Vitamin C: Supplement May 'Mimic' Exercise In Overweight Adults

For some overweight adults, new research suggests that vitamin C supplements seem to replace exercise. The findings will be presented at the 14th International Conference on Endothelin: Physiology, Pathophysiology and Therapeutics.

A team of researchers at the University of Colorado Boulder found that daily vitamin C supplements worked similarly as regular cardiovascular exercise in overweight and obese adults.

"This is not 'the exercise pill," Caitlin Dow, lead author of the study, said in a news release. "[Vitamins C] certainly isn't a new cure .... It's important to know what other lifestyle changes we can offer people who can't exercise."

The study notes how blood vessels of obese adults show elevated activity of the small vessel-constricting protein endothelin (ET)-1. With high ET-1 activity, the vessels are more prone to constricting and becoming less responsive to blood flow demand, along with an increasing risk of developing vascular disease. Fortunately, exercise has been shown to help reduce ET-1 activity via its incorporation.

In this recent study, researchers analyzed data from 35 people, 15 of whom received a walking treatment. All of the other participants just took the supplements.

Findings revealed that daily supplementation of vitamin C at 500 mg a day reduced ET-1-related vessel constriction by as much as walking did.

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