New research has suggested that higher intakes of vitamin C could cut the level of markers for inflammation by an astonishing 45 percent.
What is inflammation? In its simplest form, inflammation is the body’s response to a perceived threat– whether it’s a splinter in our finger, sunburn at the beach or a sprained ankle. So inflammation is actually part of the body’s natural healing process. But when the body becomes imbalanced, it loses its ability to produce anti-inflammatory chemicals to counteract that inflammation. Chronic inflammation is usually seen in people who have diets with a high ratio of Omega-6 to Omega-3 Essential Fatty Acids, lead lives with high stress levels, have excess body fat, exercise too intensely and eat high carbohydrate content meals.
Inflammation has been labeled “The Silent Killer”. When chronic inflammation is maintained over a period of time, it can get very serious- it’s a component of every major degenerative disease including diabetes, obesity, Alzheimer’s and heart disease. (Scientists recently discovered a link between inflammation and age-related macular degeneration, the leading cause of blindness in adults over 50). The new research, published in this month’s American Journal of Clinical Nutrition found that vitamin C was inversely associated with one of the major markers for inflammation in the body- C Reactive Protein –the higher the vitamin C, the lower the inflammation. High fruit intake was related to a 25% reduction in risk as well.
The new research adds more data to the accumulating research showing the benefits of vitamins, minerals, antioxidants, omega-3 fats and healthy eating.
