Vitamin C Forum

There was a small but interesting study just published in the journal Nutrition Research4. Six subjects with marginally elevated blood pressure in the range of 140/90 were assigned to take placebo for 10 days. After a one week washout period they then took vitamin C 2,000 mg. daily for 10 days. After one week of further washout the six were then given 650 mg. daily of garlic tablets for 10 days. After the last washout, garlic and vitamin C were then given another 10 days. The vitamin C apparently did not have any effect on blood pressure. The garlic did result in a lowering of systolic but not diastolic pressure. However when both vitamin C and garlic were given together mean systolic and diastolic pressures were reduced to 110-120 and 75-80. The blood pressure increased when the combined supplement was stopped. The authors of the study suggested that garlic and vitamin C increases production of nitric oxide by about 300% which positively affects the inner lining of blood vessel cell walls. Whether this data will be confirmed in a bigger study is yet to be determined. It does remind me of a study on garlic many years ago indicating those receiving garlic improved the elasticity of the aorta and literally reversed decades of aging off this critical cardiovascular component.