Vitamin C is an amazing immune system booster to fight colds, flu, & even adrenal fatigue – but are you taking the right kind?
Disclaimer: I am not a doctor, nor am I claiming to be one. This article is not intended to diagnose or treat anyone. Links are affiliates and help to keep the information on this blog free. Please know that I never recommend a product or service that I wouldn’t use on my own family.
We are in a constant state of learning aren’t we?
I think I have learned more in my years after schooling and college than I ever did in formal education. It’s always good to be learning, reading, and growing.
Especially with regards to optimal health, it is really important to stay on top of things. I recently started working with a nutritional therapist for some adrenal issues I have had since having my last baby, and we had a really great conversation about vitamin C.
My NTP really opened my eyes to not only the importance of using the right source of vitamin C, but also that how we handle the vitamin C makes a difference.
Because, listen, I don’t mind doing the supplementing thing – I get it. I get that our soils (and therefore our food supply) is severely deficient in many vitamins. But I don’t want to supplement with something that is just as deficient as our food supply because it isn’t sourced right, or properly handled so the vitamin is destroyed.
Nobody wants to waste their money, and it isn’t doing anyone’s health any good to be taking a supplement that you think is doing you some good when it really isn’t.
So here’s the deal. Vitamin C is pretty amazing!
An immune system equipped with properly sourced and handled vitamin C can do amazing things with colds, flu, and other immune system crashers like adrenal fatigue.
Unfortunately vitamin C in many supplements on the market today are sourced with ascorbic acid instead of whole food. Using a whole food source is obviously always a better route, and in this case specifically, vitamin C is so much more complex than just ascorbic acid. There are actually dangerous downsides to taking just ascorbic acid based vitamin C (See this podcast for more details! So fascinating!).
Vitamin C is also very delicate.
Heat destroys it.
Prolonged air exposure destroys it.
Light destroys it.
So while this amazing vitamin we know we need is super powerful, it is pretty useless when it is not in it’s natural form, and has not been handled or packaged properly. My NTP said to think about it this way…our traditional ancestors would have foraged their berries and then dried them to save in dark storage. This would have kept the integrity of the nutrients – specifically the vitamin C – in the fruit.
So why not just eat an orange?
You guys know by now I am all about whole foods. My kids absolutely eat oranges, and other whole fruits and vegetables that are rich in vitamin C. But unfortunately our soils are so depleted there is no way we could eat as many oranges as it would take to get what we need. In fact my NPT told me that the whole food source of vitamin C in Camu Camu is 300 times the amount of vitamin C than American oranges.
So how about a whole food sourced vitamin C supplement that is properly prepared and packaged! Win-win! Since vitamin C is heat sensitive, it is important that the whole food source is dried out instead of heated to maintain the vitamin properties. And then packaged in a capsule and dark bottle to reduce light and air so as much of the C as possible is maintained.
We have been taking this whole food sourced vitamin C since well before school started, and it feels really good to know for sure that the C is intact, and doing some good!
My big girls swallow the capsules, and my 2 year old will take the powder from the capsule on her tongue.
…but sometimes it is just fun to have it in a different form!
We made some Vitamin C gummies to kick off the school year – and made them in a way that still protects the properties of the vitamin C! I am so excited to share this method with you!
Anytime you heat vitamin C, that C is destroyed.
So instead of cooking a vitamin C rich food like citrus oranges or lemons and destroying the vitamin C, we’re going to use whatever fruit you have around, warm up for the gelatin to work, and then we’ll add in our whole food sourced vitamin C off the heat to give it an immune boosting punch! I am keeping my vitamin C gummies in an airtight container in the fridge to further maintain the properties of the vitamin C.
This recipe allows YOU to decide how much vitamin C goes into each gummy so you can know for sure how much you are giving the kids. You can pack a full dose into one gummy, or spread out the vitamin C so they can have a 3 or 4 gummies at a time. Since kids come in different shapes and sizes, and with different nutritional needs, you can dose the vitamin C how their needs fall. I very highly recommend working with an NTP like Lydia that can see the nutritional needs of your kids from a very specific professional viewpoint.
