Vitamin C supplementation provides a variety of heart benefits

A Good Heart

Guess what your daily vitamin C may be doing? Lowering LDL cholesterol AND triglycerides.

That’s the conclusion of a recent meta-analysis that examined 13 clinical trials. Subjects in the trials included more than 400 people with high cholesterol levels. The investigation indicated that a minimum daily supplement of 500 mg was required in order to reap the cholesterol and triglycerides benefits.

But this certainly isn’t the first study to reveal the heart health benefits of vitamin C.

The nursing heart

In a 2006 Life Extension magazine article, author Laurie Barclay, M.D., catalogued a number of studies that explored the heart-protective effect of vitamin C from dietary and supplements sources. And while all of these studies add up to an important body of evidence, I chose one to highlight in today’s e-Alert because it specifically addresses the use of supplements.

STUDY PROFILE

• Harvard School of Public Health researchers examined the association between vitamin C intake and the risk of coronary heart disease (CHD) in more than 85,000 women who participated in the Nurses’ Health Study
• Food frequency questionnaires were used to assess vitamin C intake from dietary and supplemental sources
• In 16 years of follow up, 1,356 cases of CHD were identified
• Results showed a modest preventive effect against CHD among women who had the highest vitamin C intake from all sources, compared to women with the lowest intake
• A “weak and not significant” protection against CHD was observed in women who received most of their vitamin C from diet alone
• Use of vitamin C supplements, however, was linked to a significantly lower risk of CHD

In the Journal of the American College of Cardiology, the authors wrote: “Users of vitamin C supplements appear to be at lower risk for CHD.”

Add a little E

Lowering CHD risk is just part of the vitamin C heart-health picture. Briefly, here are three additional studies cited by Dr. Barclay:

1. In a trial that included a large number of male smokers, those with the highest vitamin C intake had a 66 percent lower risk of developing CHD compared to men with the lowest C intake.
   
2. In a study of healthy middle-aged men, those who had deficient vitamin C levels were more than three times more likely to have a heart attack, compared to men who were not vitamin C deficient.
   
3. An examination of heart attack patients showed that a daily combination of 1,200 mg of vitamin C, and 600 mg of vitamin E significantly reduced the risk of a second heart attack and other life-threatening complications.

Before you stock up on heart-healthy vitamin C supplements, there are two things you should do.

First: Even though vitamin C is quite safe, it’s always best to talk to your doctor or a trusted health care professional before making changes to your supplement regimen.

Second: Read the e-Alert “Attack of the Vapors” (1/6/04), in which HSI Panelist Allan Spreen, M.D., discusses vitamin C supplementation. In addition to a complete rundown of the different forms of the vitamin, Dr. Spreen also offers invaluable information about dosage, absorbency, and why it’s best to avoid time-release capsules.

Sources:
Vitamin C Supplementation Lowers Serum Low-Density Lipoprotein Cholesterol and Triglycerides: A Meta-Analysis of 13 Randomized Controlled Trials” Journal of Chiropractic Medicine, Vol. 7, No. 2, June 2008, journalchiromed.com
“Vitamin C Lowers Coronary Heart Disease Risk” Laurie Barclay, M.D., Life Extension Magazine, October 2006, lef.org
“Vitamin C and Risk of Coronary Heart Disease in Women” Journal of the American College of Cardiology, Vol. 42, No. 2, 7/16/03, content.onlinejacc.org