Becoming Vegan

Good sources of vitamin C include blackberries, broccoli, Brussels sprouts, cabbage, cantaloupe, citrus fruits, green peas, guava, kiwifruit, leafy greens, mango, papaya, pineapple, raspberries, red peppers (bell and chile), strawberries, sweet potato, tomato, and vegetables in the cabbage family

Carotenoids are present in apricot, broccoli, cantaloupe, carrot, leafy greens, mango, nectarine, papaya, peppers (bell and chile), persimmon, plantain, prunes, pumpkin, sea vegetables, squash, sweet potato, tomato, and turnip.

You can get your recommended daily intake from ½ cup (125 ml) of carrot juice, baked sweet potato, or canned pumpkin, or from ¼ cup (60 ml) of cooked kale. We derive about 470 mcg RAE from ½ cup (125 ml) of cooked spinach or butternut squash or from ½ cantaloupe.

Cooking seems to increase the absorption of some carotenoids, as does including a little fat as part of the meal. Juicing provides even greater carotenoid absorption than cooking. We recommend eating some of these colorful vegetables cooked and others raw.

For centuries, Native Americans had used herbs and cranberries to cure scurvy. And although some early explorers, including Vasco de Gama’s crew in 1499, discovered that citrus fruits could alleviate the condition, it took hundreds of years for European doctors to connect the dots between the disease that had killed thousands and the simple lack of fruits and vegetables. Scientists identified vitamin C in 1912, proved its relationship to scurvy in 1932, and synthesized the vitamin in 1935.

Vitamin C’s role in preventing and curing scurvy is due to its ability to build collagen, an essential component of blood vessel walls, scar tissue, tendons, ligaments, cartilage, and bone. Without vitamin C, the gums and other collagen-containing tissues break down. In addition, vitamin C helps metabolize the amino acid that transports fat to the cells for energy.