UPDATE 2021 ::
Perfect Supplements came out with an Acerola Cherry sourced Vitamin C powder, and I am loving the super mild fruity flavor that blends so easily into anything. This is another great whole food sourced C that would work so well in a Vitamin C gummy like this! You can use my RGN reader code, GENERATION10, at check out to get 10% off!
What a fun way to build up the kid’s immune systems while they navigate the first couple months of back to school germs!
Vitamin C Gummies
Ingredients
- 3 cups frozen fruit of choice
- 1/4 cup water
- 1/4 cup warm soluable grassfed gelatin
- Whole food vitamin C THIS SOURCE is a good option as well
Instructions
- Warm up the fruit and water in a small sauce pan until everything is thawed and comes to a slight bubble.
- Put the warmed fruit and water into your food processor or blender along with the gelatin and blend to combine.
- Pour the mixture in your gummy molds and dose out how much of the vitamin C you want in each mold. Use a small spoon to mix the C powder into the gummy mixture.
- You can put the mold in the fridge for an hour or freezer for 30 minutes to set the gummies. Once you pop the gummies out, store them in an airtight container in the fridge or freezer to maintain the properties of the vitamin C.
More natural health posts you might like ::
Flu Remedies for Kids
That was a huge shocker to me too, constant state of learning is right. This is such a fun recipe! I finally made some gummies for the first time recently and added in some vitamin C too 🙂 Tiny Love really likes them, just hoping Little Love will like them too {she’s really my inspiration for making them, trying to find extra ways to pack nutrition in for her since she doesn’t eat the way the rest of the family does}. If she doesn’t, I’ll try another flavor until she likes it 😉 Pinned. Great post Renee!
Hey Renee,
I enjoyed reading your post! I did not know that it mattered about the source of the Vit C. I’ll have to take a look at my bottles to see what I’ve got. Thanks for the great information. Pinned the fun recipe!
Such pretty gummies! Pinned and shared. Five stars:)
These look great Renee! Making gummies with the vitamin c sounds like such a nice change of pace. I’ll have to give these a go 🙂
How wonderful to have Lydia’s guidance. Thank you for passing along the wisdom and your delicious recipe.
Thanks Renee. I want to make these. Can you share what grass-fed gelatin- product you use.
Good reminders re vitamin C sourcing!
Hi Carol,
Renee already included a link to the grass fed gelatin that she uses, its under the ingredients! 🙂
This is a great resource. I am pinning it!
My kids LOVE when I make them gummies! I don’t do it nearly enough!
Hi Renee,
Just wondering why you are not using cold water soluble grass fed gelatin and not have to warm up the fruits/water mixture? Is there a particular reason you are using warm water soluble gelatin in this recipe?
I have a lot of the green cans, cold water soluble gelatin which I spent over $100 to purchase in bulk! Is there a way I could make these gummies without the warm water gelatin (red cans) and just use the cold water gelatin?
I appreciate your response:)
Thanks for sharing just wealth of information about Vitamin C. I learned many things that I never knew before 🙂
Hi Swarna! Unfortunately the only way to make gummies is with the warm soluble gelatin. The cold soluble will not gel like the warm soluble. If you want to use your green can for a smoothie and get the vitamin C powder in that way that will work!
Hi Renee,
Thanks a lot for getting back to me and clarifying the difference!
Oh, I am going to have to make some next weekend! Even as an adult these look like a tasty and fun way to get more Vitamin C!
These look delicious, Renee! We’re always looking for more ways to keep our immune systems humming in loooong Minnesota winters! I’m including this recipe in an upcoming post on diet and immune system function. Thanks for a great recipe and interesting information!
You’re welcome Susannah!
Can you give these to a 2 year old? My son will turn 2 at the end of the month and I’d love to give him some immune boosting vitamin C but I don’t see an age specification on the bottle of the vitamin C supplement. Thanks!
Yes you can Annie!
Yum! Could you also add elderberry syrup to this mixture to add to the immune boosting properties? Thanks!
Hi Lauren! I think that would be fine 🙂
How long do these stay good for in the fridge?
Hi Alli! I wouldn’t let them go more than a few weeks.