Most college students face the inevitable as the cold temperatures roll in: getting sick. A nasty cough, aches and pains don’t fit in a college student’s hectic schedule. How can you prevent getting sick before it even starts? Vitamin C. More than just preventing the common cold, adding a little bit of vitamin C to your diet can solve some of your everyday health problems.

Skin

According to the Mary Greeley Medical Center, vitamin C works with enzymes to play a key role in making collagen, which is the main structural protein found in skin. Vitamin C is the best anti-aging remedy on the market.

Stress

The feeling of stress hits home with many college students.  Catching a break from stress is made easy with vitamin C.

Vitamin C, or ascorbic acid, is an antioxidant. According to Mary Greeley Medical Center, vitamin C helps prevent oxidative stress, which causes mental stress to turn into physical stress. Fatigue, headaches and susceptibility to infection are just some of the known symptoms that you do not need hanging around.

Who knew managing stress could be so simple?

The common cold 

The recommended daily dosage of vitamin C, according to the U.S. Food and Nutrition Board of the Institute of Medicine, is 90 mg for adult males and 75 mg for adult females. For smokers, it is recommended to take 35 mg more than nonsmokers because of the lower plasma levels of vitamin C.

According to BetterNutrition.com, our need for vitamin C skyrockets during times of illness or stress. If you feel a cold coming on, the daily dosage just won’t cut it. Vitamin C supplements, such as Emergen-C, have 1,000 mg to kick start the recovery process.  

While vitamin C has been known to prevent the symptoms of a cold, according to American Fitness Magazine, a 2013 review concluded that for the ordinary population, vitamin C supplements have no effect on the frequency of colds. Instead, it reduced the duration of cold symptoms.

Prevention

High-dosage vitamin C treatment has been proven to improve the immune system, while recent studies at the University of Iowa have shown that vitamin C can kill cancer. It also improves the effectiveness of chemotherapy and reduces the side effects associated with cancer.

To prevent sickness from even beginning, make sure to consume these types of foods daily. Vitamin C can be found in an abundance of fruits and vegetables, such as citrus fruits and juices, strawberries, peppers, broccoli, potatoes, kale, cauliflower and cantaloupe.

No wonder your mother always told you to take your vitamins growing up.