Vitamin C gets a lot of great press, especially during cold and flu season. But should you believe the hype? Yes, you totally should. Vitamin C is essential for all of us and not just during peak cold and flu season, either. It helps your body do things it needs all year long, like protecting your cells from damage, producing collagen, and it may even reduce the risk of certain types of cancer. This is why you should always make sure that you and your children are getting enough vitamin C all year. What's enough? The United States Food and Drug Administration recommends a daily intake of 50 mg for infants through 12 months, 15 mg for children 1 through 3 years old, 90 mg for children and adults over 4 years old, and 120 mg for pregnant and lactating women.
More from MamásLatinas: Herbs that will help boost your mood
And what about the cold and flu season thing? Does vitamin C help keep you healthy when viruses are running rampant? Well, it may. Vitamin C won't stop you from catching a cold, but there is evidence that if you are getting enough vitamin C before getting sick, it can shorten the length of the cold and make symptoms milder. But—and this is a big but—it only works if you've been getting enough vitamin C before catching a cold, not once you've already caught it.
The human body does not produce vitamin C on its own, nor does it store it for later use, which is why you need to get it daily from outside sources. You could take a daily vitamin C supplement to meet your needs. But better yet, you can easily get up to 200 mg—what some experts consider the optimal amount—of it a day by eating five servings of a variety of fruits and vegetables that contain it naturally.
If you're worried about consuming too much vitamin C, the upper limit according to the Mayo Clinic is 2,000 mg a day. That's a lot, and unless you are popping mega doses of the stuff, you're not likely to hit that limit. And if you are getting it through your diet naturally, you aren't just getting the benefits of vitamin C, you're also getting all the other benefits that come from eating enough fruits and vegetables.