As if this were not enough, research during the last few years has uncovered even more revelations about vitamin C and good health. This growing list of benefits reinforces the status of vitamin C as one of the most widely used vitamins in human history. One major role is vitamin C's involvement in the production of collagen. Collagen is the connective protein which binds tissue together. Vitamin C is imperative for the proper healing of wounds, bruises, fractures and capillary damage and for the formation of bones, teeth, and cartilage.
Colds are viral infections and vitamin C in large doses has antiviral characteristics .
These functions work together to protect against degenerative disease, especially heart disease. In a primate study conducted by Anthony J. Verlangieri, Ph.D., director of the Atherosclerosis Research Laboratories at the University of Mississippi, animals fed a low vitamin C, high cholesterol diet were five times more likely to die of heart disease than those on a similar diet which were also given vitamin C supplementation. With all its capacities, it is easy to understand how vitamin C keeps us healthy and protects us from disease. The exciting news is that scientific break-throughs have uncovered even more uses for vitamin C and all of them add to our good health. Scientists aren't ready to go that far yet but two recent studies do show a link between high blood pressure and low levels of vitamin C. Independent studies from the Medical College of Georgia and Tufts University reported similar relationships.