Heart Disease Studies

I have written several articles on vitamin C and the evidence presented by the late Dr. Linus Pauling and Matthias Rath including the Nobel prize won by Linus Pauling for his "Unified Theory of Heart Disease" vs. the medical community at large sticking to the lipid theory of heart disease. Dr. Pauling's research included evidence of reducing existing plaque in arteries and went farther with evidence of that plaque and heart disease itself being primarily a Vitamin C deficiency.

There is a body of evidence that bears this out and certainly supports taking the natural approach to heart disease instead of just getting on two or three statin drugs and thinking you are okay.  I thought I would post here some studies that have taken place to support the work done by Dr. Linus Pauling and some that might precede it.



Over 50 years ago, a Dr. G.C. Willis of Canada studied the effects of Vitamin C supplementation on atherosclerotic deposits. 1/2 of his patients received 1.5 grams of vitamin C per day and the others received NO additional vitamin C. After 10-12 months atheroscierotic deposits had DECREASED in 30% of the patients on vitamin C supplementation. The other 50% remained the same or  got worse. SEE (Willis GC, Light AW, Gow WS, 1954 "Serial arteriography in atherosclerosis" in the Canadian Medical Assoc Journal 71:562-568

A Dr. James Enstrom of the University of California investigated the Vitamin C intake of 11,000 people over a TEN YEAR period. Those that had a vitamin C intake of at least 300 mg daily (Through supplementation, or food) reduced their risk of heart disease by up to 50% in men and 40% in women when compared to the average intake  of only 50 mg daily. There was also evidence of an increased life expectancy of up to 6 years for those with a higher intake of vitamin C.
(Vitamin C intake and mortality among a sample of the United States population / Epidemiology 3:194-202) (Enstrom JE, Kanim LE, Klein MA 1992)

The Nurses Study of more than 87,000 American nurses ages 34-59 indicated that taking more then 200ius of daily vitamin D as opposed to the dietary average of only 3ius reduced the risk of cardiovascular disease by 34% (1993) A similar study of 39,000 health professionals showed that taking 400 ius of vitamin E reduced the risk of heart disease by 40% as opposed to those taking only 6 ius. Beta-carotene's also showed significant reduction in the risk of heart disease.

Lastly a Professor K.F Gey of the University of Berne in Switzerland compared the rate of blood levels of vitamins (including vitamin C and beta-carotene) and blood levels of cholesterol and rates of cardiovascular disease in northern European and southern European people. The study group in the north had lower intake of vitamins and correspondingly higher rates of cardiovascular disease than their southern counterparts which had a higher intake of vitamins.

The study also showed that getting adequate intake of vitamin C, E and A had a much greater impact on the risk of heart disease that simply reducing cholesterol in the diet.

(Gey KF, Stahelin HB, Puska P, Evans 1987 "Relationship of plasma level of vitamin C to mortality from ischemic heart disease" Ann, NY Acad Sci 498:277-291 / Gey KF, Puska P, Jordan P, Moser UK 1991)



Being a type 2 diabetic automatically makes you a potential heart disease candidate, especially if your A1C is over the 6.5 to 7.0 range on a regular basis. Being overweight and inactive, and prone to a lot of sitting in front of the TV and eating late at night before bedtime puts you at greater risk.

It is interesting to me if you read all my posts on the work done by Dr. Linus Pauling on heart disease, that he emphasizes taking Vitamin C, Vitamin E, Beta-carotene, magnesium and the amino acids L-Lysine and L-Proline as part of a heart healthy lifestyle.

His recommendations for Vitamin C are considerably higher that what is listed in these studies mentioned. I have been taking between 7000 to 10,000 mg daily for the past 15 months with zero negative side effects.

It is BEST to take your vitamin C throughout the day to keep blood levels higher and stable. I believe that Dr. Pauling himself took around 18,000 mg of vitamin C daily for many years.

God Bless

Dan