It is not for nothing that they bear the Latin name "vita", meaning life, because without vitamins, nothing works in our body. They alleviate allergies, protect against infections and cancer, provide us with energy and strengthen our immune system - which is particularly important now in the fall when colds threaten. Experts recommend eating raw fruit and vegetables up to eight times a day to provide the body with sufficient nutrients. However, this is often forgotten in our hectic working lives. To compensate, many people take vitamin pills. But they often do more harm than good. The synthetic substances can act like free radicals and attack our organism.
Natural vitamins, on the other hand, are usually harmless even in higher doses. They work together with the so-called secondary plant substances, of which no harmful side effects are known to date. These are usually accumulated by plants under their surface - to protect them from insects, sunlight and pests. There are around 30,000 different phytochemicals in total. It used to be assumed that they were of no importance to humans. However, it is now clear that they effectively help vitamins to protect our cells.
Natural protection for the body
The great thing is that these health boosters grow right on our doorstep - for free. Many people have forgotten about wild fruits since every supermarket started selling fresh fruit. But you can pick up numerous vitamin bombs on a short walk. Black elderberry, for example, is widespread in Central Europe: It grows along roadsides or in forest clearings. Its berries, which are initially red and later turn black and contain lots of vitamin C and potassium, can be eaten from September. Beware, the berries are poisonous when raw - so always boil them. The extract has been used for centuries to treat influenza.
The skin of rose hips is also a proven cold remedy. The red fruits of the dog rose can be picked throughout the winter. If you remove the small nuts from the flesh, rose hips can even be eaten raw. However, this is very tedious - the small seeds cause itching when they come into contact with the skin. It is easier to remove the stalk and blossom base, boil the rosehips and then press them through a sieve or cloth, even if this means losing vitamins. Rosehips rank third in the world list of fruits that contain the most vitamin C - after camu camu and acerola cherries, neither of which grow in Germany.
Vitamin bombs to pick yourself
Sloes are also a rose plant. Their dark blue, round fruits can be harvested from October or November, preferably after the first frost. They contain a lot of vitamin C, have an anti-inflammatory effect and help with symptoms of exhaustion. Even rowanberries, which are often said to be poisonous, can be used as a medicinal plant. One hundred grams contain 98 milligrams of vitamin C - which even puts rowanberries in the top ten.
Incidentally, how many vitamins and micronutrients a body needs depends on the individual's constitution and life situation. In times of harmony, the body uses significantly fewer reserves. During stressful times, for example during a relationship dispute, the body requires around three hundred milligrams of vitamin C - three times the daily requirement.
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