Does Vitamin C and E Help Lower Blood Pressure?

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Vitamin C and E are some essential nutrients that are needed by the body. They are important to help support some body’s functions. There are some studies learned and analyzed the effect of these vitamins on blood pressure (BP). If they have an effect on your both systolic and diastolic pressures, do they help lower blood pressure?

Does vitamin C help lower your BP?

Vitamin C is not stored in the body because it is a water soluble nutrient. Furthermore, your body cannot make it. To get it, you need to eat foods that contain it.

Leftover amounts of it in the body will go away through urine. Therefore, you need to continuously get plenty of it in the diet.

Vitamin C deficiencies can lead to some health conditions – and hypertension may be one of them.

Why does your body need it?

Sometimes it is also called as ascorbic acid. The following are some major reason why you need to get plenty of dietary vitamin C:

  1. It is needed by your body to help protect cells of your body and also keep them healthy.
  2. It has a significant contribution to help maintain the healthy connective tissues of your body. This is important to provide support and structure for other organs and tissues. For instance, it is used to help maintain and repair teeth, cartilage, and bones.
  3. It is required to help improve wound by helping to form scar tissue (wound healing).
  4. It is needed to help form essential proteins that are important to make tendons, ligaments, skin, and even blood vessels.
  5. In addition, it is also one of essential antioxidants needed by the body. Antioxidants can help protect you from free radicals. Some studies showed that getting plenty of dietary vitamin C is linked with lower rate of cancer. Free radicals may be one of responsible factors that cause arthritis and heart disease.

Is there a link between vitamin C and high blood pressure?

Getting plenty of dietary vitamin C and antioxidants may help lower the risk of hypertension. A

population based research found that these essential nutrients may help improve the blood flow through blood vessels. This research involved observing the effect of foods rich in vitamin C and antioxidants in large groups of people over time.

The result showed that people who ate more these foods had lower risk of hypertension than others who didn’t. Unfortunately, the way on how this vitamin affects blood pressure is still not fully understood.

However, so far experts don’t put lack of dietary vitamin C as one of the major risk factors of hypertension. In general, lack of vitamin D is often the major concern when we are talking about factors that increase the risk of hypertension.

Some studies showed that vitamin D may have an effect to the production of enzymes released by kidneys that help regulate blood pressure.

How much vitamin C you should get a day?

Regardless to the issue whether there is a link between dietary vitamin C and blood pressure, it’s clear that your body needs this vitamin. So make sure to get it adequately a day.

Furthermore, fruits and vegetables loaded with antioxidants and vitamin C are also often recommended in DASH diet (the Dietary Approaches to Stop Hypertension).

Though  vitamin C is important for your overall health, too much consumption may become counterproductive for your health.

In too large amounts, it can be potential to cause diarrhea, flatulence, stomach pain, and other problems (depending on whether you have certain heath condition or whether you are taking a medicine for certain health problem).

Here a table of how much vitamin C you should get a day (source: the National Academy of Sciences).

Where you can get it?

It can be found naturally in many foods. It is also available in supplements, but getting it naturally from fresh fruits and other foods high in vitamin C is much better for your health in long term.

image_illustration45Vegetables that are rich in this vitamin include winter squash, tomatoes, leafy veggies (such as cabbage and spinach), red & green peppers, cauliflower, broccoli, and Brussels sprouts. It also can be found in many fruits such as watermelon, papaya, berries, kiwi, citrus fruits, mango, and cantaloupe.

Getting plenty of vitamin C from your diet is recommended. How about with vitamin C supplements?

Before taking any supplement, talk first with your doctor – particularly if you have certain health problems such as diabetes and kidney problem, because the supplement may interact with the medicine that you are taking or may worsen your existence health problem.

How about with vitamin E – does it help lower blood pressure?

People who have a problem in absorption of fat tend to get vitamin E deficiencies since this vitamin is a fat-soluble nutrient found in many fats, foods, and oils. In general, your body needs it to help process vitamin K and make more red blood cells.

What are other functions?

The body also needs it to:

  1. Help maintain the structure of cells by protecting the membranes of cells.
  2. And since it also an oxidant, it is also important to help protect the body from serious diseases like cancers and heart disease.

Does it have an effect on blood pressure?

The effectiveness of vitamin E for lowering blood pressure (BP) may be more debatable than vitamin C.

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