Vitamin C 'as effective' as regular exercising for heart patients, overweight adults

Exercising is important for maintaining physical fitness and good health. However, a recent study conducted by the researchers at the University of Colorado, Boulder suggests that vitamin C supplements and daily physical exercise provide the same benefits in terms of blood circulation in overweight and obese people.

The researchers presented their result findings at the American Physiological Society’s 14th International Conference on Endothelin. The findings suggest that vitamin C helps improve blood circulation in people, preventing the occurrence of heart-related disorders in overweight and obese due to constriction of the blood and heart vessels. However, the study also suggests that this does not mean exercising should be replaced by excessive consumption of vitamin C.

During the study, the researchers studied a small group of 35 overweight or obese individuals who were asked to either take a vitamin C supplement or to exercise on a daily basis. For a period of three months, the researchers noticed the impact of exercising and vitamin C on the subjects' protein endothelin-1 levels.

Protein endothelin-1 is present in the lining of the walls of the blood vessels and is responsible for their constriction. The researchers found that daily intake of 500mg of vitamin C was as effective in reducing the protein endothelin-1 levels in subjects as walking or exercising. The researchers say that this does not mean that exercising isn't important. However, it might be difficult for the obese adults to exercise than to take a supplement.

Constricted blood vessels pose a variety of risks to the overweight or obese individuals. An escalated blood pressure under such situation might result in stroke, heart disease, kidney failure and a variety of other health problems. In individuals with constricted blood vessels, the blood flow is extremely reduced, since it has to travel through a narrow region.

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