Vitamin C supplements slash heart disease risk

California, November 15: A new American study, published in the journal Free Radical Biology and Medicine, has found that taking vitamin C supplements may cut down the concentrations of C-reactive protein (CRP), a central biomarker of inflammation linked to a heightened risk of heart disease and diabetes.

The research also found that daily doses of vitamin E, another antioxidant, are not beneficial.

The findings emerged after an eight-year study involving nearly 15000 male physicians, led by researchers at Boston's Brigham and Women’s Hospital in Boston, was not able to show that neither vitamins C nor vitamin E supplements could prevent heart attacks or strokes.

The lead author of the study, Gladys Block, PhD and professor of Epidemiology and Public Health Nutrition in University of California, Berkeley, said that the eight-year study organized by Brigham and Women's Hospital did not examine subjects for elevations in CRP (C-reactive protein). According to the American Heart Association (AHA), elevation in CRP is defined as 1 milligram per liter or greater, which is an important distinction in determining who might benefit from taking vitamin C.

She added that her study showed that for non smoking, healthy people, with a higher level of C-reactive protein, taking a daily dose of vitamin C slashed the levels of the C-reactive protein, after eight weeks as compared with those who took a dummy pill.

Subjects with the lower baseline CRP levels (less than 1 milligram per liter) registered no significant effect on their CRP levels after taking vitamin C supplements. On the other hand, participants who started off with CRP levels of 1 milligram per liter or higher saw a 16.7 percent decrease in the levels after being treated with vitamin C supplements for eight weeks.

Gladys Block, said, “This is an important distinction; treatment with vitamin C is ineffective in persons whose levels of C-reactive protein are less than 1 milligram per liter, but very effective for those with higher levels."

However, the researchers did agree that more extensive research is needed to see whether vitamins C’s beneficial impact on CRP levels continue past eight weeks.

Another recent study found that taking large doses of vitamin C can effectively prevent flu. The researchers found that taking vitamin C boosts immune responses.

Vitamin C is important for maintaining general health as it looks after healthy skin, scar tissue, tendons, ligaments, cartilage, bones, and blood vessels, and for the healing of wounds and injuries. A shortage of vitamin C causes scurvy. The good news is that vitamin C deficiency is quite rare among people who eat a reasonably balanced diet.

Various studies show that eating foods rich in vitamin C, such as fruits (oranges, grapefruit) and veggies, reduces the risk of developing cancerdefine of the pancreasdefine, esophagus, larynxdefine, mouth, stomach, colondefine and rectumdefine, breast, cervix, and lungs. Some doctors also recommend taking high doses of vitamin C supplements to protect against and treat colds.