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According to a new American study published in December in the Nutrition Journal, high intakes of Vitamin C may be beneficial to blood pressure levels.
Researchers, led by Gladys Block from the University of California (Berkeley), found in a study of young women that blood concentration of ascorbic acid were was associated with blood pressure level and change in blood pressure during the previous year.
High blood pressure, or hypertension, is clinically defined as having a systolic and diastolic blood pressure greater than 140 and 90 mmHg and is considered to be a major risk factor for heart disease.
The Berkeley analysis focused on blood samples from 224 female participants, Caucasian and African-American, aged 18 to 21 who were part of the 10-year multi-centre "Growth and Health Study."
Independent of each participant’s race, BMI, education, diet and lifestyle, the researchers found that ascorbic acid concentrations in the blood that were 1 mg/dL (56.8 μmol/L) higher were also associated with 4.1 mmHg lower systolic blood pressure and 4.0 mmHg lower diastolic blood pressure. Blood concentration of ascorbic acid was also significantly associated with blood pressure change from the previous year — participants within the highest 25 percent of ascorbic acid levels experienced very little increase in diastolic blood pressure.
While the authors stop short of declaring a direct causal link between ascorbic acid and lower blood pressure readings, they note the findings point to the potential for Vitamin C levels to positively influence blood pressure even among healthy young adults. Their biochemical rationale focuses on the oxidative mechanisms involved in hypertension. F2-isoprostane, for example, is a well-known stress biomarker and a product of the oxidation of fats in the body. The authors previously found that Vitamin C supplementation significantly reduced F2-isoprostane levels. They also found in a past study that Vitamin C significantly lowered the level of another marker of inflammation, high-sensitivity C-reactive protein or hsCRP.
By acting on such inflammation and oxidative stresses in the body, Vitamin C may have a beneficial effect on blood pressure.
Source: Nutrition Journal,
7:35 doi:10.1186/1475-2891-7-35, "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, ”
Authors: G. Block, C.D. Jensen, E.P. Norkus, M. Hudes, P.B. Crawford
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