With the cold winter season in full force, there’s always a threat of a wintertime cold. So it’s absolutely critical to crank up your immune system in whatever way possible. Your surefire dietary defense? Vitamin C!
Vitamin C, also known as ascorbic acid, is a water-soluble nutrient found in some foods. If you’re not already taking a daily Vitamin C supplement, fortunately, vitamin C is naturally abundant in many everyday foods.
Fruits and vegetables are the best sources of vitamin C. You can get recommended amounts of vitamin C by eating a variety of foods including the following:
- Citrus fruits (such as oranges and grapefruit) and their juices, as well as red and green pepper and kiwifruit, which have a lot of vitamin C.
- Other fruits and vegetables—such as broccoli, strawberries, cantaloupe, baked potatoes, and tomatoes—which also have vitamin C.
- Some foods and beverages that are fortified with vitamin C. To find out if vitamin C has been added to a food product, check the product labels.
So why do we need Vitamin C and how much should we take daily?
There are a bazillion reasons why we need vitamin C in our diet. Here are a few:
- Vitamin C acts as an antioxidant helping to protect cells from the damage caused by free radicals in the environment that we get exposed to – such as from cigarette smoke, air pollution, and ultraviolet light from the sun.
- Our bodies also need vitamin C to make collagen, a protein required to help wounds heal and build blood vessels, tendons, ligaments, and skin
- Vitamin C increases iron from plant-based foods and helps the immune system work properly to protect the body from disease, most notably from the common cold.
According to the National Institutes of Health (NIH), the amount of vitamin C you need each day depends on your age. Average daily recommended amounts for different ages are listed below in milligrams (mg).
If you smoke, add 35 mg to the above values to calculate your total daily recommended amount.
I seriously take my family’s daily intake of Vitamin C, making sure we get it through our daily multi-vitamin supplement and consciously eating fresh fruits and vegetables. That’s why I’m also excited that Wonderful Halos is in season again now through April!
Wonderful Halos mandarin oranges are a staple in our house, especially around this time of year when we know we have to be serious about loading up on Vitamin C!
Wonderful Halos mandarins are:
- A sweet, seedless and easy to peel snack that’s a healthy alternative to fatty foods
- About 50 calories delivering 45 percent of the recommended daily value of vitamin C
Wonderful Halos are wonderfully stocked at your favorite grocery stores now!
WIN IT!
Lucky you, loyal Hip Mama’s Place readers! One of you will win a fantastic gift basket full of goodies from Wonderful Halos (as pictured) worth $60!
The gift basket will include:
(1) 2 lb bag of Wonderful Halos California Mandarins
(1) coupon for a FREE 2 lb or larger size Wonderful Halos California Mandarins
(1) Wonderful Halos branded hat
(1) Wonderful halos branded cinch sack bag
(1) Wonderful Halos branded insulated lunch bag
(1) pair of Wonderful halos branded sunglasses
(1) Wonderful halos branded lip balm
(1) Wonderful Halos branded orange stress ball
(1) Wonderful Halos branded battery-operated Rainbow Color Cup
To enter this giveaway contest, just follow the Rafflecopter entry link below. This giveaway contest is open to U.S. addresses only. I will pick a winner after 01/23/16 at 11:59 PM, EST. One winner per household, please. Good luck!
Personal tip: To increase your chances of winning, fulfill all the entry requirements and tweet about the giveaway at least once a day for the duration of the contest.
*This post is sponsored by Wonderful Halos. I received a gift basket to facilitate my review and conduct this giveaway. Reader prize will be fulfilled by the sponsor. As always, all views and opinions are entirely my own.
A former school teacher, Jocelyn Brown created Hip Mama’s Place in 2007. Her motto for this blog is: get inspired, create and share! Jocelyn loves sharing about food and recipes, crafts, DIY projects and her random travels with her family. She also loves all things social media, but her latest obsession is Instagram.
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Vitamin C is needed for healing wounds, and for repairing and maintaining bones and teeth.
We love Halo’s at our house, my kids will eat a bag in a day!!
I too think we need vitamin c daily along with all the other vitamins that they recommend. I have not tried these halo’s yet, they sound really good and I would love to try them
What an awesome giveaway! I love Halos!!
Vitamin C is super important because it supports for our immunity system. It also contributes to our bones, skin, gums and so much more. I take it everyday to stay healthy!
Thank You for the chance
What an awesome prize pack. I have always loved Halo’s and I buy them continuously. Vitamin C is so awesome for my skin- I have noticed such a difference in my skin from getting enough Vitamin C. It’s so important to help repair my skin cells from sun damage!
Vitamin C is an important part of your daily diet to help keep your immune system be strong to ward off illness.
It’s good to take a vitamin c in a supplement but I think it’s much better to get it with natural food. I love Halos they are the perfect size for a snack or dessert.
Vitamin C is so important for health, especially during the cold and flu season in the winter! I love Halos because they make a convenient and delicious snack on-the-go for the kids.
Vitamin C is important for immune defense and it also helps me to absorb iron. I think Halos would be a good healthy snack for me, and I could send them to school with my kids for their snack.
Vitamin C has great cardiovascular benefits and also helps reduce inflammation. Since, I have an autoimmune disease, it’s important for me to get enough vitamin c into my diet and eating wonderful halos would help me do that.
I always have Vitamin C in my diet and on supplements. It keeps the coughs and colds away especially at this time of the year.
Vitamin helps boost your immune system so especially in the winter you need extra. Everyone in our family loves mandarins even my dog so we can never have to many.
As a teacher I try to load up on the vitamin C in the winter. My children love sweet little halos!
I think vitamin C is very important in the winter. I think it keeps the colds away. I have tried the halos nd t are really good.
