A whole lemon now, or half today, half tomorrow

cafecolour

This is a theoretical question more than any sort of practical one I'm worried about.

I've read that vitamin c is relatively sensitive, and often starts degrading once the fruit/veg it is in is cut.

On the other hand, you just urinate out excess vitamin c.

So, if I'm say, budgeted for one lemon for every two days. Do you think it's more beneficial to have the whole lemon the first day (max quality vitamin c, risk of excess c), and nothing the second, or to cut it in half, have half the first day and the other half the second (but risk the nutrition of the 2nd half of the lemon degrading over 24 hours)?

EileenG

One lemon won't max out your vitamin C. It's usually hundreds of times your RDA before this happens. I believe that the RDA of vitamin C is set at the level where you don't get scury, not the optimal level for health.

Lemon isn't even the best food source of vitamin C, things like red pepper or even Broccole are a better (and easier source). Parsley is bursting with it.

cafecolour

Alright, bad example, let's say half a red pepper or half a grapefruit or such

My question is, essentially, is it worth keeping 'half' of a solid piece of fruit/veg for a day, or will the vitamin content devolve to uselessness.

On that note, I often cook a batch of something and eat it for two or three days. Is this also lacking in nutrition? For instance, if I make a stirfry on Sunday, am I essentially just eating calories and fiber on tuesday (no vitamins), now that the veg have been a) cut, b) cooked, and c) left in the fridge for 3 days in that state.

Kadongy

It depends on the specific nutrient I think. I think airtight containers would greatly reduce the possibility of oxidisation in general though. Interesting question.

CIARAN_BOYLE

cafecolour wrote: »

On the other hand, you just urinate out excess vitamin c.

For this reason I take half a vitamin C tablet (containing 8 times RDA) rather than a full vitamin C tablet

El_Dangeroso

I take a time release vitamin C, it's fat soluble so released over the course of a day.

Surely the nutrient decay is fairly negligible in almost all cases?

It's definitely not something I'd worry/obsess over. And as said above, stick it in an airtight container to assist in preventing any breakdown.