High blood pressure can be dangerous during pregnancy, and some small studies had proposed that vitamins C and E might reduce these risks, but according to a new study, Vitamin C and E supplements don’t lower the risk of developing high blood pressure problems linked to pregnancy!
High blood pressure during pregnancy can harm the mother’s kidneys and other organs, and it can cause premature babies and low birth weight. In serious cases, the mother can get a condition called preeclampsia, which can threaten the lives of both the mother and her unborn child.
Many pregnant moms take Vitamin C and E to lower their blood pressure, but does it really work? To take a closer look, researchers conducted an experiment that enrolled over 10,000 generally healthy pregnant women. The women received either a sugar pill or daily supplements of vitamins C and E with about 10 times the amount in typical prenatal vitamins and the women continued with any pregnancy vitamins they were already taking. Not only did the supplements failed to reduce the risk of pregnancy-related high blood pressure, they also seemed to have no effect on preeclampsia or other hypertension-related problems, including stress on the kidneys, miscarriage, an underweight baby or preterm delivery. 0
“The study results effectively rule out vitamin C and E supplements as a means to prevent the hypertensive disorders seen in pregnancy,” says Dr. Alan E. Guttmacher.