Great anti aging skin care means watching what you eat as much as what you put on your face.  If you want younger looking skin you should be eating a diet high in levels of vitamin C or adding a vitamin C supplement to your daily routine.

As any skin care expert will tell you - getting the right levels of vitamin C is essential if you're going to age well, look younger and feel fantastic.

Vitamin C is vital for the formation and maintenance of connective tissue which make it so important in anti aging skin care.  Put simply - it's good for your skin and helps prevent and reduce wrinkles.

Getting the right levels of vitamin C may sound easy - but it's a water soluble vitamin which means it can't be stored and needs to be topped up every day. Even if you love fresh leafy vegetables and fruit - you may have trouble getting the levels you need simply from food alone.

A daily supplement is an obvious solution.

But first of all - here's ten essential FAQ's about vitamin C and aging which should convince you that it really does have a claim to be an anti aging wonder vitamin.

What does vitamin C do for my body? Quite a lot including: better heart health, boost to your immune system, quicker healing and repairing damage to connective tissues so vitamin C is anti wrinkle and anti aging

How do I know if I'm not getting enough? You may be more susceptible to colds and minor ailments. Some people find that small wounds take longer to heal - another indication that you need more vitamin C.

What about smoking? If you smoke your intake of vitamin C is likely to be severely depeleted and you will definitely need to add more vitamin C as a supplement - or even better for your skin and health - give up smoking.

Does vitamin C work with other vitamins and minerals? Yes - it helps you take up and use iron - so essential for female health. From a skin aging point of view vitamin C works with vitamin E to boost the joint antioxidant effect.  So a multi-vitamin supplement is often the best thing to go for.  Take one that is targeted for anti wrinkle or anti aging skin improvement

Where’s the evidence of all this? The evidence has been around since the 1960's when Linus Pauling showed the benefits of taking large doses of Vitamin C. In more recent studies, Vitamin C has been proven to be an antioxidant that can help to shield the body from free radicals.

How should I take vitamin C supplements? Supplements typically contain vitamin C in the form of ascorbic acid. Vitamin C is better absorbed in the presence of flavonoids so many supplement manufacturers also add flavonoids to their formulas.

What fruit should I eat? Citrus fruits are the first thing most people think of when most people talk about Vitamin C – but actually strawberries have far more vitamin C than oranges or any other citrus fruit. Blueberries score even higher for vitamin C content but winning outright are Acai Berries - one of the new anti-aging super foods.

What about vegetables? Go for colorful vegetables like red peppers (bell peppers) which are really high in vitamin C and the green leafies - spinach, cabbage, salad crops like watercress and rocket.

How much should I take? Well for a start you can ignore the official recommended daily amount (60mg in the US). This is well under the minimum amount that is beneficial. Recent studies have shown that much larger doses are not only safe but also have added health benefits. Many anti aging experts recommend 500mg as a daily intake and some go much higher - up to 1000mg.

Isn't it dangerous to take too much? You can't - as vitamin C is water soluble the body will simply eliminate the excess. If you're worried about upper limits, you may be interested to know that as recently as 2000, the National Academy of Sciences set a Tolerable Upper Intake Level for vitamin C at 2,000 milligrams (2 grams) for adults.

So the lesson is - up your intake of fresh fruit and vegetables just like your mother probably told you.

But if you want optimimum anti aging health and great skin add a high level vitamin C supplement or skin protecting multi vitamin product to your daily routine.

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