The common name for l-ascorbic acid is vitamin C, which is a vital nutrient for our body, especially the immune system. Interestingly enough, though many are aware that this vitamin is essential for our body, many are possibly not aware that is it a must for a healthy skin. For instance, vitamin C is a very potent antioxidant that can be helpful in reversing skin damage due to excessive contact of the skin to sunlight. At the same time, this vitamin also possesses the aptitude to promote collagen production, which, in turn, helps us to get tighter skin. As l-ascorbic acid offers numerous health benefits, it is widely used as an active ingredient is several products meant for skin care. Consuming foods containing elevated levels of vitamin C on a regular basis facilitates in putting off scurvy. Similarly, using skin care products containing l-ascorbic acid is helpful for the skin in various metabolic means.
Since scientists discovered that ascorbic acid is effective in putting off scurvy, several natural food manufacturers these days are trying to sell vitamin C in the form of tablets. In addition, vitamin C is often added to various fruit juices to improve their therapeutic value. Currently, there is a lot of debate on the ability of vitamin C to check common cold. For several years, natural food manufacturers have been claiming that ingestion of large quantities of vitamin C may help to cut down the duration of cold. Now, the ultimate results of clinical trial hint that vitamin C only lessens the cold by slightly over half a day.
Nevertheless, when combined with zinc, vitamin C has shown a propensity to lessen the number of days one suffers from cold. To a great extent, this is attributed to the therapeutic attributes of zinc. We are, in fact, lucky that incidences of toxicity due to consumption of vitamin C are not high even if you take it in elevated doses. Hence, though large doses of vitamin C may not help in curing one's cold, this substance is unlikely to cause any harm either.
L-ascorbic acid is necessary for several bodily processes and, hence, it is important for all humans to consume enough amounts of this vitamin either through the food they take or via supplements. As mentioned earlier, vitamin C is also useful for stimulating collagen production. In addition, this vitamin or l-ascorbic acid is crucial for adrenaline and dopamine production. It is also essential for the normal functioning of nearly all our key organs.
In recent times, vitamin C is being added to several foods. In addition, it forms a vital ingredient of several cosmetic products, especially those meant for skin care such as skin creams that are sold as "anti-aging" products. While the time has not yet come to pass a final verdict on the effectiveness of such creams, several users admit that they are useful to some extent.
L-ascorbic acid or vitamin C is among the somewhat small number of topical agents that are effective in treating fine facial lines and wrinkles. In fact, these properties of vitamin C have been supported by some amount of dependable scientific substantiation.
In our body, vitamin C works to produce collagen, in addition to its other functions. Collagen is basically a type of protein that connect the entire fiber network such as skin, tendons, cartilage as well as other tissues in our body. Nearly 33 percent of protein found in our body is collagen. In the absence of this particular collagen, our body will just collapse. L-ascorbic acid plays a crucial role in collagen formation, which is known to be the major structural protein in our skin.
L-ascorbic acid (vitamin C) also aids the skin in three dissimilar ways and all these are related to the metabolic processes of the skin's cells. Our skin metabolizes by means of exfoliating (shedding) and repairing itself. At the same time, it metabolizes by invigorating the collagen fibers that facilitate in making the skin tighter.
Vitamin C also aids in inhibiting melanin production, thereby preventing the formation of dark facial spots, which may be attributed to hormonal changes due to taking contraceptive pills, pregnancy and even via the natural aging process. In addition, l-ascorbic acid may also retard skin cancer, as it functions as a potent antioxidant and possesses the ability to lessen skin damage on a cellular level. Aside from this, l-ascorbic acid promotes collagen production to make the skin look as well as feel firmer. In some cases, it also helps to eliminate wrinkles and fine lines.
