Nick NorwitzMD PhD, Oxford-Harvard | Metabolic Health Educator | “Stay Curious”

Can Vitamin C Protect You from Heart Disease?

4 Sept 2025 · 1 min

Watch on YouTube

1:21

In this concise monologue, the presenter addresses whether vitamin C can protect against cardiovascular disease. He acknowledges that the overall evidence is mixed, likening it to the divisive opinions on pineapple pizza, but highlights several positive signals. Epidemiological data show that supplement-derived vitamin C intake was linked to lower coronary heart disease risk in the Nurses' Health Study, and higher circulating vitamin C levels were inversely associated with cardiovascular mortality in the EPIC cohort. Controlled‑trial evidence includes a study where high‑dose vitamin C halved restenosis rates after vascular procedures, and a six‑year carotid intima‑media thickness trial where combined vitamin C and E supplementation slowed atherosclerosis progression by 26%. The presenter concludes that, across both observational and interventional literature, there are consistent indications that vitamin C may slow the progression of cardiovascular disease, even though the totality of data remains mixed.

Chapters

Does vitamin C appear to protect against cardiovascular disease in humans? And in 4 words, the data are mixed. Kinda like feelings about pineapple pizza. However, there are some positive signals. For example, in the Nurses Health Study, vitamin C intake from supplements was associated with lower risk of coronary heart disease. And in the EPIC study, circulating levels of vitamin C were inversely associated with death from cardiovascular disease and ischemic heart disease. The desired outcome and hypothesis was that vitamin C would slow the rate at which blood vessels narrow and clog up. And indeed, they found that higher dose vitamin C significantly slowed restenosis by half, keeping the blood vessels open wider and for longer. And in yet another 6-year study that measured atherosclerosis progression by carotid intima-media thickness, ultrasound of the carotids, supplementation with vitamin C and vitamin E slowed progression of atherosclerosis by 26%. So the big picture point is, in both the epidemiological literature and controlled trial literature, there are signs that vitamin C slows the progression of cardiovascular disease.