Taking nutritional supplements that contain vitamin C can help lower the bodys concentrations of a central biomarker of inflammation, new research suggests.
Researchers from the University of California-Berkeley found that healthy, non-smoking adults who had heightened levels of C-reactive protein (CRP) benefited from daily nutritional supplements containing vitamin C.
After two months, these participants saw the levels of the inflammation biomarker decrease in comparison with those who received a placebo.
However, the scientists said that there were no beneficial effects noted among patients who did not already have high levels of CRP.
Lead author Gladys Block said that the findings, set to be published in the journal Free Radical Biology and Medicine, show that vitamin C can be as effective as conventional treatments for inflammation.
“It shows in a carefully conducted randomized, controlled trial that for people with moderately elevated levels of inflammation, vitamin C may be able to reduce CRP as much as statins have done in other studies,” she explained.
According to the National Institutes of Health, healthy adult women should take in around 75 mg of vitamin C per day, while men need 90 mg.