Natural foods are rich in vitamin C and also have antioxidant and anti-inflammatory activities. Another advantage of dietary supplements is that you're unlikely to exceed safe limits. I've never heard of anyone getting poisoned from eating vegetables meat eggs and milk.

With supplements, however, caution is needed.

Vitamin supplements are only recommended if dietary intake is insufficient or if you're already experiencing symptoms of deficiency.

Next it's important to be specific about what to take and how much to take.

If you go to the market and ask for vitamin C-rich foods, you'll probably be waved at by all the food sellers on the street.

There are so many foods in the world that are rich in Vitamin C. Almost all vegetables and fruits contain Vitamin C. But the most controversial point about Vitamin C is our persistent perception of deficiency.

When our lips are chapped, we feel that we don't have enough vitamin C. When we have inflammatory conditions, we still feel that we don't have enough.

We are under the impression that vitamin C is a cure-all. And we always feel that we need to take extra vitamin C supplements to feel better.

But is this true?

According to the Chinese Dietary Reference Intakes, the recommended daily intake for adults is 85mg of vitamin C.

To put this into perspective, eating a palm-sized fruit every day is enough for vitamin C.

Moreover, is more vitamin C better than less?

Is more vitamin C truly better, with added benefits?

For example if you have a cold taking a vitamin C effervescent tablet (e.g., 1000mg per dose), and you feel that such a glass of antioxidants must be able to fight against the oxidative reaction caused by the cold and your immune system will be boosted as well.

Vitamin C's ability to treat colds has been debated for nearly 70 years. After synthesizing all the literature and research on vitamin C for colds and analyzing 29 trials with more than 10,000 participants scientists have concluded that vitamin C supplementation does not reduce the incidence of colds in the general population but that regular supplementation with vitamin C can shorten the duration of colds.

Now you get the idea: vitamin C for colds is not a temporary fix; a cup of it can work but long-term vitamin C supplementation can make you shorter than others when it comes to colds.

However we have to remind you that although it is easy to make up enough vitamin C the way to make up for it is very delicate. Vitamin C is very soluble in water.

You may say ‘Why don't I just drink it with the soup?’ However vitamin C is easily oxidized and studies have shown that the content of vitamin C is significantly reduced when cooked for a long time and boiled in water.

Even if you just blanch the vegetables it will cause a greater loss of vitamin C. So eat raw stir-fry and cook quickly. Therefore raw stir-fried or steamed is a better choice.

To put it simply if you eat some raw vegetables and fruits in a day you will be able to satisfy your need for daily vitamin C requirements.