Taking 0.5g of vitamin C – the equivalent of drinking six glasses of orange juice – every day lowers your blood pressure and reduces the risk of stroke.The amount, which is around five times the recommended daily allowance, is especially effective in people already diagnosed with high blood pressure, or hypertension.The vitamin can lower blood pressure by 5 millimetres of mercury, which is half as good as an ACE inhibitor or diuretic (water pill), in people with hypertension.  The immediate impact is a 3 millimetres fall, enough to reduce significantly the number of people who suffer a stroke, say researchers from the Johns Hopkins University School of Medicine.The researchers think the vitamin works in a similar way to a diuretic, allowing the kidneys to remove more sodium and water from the body, and helping relax blood vessel walls.The process suggests that vitamin C doesn’t directly reduce rates of cardiovascular disease, they caution.

Vitamin C is found in fruit and vegetables, and can also be taken as supplements.
(Source: American Journal of Clinical Nutrition, 2012; 95: 1079-88).

Whilst Nutritionhelp advises increasing the amount of fresh vegetables you eat, if you are following recommendations to support gut ecology it is important that fruit is avoided.  However, drinking 5 glasses of orange juice a day as mentioned above, would not be a good recommendation for anyone, as with the fibre of the fruit stripped away, juice provides a very concentrated source of fruit sugar. Fruit juices should be limited and highly diluted to prevent them from affecting blood sugar levels and dumping too much fruit sugar into the body. To obtain the necessary level of vitamin C mentioned in the article we would suggest eating plenty of raw and lightly steamed vegetables and then adding a quality vitamin C supplement.  Contact me at info@nutritionhelp.com if you want to know more.