Vit C fights viruses
I want to try the Halos because we like cuties.
Vitamin C is very important as it helps the body repair tissues in all parts of the body, it also makes collagen important protein used to make skin, cartilage, tendons, ligaments, and blood vessels. I would like to try the halos because they are easy to peel and they look delicious!
Vitamin C is very important to health, especially for your immune system. I would love to win this for my family because we love Halo’s.
I think Vitamin C is even more important than most people realize. I definitely need to get more. It would be so fun to win this for my entire family. My kids would love it!
I feel Vitamin is very important for our immune system & also acts as an antioxidant! It also helps the absorption of potassium. I love that Halos are super easy for the kids to peel & that they are only about 50 calories each!
I recently broke my ankle and the research all indicates that vitamin C will help heal the broken bones. I’m a big fan of getting vitamins from foods not pills and halos are a great source of C!
I think vitamin C is very important,I try to give my family a variety of vitamin c options because I want to give their immune systems a fighting chance against colds and other illnesses. My family eats a lot of Halos,My kids will eat several of them a day and my husband takes them to work in his lunch box,he works very hard but he catches every cold or virus anybody has so I make sure he loads up on the vitamin c,he loves Halos so much he says they are much more tasty and satisfying than a vitamin c tablet.
Oh Vitamin C is so important for the kids immune systems, which this time of year in school really need the boost to help fight off illnesses! I would love to win for our little one! He has to bring snack everyday to school, and loves bring oranges…which are so hard for the kids to peel. These would be perfect for him to be able to peel himself!
Vitamin C is important to keep us healthy and keep sickness at bay. We love Halos, great to take to school and work and on road trips.
vitamin c helps keep us healthy!! We love Halos and would love to win this prize for an extra burst of vitamin c!
Vitamin C is so vital to our body’s resistance to colds and flu. We need it all year long but especially in the winter months. Halos are a wonderful way to get Vitamin C in a delicious treat.
Vitamin C is an important part of your daily diet to help keep your immune system strong and healthy. Halos are one of my top brands of clementines I like to buy this time of year!
oranges are a favorite snack in our house. My husband and son have apple/pear allergies so they are important to us for meeting the suggested fruit and veggies servings. Plus they are delicious – nature’s candy!!
Mom always said to drink my orange juice every morning so I wouldn’t catch a cold. I do think there’s a lot of truth in it. Most of the products designed to keep your immune system up do include vitamin C. Just this morning I packed a Halo in my daughter’s lunchbox. She likes the size of them and they do taste great.
I would love to try Halos because they are the perfect size and taste for my family. I agree that it’s important to get enough Vitamin C in your diet….it’s part of a healthy, nutritious diet.
I believe Vitamin C is important because it helps to keep you healthy. Vitamin C boosts your immune system. Having these Halos for lunch would be great and it makes me feel good knowing that I can send these to school with my kids makes me feel good.
of course vitamin C is important in our diets. I’d like to try these because they’re a great portable snack.
I love Halos! Vit C is so Important for your joints and muscles and immune system
Vitamin C helps keeps colds away. I like Halos because they are sweet and healthy.
Yes, vitamin C is important to have in our diets. I love these little Halos! They are so much easier to eat than oranges, they are easy to peel and not so messy.
Vitamins C helps keeps colds away.
Our bodies don’t make or store vitamin c so it’s real important to make sure you get it in other ways. That is why I eat Halo’s. Oh and extreme vitamin c deficiencies could lead to scurvy….eek! That is enough to make me get my vitamin c.
I think Vitamin C is necessary to keep colds away and strengthen our immune systems. I love to eat Halos and other citrus fruits.
I think its essential to help avoid colds and for energy. I’d like to try Halo’s because they are easy for the little kids to peel and eat.
Vitamin C is important to prevent colds and flu. I want to try Halos because I love mandarins
Vitamin C is such an important part of everyday health. I start my day each morning with a glass of OJ! I would love this Wonderful Halos basket because my family loves to eat these – We do almost every day!
I think it is important because it helps your immune system. I would love to try them because i love them!
Vitamin C is important because it helps our bodies to absorb iron. I like Halos because they are small, sweet and don’t have seeds.
I try to take vitamin c year round, but especially in the winter to help with winter colds. I would love to try Halos because they sound delicious.
I know Vitamin C helps with many things, but my kids love to tell me it prevents scurvy.
(too many pirate tales!)
I’ve never heard of Halos before. Are they really that good?
Great giveaway! If you’d like to link to it or any other giveaway then you are welcome to usethe linky in my sidebar
we need vitamin c because It’s an antioxidant helping to protect cells from the damage caused by free radicals in the environment that we get exposed to. I’d love the halos prize because it’s a great way to get vitamin c and be healthier!
You need to have your daily vitamin c intake, it helps to keep you healthy.
Vit. C helps keep cold away. My grand-kids go to school and need to stay well.
I believe Vitamin C keeps my family healthy. Since we get more vitamin C we have fewer colds. Halos are my grandson’s favorite snack and I had rather them eat halos than any other snack.
I think vitamin C is super important especially in the winter. It seems to keep colds to a minimum and keeps you stronger to fight them off. I would love to win because out family loves Halos they are the perfect treat and are easy to just peel ad eat and enjoy
I think Vitamin C is very important for gum health and immunity. I used to take megadoses, but have to be careful after a history of kidney stones.
I love Wonderful Halos because they’re tasty and easy to peel.
I would love to try Halos as a snack in my son’s lunchbag. We are running out of ideas to keep it from getting boring. They seem to be the perfect size for him, and the Vitamin C to ward off some of the school germs would be a boost!