Vitamin C May Lower Stroke Risk

Higher dietary amounts of vitamin C may help protect people from stroke. Increased blood levels of vitamin C were associated with a reduced risk of stroke among over 20,000 men and women in a large European study. Researchers found that people with the highest (top quartile) level of vitamin C in their blood were 42% less likely to have a stroke compared to people with the lowest levels. The researchers corrected data for other risk factors (age, sex, smoking, body mass index, blood pressure...). The researchers stated that vitamin C levels may help serve as a biological marker for stroke risk. They added that, "It is plausible that vitamin C may biochemically affect stroke risk."

Myint and others. Plasma vitamin C concentrations predict risk of incident stroke over 10 years in 20,649 participants of the European Prospective Investigation into Cancer-Norfolk prospective population study." Am J Clin Nutr., 2008;7:64-9.