Although it is one of the best-known vitamins, it is often not consumed enough. How to increase it in your diet? We propose 7 delicious ideas.
Vitamin C is perhaps the most popular and well-known of the vitamins, the one that most recognize as essential to enjoy good defenses and fight infections.
But the popularity of this vitamin is not always linked to its consumption, and the current lifestyle (stress, pollution, poor eating habits and insufficient consumption of fresh food) often leads to deficiencies.
CONSEQUENCES OF VITAMIN C DEFICIENCY
In the collective imagination it lack is associated with scurvy, an ailment that affected sailors who embarked on long transoceanic journeys and who fell ill due to lack of fresh food (and therefore vitamins).
But without going to those extremes, the consequences of not consuming enough vitamin C are many. In addition to acting as an antioxidant and protecting the immune system, vitamin C is involved in numerous metabolic processes.
The solution often involves supplementation and abuse of vitamin supplements, but the real key to obtaining vitamin C is in a good diet.
Above all, it collaborates in the absorption of iron, favors the production of anti-stress hormones, facilitates healing and helps repair and develop blood vessels and cells of the skin, bones and teeth.
It is also useful against cholesterol and degenerative diseases. It lack causes bleeding, inflamed gums and loose teeth, skin conditions, blood disorders and hypoglycemia.
FOODS WITH VITAMIN C
Fresh and raw fruits and vegetables are the foods that contribute to a greater supply of vitamin C. In particular, foods with more vitamin C are:
- Oranges and citrus fruits in general.
- The red pepper.
- The acerola.
- The kiwi
- The blackberry.
- The strawberry.
- Alfalfa.
- Parsley.
- Watercress.
- Papaya.
- Spinach.
- Broccoli.
- Very green, orange or red fruits and vegetables provide a large amount of vitamin C.
- Citrus or exotic fruits like mango or papaya are rich in vitamin C.
- Red fruits, although slightly acidic, are a great source of vitamin C.
- Seaweed such as nori have vitamin C.
- The quality of these foods and their freshness also depends on the contribution of vitamins. In general, organically grown fruit and vegetables have a higher proportion of nutrients in relation to their weight, in addition to being tastier because they are harvested in their natural season.
7 RECIPES FULL OF VITAMIN C
Here are 7 recipes with a multitude of foods rich in vitamin C, to guarantee your minimum daily ration of vitamin C (about 60-70 mg a day).
ORANGE SALAD WITH ARUGULA AND ALMONDS (60 MG VITAMIN C)
Ingredients (for 4 people):
- 3 table oranges
- 150 g arugula
- 50 g sliced almonds
- 1 tablespoon olive oil
- 2 tablespoons apple cider vinegar
- black peppercorn and salt
Preparation (12′ +5′ cooking)
- Preheat the oven to 180 ° C. Spread the laminated almonds on the tray previously covered with baking paper or aluminum and toast them at the top of the oven until golden brown.
- Wash and drain the arugula. Peel the oranges by removing the white part and cut them into thin slices.
- Prepare a dressing with a little olive oil, apple cider vinegar, freshly ground black pepper and salt.
- Arrange the orange slices as a base on individual plates, distribute the arugula and almonds on top, and season with the vinaigrette.
Variants
The salad can be made with pink grapefruit and accompanied with pomegranate and crumbled cod.
Arugula can be combined with canons or endive.
Vitamin C per serving: 60 mg (covers the total minimum daily needs).
FOREST SALAD WITH HONEY (90 MG OF VITAMIN C)
Ingredients (for 4 people):
- 300 g of varied lettuce leaves (spinach, watercress, lettuce…)
- 200 g clean and dried raspberries
- 1 red bell pepper
- 1 carrot
- 50 g walnuts
- 1 shallot
- 1 tablespoon honey
- 1 garlic clove, chopped
- 1 tablespoon chopped parsley
- 100 ml olive oil
- 50 ml balsamic vinegar
Preparation (20′ + 3′ cooking + 15′ standby)
- Wash and reserve lettuce. Seed the pepper and cut it into strips. Peel the carrot and cut it into slices.
- Chop and sauté the shallot slowly with a tablespoon of oil. Add the garlic and parsley, then the honey and vinegar, and remove. Mix with the rest of the oil and add the raspberries. Let stand in the fridge for 15 minutes.
- Sauté the pepper slightly. Mix in a bowl with the salad, carrot and chopped nuts, and pour the raspberry dressing on top.
Variant
It can be served with pine nuts and mushrooms sautéed next to peppers.
Vitamin C per serving: 90 mg (covers 150% of minimum daily needs).
