However, the vitamins contained in vegetables cannot be underestimated, as they perform various functions.

So, B1 or thiamine is necessary for normal carbohydrate metabolism, which affects the nervous system. Its deficiency causes weakness, pain in the limbs, loss of appetite, constipation, fatigue, and can even lead to nerve paralysis. Severe deficiency can lead to severe beriberi disease. The daily requirement for vitamin B1 in adults is 1.5 mg, this amount increases to 1.8 - 2.3 mg in pregnant and lactating women.

A lack of vitamin B2 can lead to inhibition of normal growth in children and adolescents, and also contributes to disturbances in the functioning of vision, and can cause skin problems, for example, cracking of the corners of the mouth, skin erosions, seborrhea, decreased muscle tone and resistance to infectious diseases. The daily requirement for vitamin B is 21-3 mg.

Vitamin A occurs in nature most often in a form known as carotenes. They give colors from yellow and orange to deep red and are found in many plants (pumpkin, carrots, tomatoes, peppers, apricots). There are also green vegetables (lettuce, parsley, spinach, watercress, green onions, etc.) that contain the pigment chlorophyll; carotene absorbs the orange spectrum. Once absorbed, carotenes are converted into vitamin A in the human body, but this process can only take place properly in the presence of fat. The bioavailability of carotenoids from colored vegetables is better than from green vegetables, such as carrots; on average, in healthy people, 35-50% of the carotene contained in food is converted into vitamin A. However, fruits and vegetables are not the only source of this compound, which found in nature mainly in liver, egg yolk and milk fat (butter, cream).

Vitamin A is essential for the growth and development of young organisms. Its deficiency is manifested, in particular, by dryness and flaking, as well as a gray tone of the skin, and visual impairment, which manifests itself as “night blindness,” as well as dryness and decreased shine of the hair. This vitamin accumulates in the human body, and its reserves are stored in the liver. In our climate zone, vitamin A deficiency is rare. The daily requirement of an adult for this vitamin is determined by 5000 international units.

A discussion of the vitamins present in vegetables would be incomplete without mentioning vitamin E , also known as tocopherol, and vitamin K. Vitamin E plays an important role in many body systems. Necessary for normal muscle development and proper functioning of organs for the continuation of the human race. Found primarily in leafy vegetables, seeds, wheat germ and vegetable oils, as well as some animal products.

Vitamin K is essential for maintaining normal blood clotting. The human body consumes it from food, and it is also produced by microorganisms that live in the gastrointestinal tract. Plants have the ability to produce vitamin K, but not all plant foods are a good source. The richest sources of vitamin K are leafy vegetables, as well as soybean oil and nuts, and some animal products. This vitamin is not destroyed by high temperature. However, it is sensitive to ultraviolet rays and also oxidizes in an alkaline environment.

Minerals are found in vegetables and play an important role in the body, namely, they are an integral part of the skeleton and teeth, affect blood clotting, participate in the digestive process and maintain the acid-base balance in the body.

First of all, calcium, iron and potassium should be mentioned, which are relatively easily available. The exception is calcium, which is found in some leafy plants (sorrel, spinach, rhubarb) in the form of oxalate. Free oxalic acid binds a certain amount of calcium from other foods consumed at the same time. In order to prevent the negative consequences of this process, do not combine dishes with foods that are rich in calcium (milk, eggs, cheese) with sorrel, spinach and rhubarb. It is not recommended to overuse these vegetables at all, especially do not introduce them all on the same day.

A discussion of the role of the most important components of vegetables will not be sufficient without mentioning fiber, that is, dietary fiber, which is the main component of the structure of plants. Fiber is usually not absorbed by the body; it is only partially digested by bacteria in the large intestine. However, dietary fiber plays an important role in influencing the mass transit time of food through the intestine. I regulate the digestion and elimination of foods, they provide a feeling of satiety. Additionally, although not absorbed by themselves, they have a huge impact on the absorption of other nutrients. Also, providing sufficient dietary fiber largely prevents the development of the so-called civilization disease, which is very common in our century.

The only source of fiber is plant materials, mainly vegetables and fruits, as well as grain products, unpolished grains, and bran.

Correct ways to prepare dishes with vegetables

Rational planning of dishes with vegetables in your daily diet is only half the battle. You still need to master the skill of properly preparing plant-based foods, and minimizing the loss of valuable nutrients. At the same time, you cannot ignore the issue of the attractiveness of vegetable dishes, or their taste, smell and appearance of the method of administration. Using your own cooking methods each day will ensure that you are getting enough vitamins and minerals.

To better preserve the nutritional value of vegetables, you must follow the instructions below:

1. Source fresh vegetables, properly grown and frozen food, when purchasing pay attention to only completely frozen, freeze-dried.
2. Wash all vegetables thoroughly before peeling. It is best to do this under running water.
3. Particular attention is paid to root vegetables (carrots, parsley, celery, turnips, rutabaga radishes, parsnips, beets), especially intended for salads. They are actually contaminated soil, which are the remains of natural and artificial fertilizers, pesticides and numerous microorganisms, including pathogenic microorganisms. It is better to wash these vegetables with a brush and rinse thoroughly with water.
4. Wash and peel vegetables, because most of the nutrients are concentrated just under the skin.
5. When peeling and chopping vegetables, use only stainless steel tools (knives, scrapers, graters, choppers), and not iron, because it destroys vitamins, in particular vitamin C.
6. Rinse the peeled vegetables quickly in clean water, do not soak. During exposure to water or digestion, there is actually a significant loss of valuable nutrients (water-soluble vitamins C and B) and minerals.
7. Leafy vegetables (all varieties of lettuce, spinach, chard and leaves spices and herbs), rinse thoroughly, separating the leaves; change the water frequently. Filter, being careful not to wrinkle or break the leaves.
8. Prepared (washed, peeled or chopped) plant products require immediate preparation by boiling in a small amount of boiling salted water. A hermetically sealed container for cooking vegetables with cold water is a mistake.
9. To prepare vegetables containing carotenoids, add a little fat (carrots, pumpkin, cabbage, tomatoes, peppers). For cooking and cooking with vegetables, do not use damaged enamel cookware.
10. Never add baking soda before cooking vegetables.
11. Cook root vegetables and dry legumes covered. Cruciferous vegetables, first cooked in an open pan, need to be covered after a few minutes. This applies to all varieties of cabbage, broccoli, cauliflower and kohlrabi.
12. Minimize cooking time for vegetables. Briefly, over high heat, until properly softened at this point.
13. Vegetables that are served immediately after cooking are not heated or stored on a hot plate.
14. It is better to boil vegetables for salads with their skins on and peel them as quickly as possible.
15. Eat cold boiled vegetables with the addition of cold sauces or vegetable oil with lemon juice. This is a practical way, especially when not all family members eat meals at the same time.
16. Any dish with vegetables can be combined with a generous addition of spices and herbs before serving. These additives are crushed at the last moment before being added to food.