9913
0
Posted on Dec 07, 2003, 5 a.m.
By Bill Freeman
New research suggests that eating a vitamin C-rich diet could help to reduce the risk of stroke. Dr Monique Breteler of Erasmus Medical Center in Rotterdam, the Netherlands, and colleagues found that people whose diet contained the lowest amount of vitamin C were 30% more likely to have a stroke than those whose diet contained the most.
New research suggests that eating a vitamin C-rich diet could help to reduce the risk of stroke. Dr Monique Breteler of Erasmus Medical Center in Rotterdam, the Netherlands, and colleagues found that people whose diet contained the lowest amount of vitamin C were 30% more likely to have a stroke than those whose diet contained the most. The effect that vitamin C levels had on stroke risk was even stronger in smokers. Smokers who ate a vitamin C-rich diet were 70% less likely to have a stroke than smokers whose diets contained little vitamin C. The recommended daily amount (RDA) for vitamin C is 60 milligrams a day. Those with the highest amount of vitamin C in their diet consumed more than 133 milligrams of vitamin C per day - more than twice the RDA - while those with the lowest levels were consuming 95 milligrams or less per day. The study also found that smokers can benefit from consuming high levels of vitamin E. Smokers whose diet contained high levels of vitamin E were 20% less likely to have a stroke than those with diets low in vitamin E. However, vitamin E did not appear to offer nonsmokers any protection against stroke. The authors stress that no similar protection was seen with supplements of vitamins C and E and other antioxidants. This suggests that another compound present in vitamin C and vitamin E-rich foods may be responsible for reducing stroke risk.
SOURCE/REFERENCE: Reported by HealthDayNews on the 11th November 2003.
