4 April: Vitamin C

Today is Vitamin C Day, Here are 10 facts about vitamin C.

1. Vitamin C's chemical name is L-ascorbic acid. Scorbic is a Latin word meaning pertaining to scurvy, while the prefix a- means away from.
2. In 1912, the Polish biochemist Casimir Funk developed the concept of vitamins. He worked out that a substance he referred to as "water-soluble C" prevented scurvy.
3. The Hungarian biochemist Dr. Albert Szent-Gyorgi first isolated vitamin C in 1928. In 1933, Walter Norman Haworth identified it as L-hexuronic acid, but later, with Szent-Gyorgi, proposed that the substance be renamed L-ascorbic acid because it prevented scurvy.
4. Most animals can produce vitamin C in their bodies. Humans, other primates, Bats and guinea pigs cannot.
5. So why do we need it? Vitamin C is an essential nutrient for the formation and maintenance of collagen, a protein necessary for the growth, health, and repair of bones, tendons, cartilage and skin. It also helps wounds to heal.
6. Although Vitamin C wasn't discovered until the 20th century, it was known long before that a lack of fresh fruit and veg caused scurvy, particularly among sailors, since it was difficult to keep fresh fruit on long sea voyages. Captain James Cook demonstrated that taking "Sour krout" on board during long journeys meant he didn't lose men to the disease. The British Navy provided their crews with Lemon and Lime juice to keep scurvy at bay, which is where the nickname "limey" for the British came from.
7. Vitamin C is the most searched for nutrient on The Internet.
8. In the 1970s Linus Pauling suggested that vitamin C could successfully treat and/or prevent the common cold. However, subsequent studies found it had little effect, except for people involved in extreme exercise in cold environments - such as marathon runners, skiers, and soldiers. For them, taking vitamin C could reduce the amount of colds they had by as much as 50%.
9. Vitamin C is found in fruits and vegetables. Particularly good sources are citrus fruits, tomatoes and Tomato juice, Potatoes, red and green peppers, Kiwi Fruit, Broccoli, Strawberries, Brussels sprouts, cantaloupe, and, Szent-Gyorgi noticed, paprika.
10. Vitamin C dissolves in Water, which is why cooking and boiling fruit and veg reduces the vitamin C content. Heat is not good for the vitamin, either. Steaming or microwaving are the least likely methods to destroy vitamin C. Luckily, many of the foods containing it are usually eaten raw. The fact it is water soluble is also part of the reason that it is hard to overdose on vitamin C, and why we need to eat some every day - because our bodies get rid of any excess within 24 hours.

New!

Closing the Circle

A stable wormhole has been established between Earth and Infinitus. Power Blaster and his friends can finally go home.

Desi Troyes is still at large on Earth - Power Blaster has vowed to bring him to justice. His wedding to Shanna is under threat as the Desperadoes launch an attempt to rescue their leader. 

Someone from Power Blaster's past plays an unexpected and significant role in capturing Troyes.

The return home brings its own challenges. Not everyone can return to the life they left behind, and for some, there is unfinished business to be dealt with before they can start anew.

Ben Cole in particular cannot resume his old life as a surgeon because technology no longer works around him. He plans a new life in Classica, away from technology. Shanna hears there could be a way to reverse his condition and sets out to find it, putting herself in great danger. She doesn't know she is about to uncover the secret of Power Blaster's mysterious past.

Available from:

Amazon (Paperback)

Amazon Kindle

Completes The Raiders Trilogy. 

Other books in the series:

Book One

Book Two