In 1769, William Stark, an English physician, conducted an experiment on himself. His diet consisted only of bread and water for an entire month. ^[1] He then started adding meat and dairy to his diet but still no fruit or vegetables. After eight months, he died of malnutrition, the disease then known as scurvy. ^[2] Upon further review, Stark’s experiment boiled down to seeing what a diet lacking Vitamin C would do to his body. After eight months of experimenting, he turned from a “healthy 6 foot tall man” into a corpse. The experiment proved that Vitamin C is not an endogenously produced vitamin, thus it must be consumed through one’s diet, or the consequences could be fatal.

Vitamin C is a powerful antioxidant which is vital for boosting your immune system. Antioxidant deficiencies can lead to any number of diseases, most of which being chronic. Vitamin C encourages the production of white blood cells known as lymphocytes and phagocytes, both of which fight the growth of infections. ^[3] Not only does Vitamin C help produce white blood cells, but it also increases their productivity and protects them against harmful cells. In addition to boosting your immune system, Vitamin C helps to absorb iron, repairs body tissues, and keeps bone and cartilage healthy. ^[4] Vitamin C is known to provide all of these benefits but also helps specifically with eye disease and skin health, as it also combats wrinkling. There have been numerous studies on Vitamin C over the last ten years as the list of its benefits continues to grow. ^[5]