ABSTRACT
Cardiovascular diseases (CVDs) are a group of disorders that include coronary heart disease, cerebrovascular disease, peripheral arterial disease, rheumatic heart disease, congenital heart disease, deep vein thrombosis, and pulmonary embolism. The major dietary antioxidants include the following: vitamin E, vitamin C, carotenoids, flavonoids, selenium, polyphenols, resveratrol, and lycopene. Apart from the examined effect of vitamin C on CVD outcomes, randomized controlled trials have also been conducted to examine the effect of vitamin C on intermediate risk factors such as blood pressure. A meta-analysis of randomized controlled trials (RCTs) concluded that antioxidant vitamin supplementation (including vitamin C) does not affect major CVD events such as myocardial infarction, stroke, CVD mortality, CHD, angina, congestive heart failure, and revascularization. In contrast to the observational evidence showing that increased consumption of fruits and vegetables is inversely associated with reduced CVD risk, prospective studies and RCTs of antioxidants have failed to show a consistent effect on CVD outcomes.
