Health Update: Supplements Reduce Cardiovascular Risk!
Hello everyone:
There is a lot of bogus news out there about what supplements help reduce our risk against the number one cause of death, cardiovascular disease (CVD). Here is some helpful guidance that dispels some of those myths:
“Supplementation with:
n-3 fatty acid (Omega 3’s),
n-6 fatty acid (Omega-6’s),
l-arginine,
l-citrulline,
folic acid,
vitamin D,
magnesium,
zinc,
alpha-lipoic acid,
coenzyme Q10,
melatonin,
catechin,
curcumin,
flavanol,
genistein,
and quercetin showed moderate- to high-quality evidence for reducing CVD risk factors.
Specifically, n-3 fatty acid supplementation decreased CVD mortality, myocardial infarction and coronary heart disease events. Folic acid supplementation decreased stroke risk, and coenzyme Q10 supplementation decreased all-cause mortality events.
Vitamin C, vitamin E, and selenium showed no effect on CVD or type 2 diabetes risk. Beta-carotene supplementation increased all-cause mortality, CVD mortality events, and stroke risk.
Conclusions: Supplementation of some but not all micronutrients may benefit cardiometabolic health. This study highlights the importance of micronutrient diversity and the balance of benefits and risks to promote and maintain cardiovascular health in diverse populations.”
Bottom Line:
This is good news that helps us choose both better food choices and supplements to lower our risks and optimize our overall health. For example, you can get catechins from green tea, genistein from soy, zinc from pumpkin seeds, etc. I think they missed the mark on vitamin E because they did not use the whole vitamin E complex that includes 4 tocopherols and 4 tocotrienols and this may be because the research is just starting but is very favorable in early reviews. At any rate, knowledge is power, so use this information to power your heart health for a safer and longer future!!
