Vitamins and other nutrients are important to keep your body working correctly, including your heart. While it is important for your health in general to have a well-rounded diet that includes all essential nutrients, the ones particularly important for heart health are vitamins C, D, E and the mineral potassium.
Vitamin C
Vitamin C is an antioxidant which supports the immune system. Consuming 300 mg daily, both in diet and as a supplement, lowered the participants' risk of heart disease, according to the First National Health and Nutrition Examination Survey (NHANES I) Epidemiologic Follow-up Study. These risks decreased by 42 percent in men and 25 percent in women. Thus, eating a diet high in vitamin C and taking a supplement may help increase your heart health.
Vitamin D
Vitamin D helps support muscle health, including the your most important muscle --- your heart. Men with a vitamin D deficiency had double the risk of having a heart attack than men who had sufficient vitamin D, according to a Harvard School of Public Health Professional Follow-Up Study. Furthermore, if you have a low level of vitamin D, you are at a higher risk for heart failure, strokes and heart complications.
Vitamin E
A Harvard Medical School study in 2005 showed that out of 39,876 women, the ones taking 400 mg of vitamin E every two days for 10 years had 24 percent fewer deaths related to heart problems. However, patients with preexisting heart disease did not show any improvement from vitamin E dosage.
Potassium
Potassium is a mineral that can help prevent strokes and reduce high blood pressure. A high intake of potassium reduces the likelihood of a stroke from 60 percent to 75 percent as compared to people on low potassium diets. Also, eating 8.5 servings daily of fruits and vegetables along with 4,100 mg of potassium brought lower blood pressure than for the rest of the subjects, according to a study from Dietary Approaches to Stop Hypertension, DASH.
References
- "Linus Pauling Institute"; Vitamin C; Victoria J. Drake, Ph.D.; November 2009
- Harvard School of Public Health; The Nutrition Source: Vitamin D
- "Linus Pauling Institute"; Vitamin E; Victoria J. Drake, Ph.D.; June 2008
- "Linus Pauling Institute"; Potassium; Victoria J. Drake, Ph.D.; December 2010
- "Journal of the American Medical Association"; Vitamin E in the Primary Prevention of Cardiovascular Disease and Cancer: The Women's Health Study: A Randomized Controlled Trial; I.M. Lee; July 2005
Member Comments