Overweight and obese people who take a high-dose of supplementary Vitamin
C daily may get some of the cardiovascular benefits of exercise without
the exercise, new research has found.
In a small trial that recruited sedentary adults who were overweight or obese, study participants who took 500 milligrams of Vitamin C daily saw equal improvement in blood vessel tone — a key measure of cardiovascular health — as did those who took up a three-month regimen of brisk walking five to seven times a week, investigators at the University of Colorado at Boulder reported.
The study's small size — 15 subjects got the walking treatment, while 20 took the Vitamin C supplements — may also limit the uptake of its findings by public health officials, who have struggled, with limited success, to get sedentary Americans off the couch. Some 4 in 10 American adults are thought to be entirely sedentary.
But the study's invasive measures of "endothelial function" — blood vessels' ability to contract and dilate as needed — suggested that both the benefits of modest aerobic exercise and of Vitamin C were substantial.
At the start of the trial, all of the study's subjects were sedentary and overweight or obese, and all showed levels of vascular tone that were impaired. In a pattern typical for overweight and obese adults who don't get much exercise, their blood vessels did not respond to experimental conditions with the strength and suppleness seen in normal, healthy adults.
.The average in going body-mass index of exercisers was 29.3 and for the Vitamin C group, 31.3 (a BMI between 25 and 29.9 is considered overweight, and obesity is diagnosed at a BMI of 30). During the study's three-month duration, neither group lost any weight.
Both three months of moderate-intensity exercise and three months of Vitamin C supplements drove subjects' vascular tone back into healthy territory. But the Vitamin C did so without the exertion of walking.
The study's lead author, Caitlin Dow, said the findings were particularly important for people who cannot exercise because of injury or physical limitations.
precautions for taking vitamin c supplements.
In a small trial that recruited sedentary adults who were overweight or obese, study participants who took 500 milligrams of Vitamin C daily saw equal improvement in blood vessel tone — a key measure of cardiovascular health — as did those who took up a three-month regimen of brisk walking five to seven times a week, investigators at the University of Colorado at Boulder reported.
The study's small size — 15 subjects got the walking treatment, while 20 took the Vitamin C supplements — may also limit the uptake of its findings by public health officials, who have struggled, with limited success, to get sedentary Americans off the couch. Some 4 in 10 American adults are thought to be entirely sedentary.
But the study's invasive measures of "endothelial function" — blood vessels' ability to contract and dilate as needed — suggested that both the benefits of modest aerobic exercise and of Vitamin C were substantial.
At the start of the trial, all of the study's subjects were sedentary and overweight or obese, and all showed levels of vascular tone that were impaired. In a pattern typical for overweight and obese adults who don't get much exercise, their blood vessels did not respond to experimental conditions with the strength and suppleness seen in normal, healthy adults.
.The average in going body-mass index of exercisers was 29.3 and for the Vitamin C group, 31.3 (a BMI between 25 and 29.9 is considered overweight, and obesity is diagnosed at a BMI of 30). During the study's three-month duration, neither group lost any weight.
Both three months of moderate-intensity exercise and three months of Vitamin C supplements drove subjects' vascular tone back into healthy territory. But the Vitamin C did so without the exertion of walking.
The study's lead author, Caitlin Dow, said the findings were particularly important for people who cannot exercise because of injury or physical limitations.
precautions for taking vitamin c supplements.
- A moderate supplemental intake of Vitamin C is between 30-and-180 mg per day, so 500 mg per day is a relatively high dose. But the tolerable upper limit for adults of Vitamin C is 2,000 milligrams. Because it is a water-soluble vitamin, any Vitamin C that is not used is excreted in urine. The most common complaints with high doses of Vitamin C are diarrhea, nausea, abdominal cramps and other gastrointestinal disturbances.
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- High vitamin C intakes also may contribute to the formation of kidney stones, especially in individuals with renal disorders.
- VITAMIN C SUPPLEMENTS-
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