Coffee v/s Vitamin C: The Fight For The Best Energy Booster
Did you know that substituting some of your daily coffee doses with vitamin C could double your energy?
I am not about to advise you to stop drinking coffee.
I love a good strong cup of coffee! But if you sip on coffee all day, seeking those energy bursts, it is probably not the healthiest thing to do.
Coffee works as a diuretic,
flushing out minerals and vitamins from your body. The more coffee you drink and less food you eat, the more you damage your body: you deplete it of the essential substances it needs to develop and function normally.
Caffeine does activate your brain cells. It could also increase your heart rate, raise your blood pressure, and stimulate your central nervous system, making you more alert, which might help you overcome tiredness and sleepiness, inducing a feeling of well-being.
However, caffeine is not a “real” energy source!
On the other hand, Vitamin C,
also called ascorbate, is one of the best natural energy boosters, by functioning primarily as an antioxidant: when you drink alcohol, smoke, stay up late, eat junk, etc., it acts as a shield to protect your body.
Additionally, vitamin C helps make collagen, which is a necessary protein crucial to keeping your blood vessels healthy, for example when you bump into something, fall, and get bruised.
Its healing mechanism helps repair any damage caused to your body, giving you a boost of energy rather than a feeling of tiredness or exhaustion.
Vitamin C is an essential dietary component, and you need to get it from your diet because your body does not produce it.
Vitamin C is crucial for your body. It mainly goes into your:
Liver:
Your liver is your recycling organ: when it gets energized, it works more efficiently to detoxify your system, increasing your metabolism, inducing weight loss, and shooting your energy up.
Check out my article: See How Easily You Can Cleanse Your Liver for more tips on how to energize your liver.
Brain:
Vitamin C is a powerful brain nutrient. It helps your cells properly use essential neurological chemicals such as dopamine. It also enhances your memory, focus, and concentration by helping with the process of generating brain cells and reducing brain inflammation.
Skeletal muscle:
Most people past the age of 50 are estimated to lose between 0.5% to 1.0% of muscle mass every year.
Studies comparing muscle mass in men and women over the age of 40 have shown that those with the highest vitamin C consumption in their diet have the larger muscle mass.
Interestingly, the most significant difference was among the women from the higher vitamin C consumption group, with a 3% larger muscle mass.
That shows that vitamin C is primarily important for maintaining muscle mass, especially as we grow older.
Moreover, your adrenal glands also have a high concentration of vitamin C. Their main role is to respond to stress by releasing hormones, like adrenaline and cortisol, directly into your bloodstream.
Therefore, when you find yourself in stressful situations, your adrenal glands will need plenty of vitamin C to give you an instant energy boost.
Your body also needs vitamin C to help it absorb iron more effectively.
Here are 13 natural and healthy sources of vitamin C that you can substitute some of your daily coffee doses with, while staying energized and healthy.
They might not have the same aroma, but they sure are healthier!!
The adult recommended daily allowance (RDA) for vitamin C is 75 mg for females and 90 mg for males.
1- Kiwifruit:
Two kiwis =140 grams = 140 milligrams of vitamin C.
2- Broccoli:
100 g = 6 broccoli florets = 90 mg of vitamin C.
3- Bell pepper:
One medium-sized red bell pepper = 130 g =152 mg of vitamin C.
One medium-sized yellow bell pepper = 218 mg of vitamin C.
4- Guava
One medium-sized = 100 g = 228.3 mg of vitamin C.
5- Pineapple
One cup = 200 g = 80 mg of vitamin C.
6- Papaya
One cup = 150 g = 88 mg of vitamin C.
7- Oranges
One medium = 120 g =70 mg of vitamin C.
8- Sweet potatoes:
One large = 300 g = 60 mg of vitamin C.
9- Watermelon:
One cup = 154 g = 12.5 mg of vitamin C.
10- Bananas
One medium =100 g = 10 mg of vitamin C.
Interesting side note:
A study in the journal PLoS One showed that eating a banana before a long bicycle ride helps performance and endurance just as much as a carbohydrate drink. Read more here: Bananas as an energy source during exercise.
11- Lemon:
One small = 30 mg, one large = 45 mg of vitamin C.
Moreover, lemons are champions of electrolytes, which are critical for cells to produce energy.
One of the simplest ways to boost energy is adding lemon to your regular water, transforming it into a natural energy drink packed with electrolytes.
12- Spinach:
One cup of raw chopped spinach = 30 g =195 mg of vitamin C.
13- Strawberries:
Five large strawberries = 100 g = 59 mg of vitamin C.
On a personal note:
For a quick boost of energy, I mainly eat fresh fruits!! Even though I love the feeling of holding a warm cup of coffee in my hands, closing my eyes, and melting into that aroma, especially on a cold winter day.
By Ritta Wakim, founder of The True Vegan Body, who helps people over 40 build a knockout body and get addicted to healthy plant-powered eating.