SAUTÉED TRICOLOR PEPPERS WITH TOFU (55 MG VITAMIN C)
Ingredients (for 6 people):
- 250 g tofu
- 1 red bell pepper
- 1 long green pepper
- 1 yellow pepper
- 1 bunch of young garlic
- 30 ml olive oil
- 250 g mushrooms
- 50 ml sesame oil
- 25 ml soy sauce
- Herbal salt
Preparation (10’+10′ cooking)
- Wash peppers, garlic and mushrooms. In a pan with a light background of olive oil, sauté the peppers, cut into small strips and seasoned with herbal salt. After a couple of minutes add the chopped garlic and sauté everything together for another minute.
- Then add the mushrooms. Cook covered for about three minutes, until the mushrooms release their juice and absorb it again, and immediately after add the tofu, a little water, sesame oil and a splash of soy sauce.
- With a wooden spatula stir for a minute with the precaution of not breaking the tofu and remove from heat.
Variants
It can be decorated with a flower made with a raw slice of each pepper.
Sesame oil can be substituted for nut oil or some soy cream.
To give an exotic touch to the dish, you can also use coconut milk and, at the last minute, add two tablespoons of grated coconut.
VITAMIN C PER SERVING: 55 mg (cover 92% of minimum daily needs).
KIWI CREAM WITH WILD STRAWBERRIES (130 MG OF VITAMIN C)
Ingredients (for 4 people)
- 5 kiwis
- 3 small golden apples
- 4 wild strawberries to decorate
- 2 oranges (its juice)
- fresh mint leaves
Preparation (10′):
- Squeeze the juice of the oranges and set aside. Wash the apples, peel them and remove the seeds and heart. Peel the kiwis, reserve one to decorate, and chop both fruits into quarters.
- Place the apple and kiwi in the blender and crush. Add the orange juice and blend again to obtain a very light cream.
- Serve in wide glasses along with chopped reserved kiwi, wild strawberries and fresh mint leaves.
Variants
To give it an exotic touch you can add a little zest of fresh ginger or ground pink pepper.
If you want a creamier texture, you can crush the fruit with half Greek yogurt.
Vitamin C per serving: 130 mg (covers more than twice the minimum daily needs).
BULGUR WITH TOMATO (20 MG OF VITAMIN C)
Ingredients (for 4 people):
- 250 g bulgur (broken wheat)
- 750 ml vegetable or seaweed broth
- 1 zucchini
- 4 red pear-like tomatoes
- 12 blades chives
- 5 branches of parsley
- 30 ml olive oil
- A little sugar
- Pepper
- Salt
Preparation (12’+24′ cooking):
- Boil the bulgur with the broth of vegetables or algae.
- Meanwhile, wash the zucchini and, without peeling, cut it into half-moons.
- Wash the tomatoes cut them also at half-moons.
- Lightly sauté the zucchini in a pan for a couple of minutes
- Add the tomatoes over high heat and, after five minutes, salt and pepper, add a little sugar and remove.
- Chop the chives and parsley. Remove the bulgur from the heat, mix with the tomato and zucchini and sprinkle with the chopped herbs.
Vitamin C per serving: 20 mg (covers 33% of minimum daily needs).
PUMPKIN CABBAGES (60 MG VITAMIN C)
Ingredients (for 4 people)
- 2 small broccoli and a piece of cauliflower
- 1 apple
- 4 apricot apricots
- 150 g skinless pumpkin
- 40 ml olive oil and salt
Preparation (15’+ 20′ cooking)
- Clean the broccoli and cauliflower and separate the bunches.
- Steam for about eight minutes.
- Meanwhile peel the pumpkin and cut into cubes.
- Peel and cut the apple, and chop the apricots.
- In a pan with olive oil sauté the apricots, add the pumpkin, leave about eight minutes and add the apple.
- After four minutes, withdraw. Serve on individual plates with the broccoli and cauliflower bunches spread over the top.
Vitamin C per serving: 60 mg (covers the total minimum daily needs).
ASPIC SEMI-COLD ORANGE WITH BLACKBERRIES (50 MG OF VITAMIN C)
Ingredients (for 4 people):
- 3 oranges juice
- 200 g blackberries
- 50 g sugar
- 8 sheets of gelatin
- 100 ml water
- Fresh mint leaves
Preparation (10′):
- Let the gelatin sheets rest in cold water to soften.
- Once soft, put the 100 ml of water with the sugar on the fire and, when it comes to a boil, turn off and add the gelatin sheets well drained.
- Stir until dissolved and set aside until it begins to curdle.
- Stir from time to time.
- Peel an orange, cut the skin into strips and finely chop it.
- Squeeze the juice of the three oranges and add to the gelatin.
- Clean the blackberries well, dry them and spread them into four wide cups.
- Pour the gelatin over and sprinkle with the orange peel.
- It is served warm, just enough so that the gelatin is half curdled, and decorated with fresh mint leaves.
Vitamin C per serving: 50 mg (covers 83% of the minimum daily needs).
