What Fruit is Highest in Vitamin C

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Finding out what fruit is highest in Vitamin C (ascorbic acid) may help determine how best to manage certain arthritis treatment programs. The key, however, lies in what type of arthritis afflicts the sufferer. For those suffering with osteoarthritis of the knee, for instance, Vitamin C may do more harm than help. In experiments with guinea pigs, researchers have discovered that long-term dosages of the supplement actually cause more damage to already-inflamed joints.

On the other hand, people with rheumatoid arthritis appear to benefit from ascorbic acid given in large amounts over a long period of time.

In order to use this knowledge regarding Vitamin C, it behooves people suffering from the disease, then, to not only know which type of arthritis they have but to also know which fruit (the most Vitamin C-loaded food group) contains the highest amount of this important vitamin. People with osteoarthritis can then avoid those fruits, while people with rheumatoid arthritis can increase the amounts of those foods in their diets.

Defining high-Vitamin C fruits as those that contained at least 60 milligrams per serving, the list includes:

  • Oranges
  • Lemons
  • Limes
  • Grapefruit
  • Strawberries
  • Peaches
  • Bananas
  • Cantaloupe
  • Papayas
  • Kiwi

One little-known fruit, originating from Mexicos Yucatan peninsula, boasts possibly the highest Vitamin C content of any other fruit. Acerola harbors on average 1500 milligrams of ascorbic acid per gram. The acerola is used to make both dry and liquid supplements of Vitamin C and is harvested while still green. Interestingly, the green, unripened fruit contains nearly twice the amount of ascorbic acid as the mature, ripened acerola.

Learning about which fruits contain high concentrations of Vitamin C not only can help with people suffering from rheumatoid arthritis, but it also helps to know for the sake of overall good health.

The recommended daily allowance (RDA) for ascorbic acid for men is 90 milligrams; for women: 75 milligrams. For people who smoke cigarettes, 35 more milligrams of Vitamin C should be added to the daily diet to offset the amount of vitamin depleted by smoking.

So for the health of you and your family, it pays to know your fruits! Vitamin C is neither a miracle arthritis treatment nor a cure for the maladies of the world, but knowing which fruits are high in ascorbic acid does make good sense and good health.


 

Last Updated on October 14, 2022