We’ve known of the importance of vitamin C for bone and joint health for a very long time. But recent research indicates that vitamin C may also be critical for maintaining muscle mass. So let’s extend that thought for a moment to the entire musculo-skeletal system—which accounts for about 85% of the body’s weight, mass and size.
Maintaining skeletal muscle mass, as well as healthy bones and joints, is critically important as you age. And unfortunately, the government recommendations for daily meat intake are woefully inadequate to help anyone maintain healthy muscle mass. So it’s more important than ever to be sure you’re getting enough vitamin C.
And, yes, you have to make a conscious effort to do it.
This nutrient is so important in so many ways—in every cell in the body—that most animals make their own, as part of normal metabolism. In fact, all animals make their own vitamin C except for two—humans and guinea pigs. (This is one reason why guinea pigs originally became such an important laboratory model in scientific experiments.)
A minimum daily intake of vitamin C is 2,000 mg.