Vitamin C Lowers Heart Disease and Diabetes Risk

C-reactive protein levels after intravenous vitamin C
treatments are compared to CRP levels before
treatments.

Researchers at the University of California, Berkeley found evidence supporting vitamin C lowering your risk of heart disease. Vitamin C supplements can lower concentrations of the C-reactive Protein, a.k.a. CRP, which is a prime biomarker of inflammation shown to be a predictor of heart disease and diabetes. According to Gladys Block,  UC Berkeley public health nutritionist and lead author of the study on vitamins C and E on CRP levels, the study shows a daily dose of vitamin C lowered the CRP levels after two months compared to those that took a placebo. The test subjects included healthy, non smoking individuals that showed high levels of CRP.

Researchers stated that the amount of CRP reduction for those with high levels of CRP were 0.25 milligrams per liter. The study also showed that for those participants that started out with a CRP level greater than 2 milligrams per liter had 34% lowered CRP levels than those who took the placebo. Participants that had a CRP level of 1 milligram per liter or less showed no significant decrease.UC Berkeley researchers also found a link between high CRP levels and obesity.While 25% of participants considered of healthy weight had high levels of CRP, 50% of overweight and 75% of obese people had high CRP levels. This is not surprising given the current data of cardiovascular disease on obese individuals. However, nearly half of the people that participated in this study had lower CRP levels after two months of daily vitamin C supplements.

Source:
http://www.berkeley.edu/news/media/releases/2008/11/12_vitaminc.shtml