The 20 foods with the most vitamin C and how to take advantage of it

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, bad eating habits and insufficient consumption of fresh food) often leads to deficiencies.

Therefore, it is worth knowing which foods provide more vitamin C and how to avoid the loss of this nutrient when cooking.

The 20 foods with the most vitamin C

vitamin c must be consumed daily (about 60-70 mg per day) since the body is not capable of synthesizing or storing it. That is why it is so important to include foods rich in vitamin C in the diet.

This is the list of champion foods in this vitamin:

Acerola: 1,500mg per 100gBlackcurrant: 189mg per 100gGuava: 180mg per 100gParsley: 166mg per 100gRed pepper: 140mg per 100gbroccoli: 110mg per 100gGreen cabbage: 105mg per 100gBrussels sprouts: 102mg per 100gKiwi: 100mg per 100gFennel bulb: 93mg per 100gGreen pepper: 80mg per 100gPapaya: 70mg per 100gCauliflower: 69mg per 100gStrawberry: 62mg per 100gSpinach: 51mg per 100gWatercress: 51mg per 100gLemon (juice): 51mg per 100gOrange: 50mg per 100gCabbage: 50mg per 100gGrapefruit: 41mg per 100g

How to Increase Vitamin C in Recipes

It is not simply a question of taking the minimum doses so as not to have deficiency problems, but of take the necessary to take advantage of all the preventive potential of this antioxidant vitamin, an amount that can be up to ten times higher.

Pregnant women, smokers, those who regularly take drugs (antibiotics, hormones, analgesics, contraceptives or cortisone) and those who live in highly polluted areas should increase their consumption.

Discover some simple tricks that in addition to making your recipes more varied will allow you enrich them with extra doses of vitamin C.

Incorporates citrus or exotic fruits like mango or papaya at salads.Add Red fruits Add to salads and sauces or mix with yogurt. A little salt and lemon or vinegar soften its acidity.Use the grated or finely chopped citrus peel in pasta, vegetable or salad dishes provides flavor and increases the amount of vitamin C. stems and young leaves of leafy vegetables They are delicious in a salad, such as spinach with mushrooms and a raspberry dressing.Salad dressing can be prepared with lemon juice instead of vinegar. He orange juice gives to baked goods a pleasant citrus aroma.Reuse vegetable cooking water to prepare sauces or broth allows to recover part of the lost vitamin C. It is not recommended to reuse it if vegetables very rich in oxalic acid, such as spinach, have been boiled.Add a handful of parsley at the end of cooking or on a plate, provide abundant vitamin C, although the more chopped it is, the faster it will be lost.seaweed like nori they have vitamin C and can enrich broths or be used as seasoning.

How to avoid vitamin C loss

Vitamin C is very sensitive to air, since rusts easilyand that makes decrease over time or especially once the food has been peeled and chopped. A freshly picked orange does not provide the same amount of vitamin C as one that has been picked green and has been in cold storage for months.

It should also be taken into account that vitamin C belongs to the group of water soluble vitamins –that is, those that dissolve in water–, so when food is boiled it is lost much of it in the cooking water.

It doesn’t hold the temperature well either, so the longer the cooking and the higher the temperature to which the food is subjected, the greater the loss.

It is convenient to know how to handle food so that it can be used better:

Consume very fresh and unpeeled fruit, preferably organic. Under the skin is where most of the vitamin E is concentrated. If you have to peel the fruit, it should be done at the last moment and consumed immediately. Once peeled or squeezed, it oxidizes and rapidly loses vitamin C. Oranges, for example, 10 minutes after being squeezed have already lost 50%.lemon juice on the peeled and chopped fruit it softens the oxidation.Avoid long soaks when washing salad leaves, as vitamin e dissolves quickly in water. Watercress, arugula, spinach, parsley, lettuce… they all provide vitamin C. The less they soak and the more whole the leaves are, the better they will preserve it.Heat destroys vitamin C. Hence, the greatest contribution comes from raw fruits and vegetables. If they are cooked, it should be as short and gentle as possible. When boiling, the losses range between 30 and 80%, although part of the vitamin remains dissolved in the water, which can be reused to make sauces or broths. At 100 °C (and after about 20 minutes) the destruction of vitamin C can reach 50%. And once the food is boiled, its deterioration accelerates.Be careful with the salt when cooking. An excess of salt in the cooking water accelerates the loss of vitamin C.Steam better preserves vitamin C because the cooking water does not touch the food. It comes out at the end.In frying, between 40% and 90% of vitamin C is lost (Chip-style fries lose most of it), so fry very briefly.The oven preserves part of the vitamin C if it doesn’t take long to cook. In the papillote, the dry and closed environment reduces loss.A quick stir frywok type reduces losses and provides a crunchy texture. Cabbages, green beans, peppers, spinach… all turn out delicious with this method.Avoid over-chopping. If it is cooked with the skin or in large pieces, the losses are less.