Written by Greg Arnold, DC, CSCS. This study of 242 women (ages 18-21) with normal blood pressure readings revealed that those in the highest 25% of Vitamin C blood levels had lower blood pressure readings than those in the lowest 25% of Vitamin C blood levels.
Sixty-five percent of older adults in the United States have high blood pressure (HBP) (1) which is defined as having a blood pressure above 140/90 mm Hg. High blood pressure costs our healthcare system more than $24 billion each year (2). It is a significant cause of disability (3) as well as a worldwide epidemic (4). Now a new study (51) has found that vitamin C may help with blood pressure even in healthy adults.
In the study, researchers looked at vitamin C blood levels and blood pressure in 242 women 18-21 years of age with normal blood pressure over the course of 10 years. They found that those in the highest 25% of vitamin C blood levels (1.83 mg/dL) had systolic blood pressure readings (the top number) and systolic blood pressure readings (the bottom number) that were 4.7 and 6.1 mmHg lower, respectively (112/69.8 vs 107.3/63.7 ), than those in the bottom 25% of vitamin C blood levels (0.59 mg/dL).
The results of this study led the researchers to suggest that vitamin C “may be an important factor” in blood pressure health, even among health young adults.
Source: Block, Gladys, et al. “Vitamin C in plasma is inversely related to blood pressure and change in blood pressure during the previous year in young Black and White women.” Nutrition journal 7.1 (2008): 35.
© 2008 Block et al; licensee BioMed Central Ltd. Creative Commons Attribution License http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/2.0)
Click here to read the full text study.
Posted March 9, 2009
Greg Arnold is a Chiropractic Physician practicing in Danville, CA. You can contact Dr. Arnold directly by emailing him at mailto:PitchingDoc@msn.com or visiting his web site at www.CompleteChiropracticHealthcare.com.
References:
- Hajjar I, Kotchen TA. Trends in prevalence, awareness, treatment, and control of hypertension in the United States, 1988–2000. JAMA. 2003;290:199–206.
- “Controlling High Blood Pressure” posted on the NCQA website.
- Hajjar I. Association Between Concurrent and Remote Blood Pressure and Disability in Older Adults. Hypertension 2007; 50(6): 1026-1032.
- Casas JP. Homocysteine and stroke: evidence on a causal link from mendelian randomization. Lancet 2005; 365(9455): 224-232.
- Block G. Vitamin C in plasma is inversely related to blood pressure and change in blood pressure during the previous year in young Black and White women. Nutrition Journal 2008, 7:35 (17 December 2008).
