|
Vitamin
C-Rich Diet Lowers Risk of Death
NEW
YORK (Reuters Health) - Fruits and vegetables high in vitamin
C are associated with a reduced risk of death from all causes
including heart disease and stroke, British scientists said Friday.
Even small
increases in levels of vitamin C in the blood reduced the risk
of heart disease and death in healthy adults, according to the
report in the March 3rd issue of The Lancet. For instance, just
one extra serving of fruit or vegetable was associated with a
20% lower risk of death from all causes regardless of age, blood
pressure, cholesterol, smoking, diabetes and use of dietary supplements,
findings show.
The risk of
death was cut in half for individuals who had the highest levels
of vitamin C in their blood compared with those who had the lowest
levels.
The report
adds to a large body of evidence linking a vitamin C-rich diet
with better health and longer life and suggests that small dietary
changes could have a profound effect on health.
In an interview
with Reuters Health, Dr. Kay-Tee Khaw, the study's lead author,
said the antioxidant vitamin C alone is probably not responsible
for the lower risk of disease and death observed in the study.
Rather, intake of the vitamin is a marker for an overall healthy
lifestyle that includes a nutrient-rich diet, exercise and not
smoking.
``The blood
levels of vitamin C appear to be a strong and specific indicator
of high fruit and vegetable intake, and it may be all the other
components of high fruit and vegetable intake that are protective
for mortality, not just vitamin C, per se,'' said Khaw, from University
of Cambridge School of Clinical Medicine in Cambridge, UK.
As an antioxidant,
the vitamin moves through the blood, mopping up DNA-damaging free
radicals. These compounds have been linked with chronic disease
and aging.
In other findings,
high blood levels of vitamin C were associated with a decreased
risk for cancer among men but not women.
``It may be
that any possible protective effect of this dietary pattern is
specific to particular cancers,'' Khaw suggests, noting that lung
and colorectal are the most common life-threatening cancers in
men while breast cancer is the leading malignancy in women.
The study
results are based on a single measurement of vitamin C in the
blood of nearly 20,000 individuals aged 45 to 79 in England, and
medical data over a 4-year period.
SOURCE:
The Lancet 2001;357:657-663.
Reference
Source 89
For more information on how to prevent other diseases, use
PreventDisease.com's "Quick
Prevention Resources".
|
