Vitamin C can keep your heart healthy – and even prevent a fatal attack after heart failure. Just a ‘moderate’ intake of the vitamin is enough to protect the whole cardiovascular system, say researchers.
Even following the basic guideline of eating five portions of fruits and vegetables every day will provide enough vitamin C to reduce your risk of fatal heart failure by 2.4 times compared to someone with low levels.
The vitamin reduces the amount of high-sensitivity C-Reactive protein in the body, a marker of inflammation, which is one of the principal causes of cardiovascular disease.
People who already have the disease are twice as likely to die within a year if their vitamin C levels are low, say researchers from the University of Ulsan in Korea.
(Source: American Heart Association Scientific Sessions, November 13, 2011).