12-16-2004

High Dose Vitamin C Linked to Lower Heart Attack Risk

People who supplement with high doses of vitamin C could be reducing their risk of major heart disease events like heart attack, suggests a new analysis of prospective studies.

An International team pooled data from nine prospective studies that included information on intakes of vitamin E, carotenoids, and vitamin C, with a 10 year follow up to check for major incident coronary heart disease events in people who were without the disease when the study began.

Dietary intake of antioxidant vitamins was only weakly related to a reduced coronary heart disease risk, they write in the December issue of the American Journal of Clinical Nutrition. However, subjects who took more than 700 mg of vitamin C daily, in supplement form appeared to reduce their risk of heart disease events by 25 per cent compared to those who took no supplements.

Courtesy American Longevity Archives