Contents:
- Medical Video: Iron Tablets | How To Take Iron Tablets | How To Reduce Iron Supplement Side Effects (2018)
- Causes of vitamin C deficiency anemia
- Vitamin C and treatment of anemia
Medical Video: Iron Tablets | How To Take Iron Tablets | How To Reduce Iron Supplement Side Effects (2018)
Like most other vitamins, your body does not produce vitamin C (also known as ascorbic acid) naturally, but most of these vitamins will be obtained from food or supplements.
Vitamin C increases iron absorption which plays an important role in the functioning of your body. Iron helps make hemoglobin, the part of red blood cells that carries oxygen. Vitamin C also helps in the production of red blood cells. Vitamin C deficiency can cause anemia, or low blood cell counts. Sources of vitamin C are vegetables and fruits, especially citrus fruits. Citrus fruits include oranges, grapefruits, tangerines, and similar fruits. Fresh and frozen fruits, vegetables, and juices usually have more vitamin C than canned ones.
Vitamin C deficiency can occur if you don't get enough vitamin C from the food you eat. Vitamin C deficiency may also occur if something interferes with your ability to absorb vitamin C from food. For example, smoking interferes with the body's ability to absorb vitamin C. Folic acid and vitamin C deficiency anemia are treated by adding dietary supplements and increasing these nutrients in your diet.
Causes of vitamin C deficiency anemia
When your body doesn't have enough vitamin C, you will be deficient in vitamin C and you may be at risk of vitamin C deficiency anemia. The cause of vitamin C deficiency that can cause anemia includes malnutrition, hyperthyroidism, cancer, or the inability to absorb iron. Smoking can also drain vitamin C reserves by 30 percent.
Eating foods high in vitamin C along with iron-rich foods creates a more acidic environment in the stomach that can help absorb iron. Adults usually absorb between 10 and 15 percent of the iron they eat and they will absorb heme iron that can be obtained from meat, non-heme iron that is better derived from plants and its absorption is not dependent on other foods. Non-heme iron absorption is affected by the intake of other foods such as vitamin C. People who get most of their protein from plant sources and who have vitamin C deficiency have a higher risk of anemia. Up to 40 percent of vegans have iron deficiency.
If you have vitamin C deficiency anemia, you may experience pale, weak, fast heartbeat during physical activity, feeling cold, increased susceptibility to infection and red and swollen tongue. Other common symptoms include weight loss, diarrhea, irritability and numbness or tingling in the hands and feet.
Vitamin C and treatment of anemia
If you are diagnosed with vitamin C deficiency anemia, you can be prescribed vitamin C supplements along with iron supplements to improve your condition and other types of anemia. You should take iron on an empty stomach so that it can absorb properly even though it might cause stomach ache. Eat foods high in vitamin C along with foods high in iron plants to increase absorption. Do not take antacids at the same time as iron, because antacids reduce acidity in the stomach, which decreases iron absorption.
