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Vitamin C Is Your Stem Cells’ Secret Weapon

foods high in vitamin c

People underestimate the power of vitamin C.

After all, this humble nutrient can boost your immunity… help you avoid heart disease and stroke… protect your eyes from macular degeneration… reduce inflammation… and protect against certain kinds of cancer.

Vitamin C can even help you look decades younger.

A lack of vitamin C in your diet results in rough, dry skin. A 2007 study of 4,025 women showed those eating more foods with vitamin C had fewer wrinkles.1

With the right dose of vitamin C, you can protect yourself against photodamage and premature aging.

But the biggest advantage of consuming vitamin C is that it activates your body’s own supply of stem cells.

Stem cells are the “replacement” cells you were born with. You use them to replace any cell that’s damaged or dying.

You have plenty of stem cells in your body when you’re young. But you lose these master cells as you age.

By increasing the amount of vitamin C in your diet you increase stem cell activation. Researchers at New York University found that vitamin C improved the efficiency of the process for creating new stem cells by 100-fold.2

And when it comes to your skin, stem cells have a secret weapon.

They instruct your skin to constantly repair and revive itself.

I’m talking about proteins called human growth factors – or HGFs. Studies show that HGFs in stem cells can:

  • Stimulate new collagen to reduce wrinkles and allow your skin to heal itself3
  • Protect skin cells from oxidative damage, and UVB radiation from too much sun exposure4
  • Lighten age spots by down-regulating the effects of melanin in skin cells5

I suggest getting at least 5,000 mg per day of vitamin C. But even if you eat bowls of vitamin C-rich foods daily, your body might not be absorbing as much as you need.

Not only are foods today less nutritious than they were just a few generations ago, as you get older your body doesn’t absorb the nutrients in them as well as when you were younger.

That’s why I recommend a special formulation we offer in my clinic. It’s called the Myers’ cocktail. A Myers’ cocktail contains a potent mix of vitamin C. In fact, each treatment has at least 5,000 mg. But we increase the dosage if you need more.

The treatment takes about an hour. It’s one of the most popular treatments I offer at the Sears Institute for Anti-Aging. If you’d like to learn more about Myer’s cocktail, please call 561-784-7852.

Enjoy 3 Foods with More Vitamin C than an Orange

You don’t have to eat citrus fruits every day to get enough vitamin C intake from your diet. In fact, there are a lot of foods that have more of this life-saving vitamin than the orange.

  1. Eat camu camu, the Amazon superfruit — I first came across these tart cherry-like berries when I was traveling with the Ashaninka Indians in Peru. Camu camu is a rich source of vitamin C at 2,700 mg per half cup serving. And it has 60 times more vitamin C than an orange!
  2. Go for goji berries — When you compare goji berries and oranges weight for weight, goji berries provide up to 500 times more vitamin C! Remember to eat goji berries raw, in their natural state for the most nutrition.
  3. Try this tart acerola cherry — One of the most powerful sources of vitamin C on the planet, the acerola cherry protects skin from free radical damage to help keep it smooth and even-toned and helps create collagen.

To Your Good Health,

Al Sears, MD

Al Sears, MD, CNS

 


References:

1 Cosgrove M, et al, “Dietary nutrient intakes and skin-aging appearance among middle-aged American women.” Am J Clin Nutr . October 2007;86(4):1225-1231.
2 Esteban M, et al. “Vitamin C enhances the generation of mouse and human induced pluripotent stem cells.” Cell Stem Cell. 2010. 6:71-9.
3 Kim WS, et al. “Wound healing effect of adipose-derived stem cells: A critical role of secretory factors on human dermal fibroblasts.” J Dermatol Sci. 2007;48:15-24.
4 Kim WS, et al. “Evidence supporting antioxidant action of adipose-derived stem cells: Protection of human dermal fibroblasts from oxidative stress.” J Dermatol Sci. 2008;49:133-142
5 Kim WS, et al. “Whitening effect of adipose-derived stem cells: A critical role of TGF-beta 1.” Biol Pharm Bull. 2008;31(4) 606-610.