Allahabad (PTI): Acknowledged as a nutrient vital for a robust immune system, Vitamin C may also be crucial for slowing down the human body's ageing process, says a study.

The study published in the latest edition of the American journal "Rejuvenation Research" has underscored a protective mechanism in the human body aimed at maintaining the level of ascorbic acid (chemical name for Vitamin C) in blood plasma, which invariably keeps falling with age.

"Studies in the last 50 years have identified oxidative stress, a condition marked by increasing damage to the immune system from molecules known as free radicals, as one of the main reasons for the process of ageing," Prof Syed Ibrahim Rizvi, the lead researcher of the paper, told PTI.

Rizvi, who is a professor of biochemistry at the Allahabad University, said the human body "is endowed with several anti-oxidant defence mechanisms to minimise damage from free radicals. Vitamin C happens to be one of the most important among such defence mechanisms".

"This was one of the reasons why scientists like Prof Linus Pauling, Nobel Laureate and one of the most influential chemists of the 20th century, advocated large doses of Vitamin C in the diet for prevention of common cold and boosting the overall immunity system of the human body," he said.