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12.09.2022

Vitamin C reduces risk of death by 25 percent

The more vitamin C there is in your blood, the less likely you are to die in the next 16 years. According to a Chinese study, vitamin C appears to protect against both deadly cardiovascular diseases and deadly cancers.

Study
In 2018, Chinese epidemiologists published a study in the Journal of Epidemiology and Community Health in which they followed 948 inhabitants of a rural region for 16 years. When the study began, the study participants were 53-84 years old.

During the study, the researchers determined twice how much vitamin C was present in the blood of the study participants. In addition, they kept track of how many study participants died and from what.

Results
The study began in 1991 and ended in 2016. By then, 381 study participants had died. When the researchers looked at what the study participants died of and how much vitamin C had been in their blood, they were able to make the table below.

In the 25 percent of the study participants with the highest vitamin C concentrations [Q4], the risk of death was a quarter lower than in the 25 percent of the study participants with the lowest vitamin C concentrations [Q1].

According to the text books, there is only a vitamin C deficiency if the concentration in the blood falls below 28 micromoles per litre. In Q1, the concentration of vitamin C ranged from 9 to 35 micromoles per litre.

The researchers found evidence that relatively high vitamin C levels reduced both the risk of death from cancer and death from cardiovascular disease.

Conclusion
"This study adds new evidence suggesting a robust overall benefit of high plasma vitamin C concentrations on various causes of death", summarize the researchers.

"Together with results from other cohorts in Western countries, we see growing evidence that higher vitamin C status may be associated with a lower risk of total mortality and corroborate the importance of adequate vitamin C to human health."

Just to show how smart we are
The researchers did not look separately at the intake of fruit and vegetables. They were therefore unable to correct their data for this.

The measured vitamin C concentrations may be markers for the intake of fruit and vegetables. The decrease in the risk of death at a high vitamin C concentration is therefore probably not only due to vitamin C, but also to other components of plant foods.

Source:
J Epidemiol Community Health. 2018 Dec;72(12):1076-82.

More:
Supplement with 500 milligrams of vitamin C increases survival chances in life-threatening covid by a factor of 5 26.04.2022
How vitamin C might prevent blood vessel calcification 04.10.2020
Aging without wrinkles due to vitamin C supplementation 21.04.2019

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