Not all micronutrients are created equal! Studies have found that some supplements have beneficial effects on cardiovascular health

A healthy diet is rich in antioxidants such as amino acids, omega-3 fatty acids, and vitamin C, but the extent to which these micronutrients benefit cardiovascular health has been debated
.
A new meta-analysis now published in the Journal of the American College of Cardiology provides some clarification
.

The researchers systematically reviewed a total of 884 studies to date on micronutrients as dietary supplements and analyzed their data
.
They found several micronutrients that reduced cardiovascular risk, as well as some that had no benefit or even a negative effect
.
More than 883,000 patients participated in the joint study
.

"For the first time, we have developed a comprehensive, evidence-based, comprehensive map to describe and quantify the potential impact of micronutrient supplementation on cardiometabolic outcomes," said
Simin Liu, MD, MD, Professor of Epidemiology and Medicine at Brown University and principal investigator of the study.
"Our study highlights the importance of
micronutrient diversity and balancing health benefits and risks.
"

The findings could serve as the basis for future clinical trials to study specific combinations of micronutrients and their effects
on cardiovascular health, he said.

Antioxidant supplements have long been thought to have a role
in heart health.
This is because these nutrients reduce oxidative stress, which is a cause
of many cardiovascular diseases.
Heart-friendly diets, such as the Mediterranean Diet and the Dietary Method for Controlling High Blood Pressure (DASH), feature
foods that are naturally rich in antioxidants.
However, studies on antioxidant supplements have been inconsistent — one reason
why the method has not been widely adopted in preventive cardiology.

"Research on micronutrient supplementation has focused primarily on the health effects of a single or a few vitamins and minerals, and we decided to take a comprehensive and systematic approach to evaluating all publicly available reports of all micronutrients, including phytochemicals and antioxidant supplements, and their effects
on cardiovascular risk factors and multiple cardiovascular diseases.
"

The researchers looked at randomized controlled intervention trials evaluating 27 different types of antioxidant supplements
.
They found strong evidence of cardiovascular benefits, several of which have cardiovascular benefits
.
These include -3 fatty acids, which can reduce mortality from cardiovascular disease; Folic acid may reduce the risk of stroke; Coenzyme Q10 is an antioxidant, sometimes called CoQ10, that may reduce all-cause mortality
.
Omega-6 fatty acids, L-arginine, L-citrulline, vitamin D, magnesium, zinc, α-lipoic acid, melatonin, catechins, curcumin, flavanols, genistein, and quercetin have also been shown to
reduce cardiovascular risk.

Not all supplements are beneficial
.
Vitamin C, vitamin D, vitamin E and selenium had no effect
on long-term cardiovascular disease prognosis or the risk of type 2 diabetes.
- Carotene supplementation increased all-cause mortality
.

According to the researchers, these findings point to the need for more personalized and precise dietary interventions, including specific combinations of
beneficial supplements.
Further research, including large-scale, high-quality interventional trials, is needed to investigate the long-term health effects
of certain micronutrients.

"Determining the best combination of micronutrients is important because not all micronutrients are beneficial, and some may even have harmful effects," Liu said
.

Journal Reference:

1. Peng An, Sitong Wan, Yongting Luo, Junjie Luo, Xu Zhang, Shuaishuai Zhou, Teng Xu, Jingjing He, Jeffrey I.
   Mechanick, Wen-Chih Wu, Fazheng Ren, Simin Liu.
   Micronutrient Supplementation to Reduce Cardiovascular Risk.
   Journal of the American College of Cardiology, 2022; 80 (24): 2269 DOI: 10.
   1016/j.
   jacc.
   2022.
   09.
   048