Role Of Vitamin C In Lowering Blood Pressure!

Hypertension or high blood is often referred to as a silent killer. This is because you can have this condition without realizing it – high blood pressure often shows no symptoms. IF you don’t attend to high blood pressure at its onset then over time it can cause cardiovascular problems.

Causes of hypertension

Hypertension occurs due to –

• A poor diet
• Too much stress
• Alcohol consumption
• Taking certain medications
• Not exercising regularly
• Genes

Age is also a risk factor for high blood pressure. This is because the walls of the artery lose elasticity with age. Hypertension can also occur from other disorders like kidney problems.

Scientists have looked at various ways to bring down blood pressure – one of them being consuming vitamin C. A study was conducted after analyzing data from 29 clinical trials involving 1400 adults in the age group 22-74.

A daily median dose of 500 mg of vitamin C was administered for an eight-week period. The study found that in hypertension patients, the systolic pressure came down by almost 5 points. The drop in diastolic pressure was around 1.7 points.

Change in blood pressure

Researchers concluded from the study that there may be a link between blood pressure reduction and increased vitamin C intake from food.

 Vitamin C is present in foods like oranges, lemon, kiwi and grapefruits in large quantities. Women over 18 years of age are advised to consume at least 75 mg of Vitamin C on a daily basis. For adult men, the recommended dosage is 90 mg daily. The daily maximum limit should not exceed 2000 mg for both the genders, as it is considered unsafe.

According to one of the researchers, consuming vitamin C in adequate amounts can bring down blood pressure levels because the vitamin C antioxidant preserves the body’s nitric oxide level – a crucial factor for healthy blood vessels.