I take vitamins every day as a preventive measure and to enhance the way my body works. I am no longer sure whether taking these vitamins can reduce my risk of developing heart disease or having a heart attack because the research results are confusing.
A few years ago several large studies found few, if any, benefits from taking antioxidants except among very high-risk women. I use to believe, and I wrote about that antioxidants might prevent damage caused by harmful molecules called free radicals. I also believed that vitamin B might lower high levels of the protein homocysteine which can damage blood vessels. That's what the medical gurus reported for 20 years and then they changed their mind.
The studies showed there were no differences in cardiovascular events between women taking vitamins and those who received a placebo. Previous randomized trials of folic-acid and vitamin-B supplements indicated that same finding.
I am still taking the vitamins but reduced the dosage because the researchers are not really sure about the results. They do know that certain vitamins, such as C and E, may reduce heart disease risk by preventing low-density lipoprotein cholesterol from producing plaques that narrow the heart's arteries. Yet here too, the evidence between those who take the vitamins and those who do not is not very much.
The major point is if you do not control your other risk factors such as diet, enough physical activity, smoking, high cholesterol and diabetes, it won't matter how many vitamins you take.
However, eating foods that are the sources of antioxidants can be beneficial to reducing the risk of heart disease. That means eating more fruits and green leafy vegetables, nuts, seeds and whole grains, oatmeal, sweet potatoes and wheat germ – all the foods your mother and grandmother kept telling you should eat because they are good for you.
Makes you think, doesn't it?
To your health success.
Ruthan Brodsky
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