Fact: Vitamin C helps protect the body from the effects of aging. "This is one of the latest findings about vitamin C, the anti-aging properties," says Laura Chavez, M.D.

Chavez, a primary care physician at Holy Name Medical Center in Teaneck, explains that vitamin C, or ascorbic acid, performs two important functions that help keep skin looking young.

First, it acts as a powerful anti-oxidant. In a nutshell, various chemical processes in the body produce free radicals as a byproduct -- like a car's engine giving off carbon dioxide, Chavez says. Those free radicals cause skin damage over time, but vitamin C can counteract them before they do.

Second, vitamin C stimulates the body's synthesis of collagen, a key protein for skin health. Collagen keeps skin firm and prevents wrinkles, which is why plastic surgeons have used collagen injections to smooth out patients' faces.

As a person ages, the body produces more free radicals and less collagen -- hence the wrinkles and other skin damage -- but vitamin C helps the body pick up the pace.So what's the catch?

"Our body cannot produce or store vitamin C," Chavez says, "so that's why we need to get it elsewhere."

Food and drink are excellent sources of vitamin C. Chavez recommends that men consume at least 90 milligrams of the vitamin each day and that women consume at least 70. A single cup of fresh orange juice provides roughly 125 mg, or 100 mg if it's from frozen concentrate. Reaching the recommended daily minimum is that easy.

Chavez prefers that everyone consume about 500 mg per day, though. Plenty of fruits: citrus, peaches and cantaloupe; vegetables, including broccoli and asparagus. Other foods, such as corn flakes offer high doses of vitamin C.

"In the busy life of nowadays, we really have to pay attention to our lifestyle," she says. "Regulate your diet and have a healthy life."

In place of foods, vitamin supplements should suffice, as long as they provide 500 mg of vitamin C. And creams can infuse your skin with an extra kick, too, but they must be highly concentrated.

"If they don't have 10 percent or more of vitamin C," Chavez says, "they won't work. Less than 10 percent wouldn't really boost the collagen cells."

Great Sources of Vitamin C

• Citrus fruits
• Orange juice
• Tomato juice
• Peaches
• Cantaloupe
• Asparagus
• Broccoli
• Cauliflower
• Yellow peppers
• Cabbage
• Beets
• Green beans
• Corn flakes

Tips

• Aim for 500 mg of vitamin C per day, but don't exceed 2,000 mg, which would be toxic.
• Smokers should consume an extra 35 mg each day, because smoking creates more free radicals and depletes the body's supply of vitamin C more quickly.
• If your diet doesn't offer enough, consider a multivitamin that provides such important vitamins as A, D, E and K, in addition to C.