Just last month I told you about the growing evidence that vitamin C may help suppress human cancer cells. Now researchers are saying this humble vitamin could also lower your heart disease risk.
In fact, the 11-year study found evidence C could drastically slash your risk of dying from the disease.1
The Spanish team crunched the data from over 13,400 volunteers over the age of 40. The participants filled out an extensive questionnaire on their diet habits.
Researchers asked volunteers how often they had eaten 136 different foods and beverages over the past year. Then every two years the volunteers filled out follow-up questionnaires.
The data allowed the researchers to evaluate not just how much vitamin C each of the participants took in, but other dietary factors such as calories consumed and fiber intake.
High vitamin C linked to lower heart disease risk
Folks who fell into the high vitamin C category had significantly fewer incidents of heart disease.
They had fewer cases of…
- heart failure
- high triglycerides (hypertriglyceridemia)
- aortic aneurism
But most astounding of all, was the finding that those folks with the highest vitamin C intake also had a stunning 70 percent less chance of dying from heart disease!
Volunteers with the higher C levels were more likely to be taking a vitamin C supplement.
But if you’re hoping to replicate these results in your own life, you should also plan to eat plenty of vitamin-C-rich foods, too.
Eat more vitamin C foods to lower heart disease risk
Because while the new study—published in the journal Nutrients—adjusted for fiber intake, earlier studies finding a link between C and heart health did not.
In other words, the high fiber content of the fruits and veggies participants ate could have contributed to the heart health boost, too.
More studies are underway. And researchers are hoping to be able to replicate these exciting results.
But given what we already know about vitamin C and our health there’s no reason to not work on getting more C into your daily diet starting today.
12 unexpected foods to boost your vitamin C levels
Oranges, and other citrus fruits, probably come to mind when you think about vitamin C.
And citrus IS a great source of the vitamin. But it’s far from the only source, or even the best source, for vitamin C.
Following are 12 foods that provide over 100 percent of your daily value of 60 milligrams of vitamin C.
- Red bell peppers (1 cup, chopped, raw)
- Kale (1 cup)
- Broccoli (1/2 cup, cooked)
- Guava (1 fruit)
- Strawberries (1 cup)
- Green bell peppers (1 cup, chopped, raw)
- Brussels sprouts (1 cup)
- Chili peppers (1/2 cup, chopped)
- Papaya (1 cup)
- Cauliflower (small head)
- Kiwi (two fruits)
- Pineapple (1 cup)
We already know fruits and vegetables are good for our health. But concentrating on eating even more of those which are rich in vitamin C could give you some serious added protection against heart disease.
Reference:
1. “Vitamin C Intake is Inversely Associated with Cardiovascular Mortality in a Cohort of Spanish Graduates: the SUN Project,” Nutrients 2017, 9(9), 954
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