August 8, 2007

Numbers Game: Answer

Half a cup of which of the following foods provides 100% of the daily recommended intake of Vitamin C?

The answer is: red peppers.

Here is how the others' Vitamin C contributions stack up:

Half a cup of strawberries provides 81 percent.
Half a cup of tomatoes provides 39 percent.
Half a cup of watermelon provides 11 percent.

That's right. Just adding a half cup of peppers to your salad pretty much covers all your Vitamin C for the day. This is precisely why I don't think multi-vitamin supplements are necessary for people eating a balanced diet.

Remember, Vitamin C is a water-soluble vitamin, meaning that amounts exceeding your body's needs will be excreted in your urine. Taking massive doses of Vitamin C to ward off colds is futile.

Somestimes, though, our bodies need more Vitamin C. For example, as mentioned in this post, smokers require higher amounts of vitamin C than non-smokers.

1 comment:

Unknown said...

What is your response then to Dr Willet who suggests a multi-vitamin as an inexpensive form of insurance in his book Eat Drink & Be Healthy?

My understanding is that a multi-vitamin is a good idea regardless of diet since aside from providing the daily minimum amounts of vitamins it also provides certain things like minerals which even for a smart eater can sometimes be overlooked?
BTW your blog is great & very infomative. I'll look forward to your response. Thx