Study: Heart Failure Patients More Likely to Be Hospitalized if Their Diet Is Low in Foods With Vitamin C
Nov.14, 2011 (Orlando, Fla.) -- People with heart failure who don't eat enough vitamin C-rich foods are almost twice as likely to be hospitalized or die as those with heart failure who get enough vitamin C in their diet, new research suggests.
They are also more than twice as likely to have high levels of C-reactive protein (CRP) in their blood, which has been linked to heart disease.
The study is the first to show that people with heart failure who eat enough vitamin C-rich foods live longer, according to study researcher Grace Song, PhD, RN, an assistant professor in the department of nursing at the University of Ulsan, South Korea.
Vitamin C, an antioxidant, may help people with heart failure by calming down inflammation in the body, Song tells WebMD.
Other researchers say that it's not at all clear that vitamin C by itself improves heart health.
More likely, people who get enough vitamin C in their diets eat a lot of fruits and vegetables and are healthier overall, says Alice Lichtenstein, DSc, a nutritionist at Tufts University in Boston.
"What we do know," she says, "is that a diet high in fruits and vegetables lowers the risk of heart disease."
Foods that are rich in vitamin C include cantaloupe, red cabbage, broccoli, cauliflower, kale, oranges, papaya, and kiwis. [...]
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