The following is a summary of “Micronutrient Supplementation to Reduce Cardiovascular Risk,” published in the December 2022 issue of Cardiology by An, et al.
Micronutrients are abundant in healthy eating habits, but their impact on cardiovascular disease (CVD) risk has not been rigorously measured. For a study, researchers sought to offer a thorough and current evidence-based map that systematically assessed the effect of micronutrients on the outcomes of CVD.
The comprehensive review and meta-analysis of micronutrient randomized controlled intervention studies on CVD risk variables and clinical events made up this study.
There were 884 randomized controlled intervention studies, including a total of 883,627 subjects (4,895,544 person-years) examining 27 different types of micronutrients. Supplementing with n-3 and n-6 fatty acids, l-arginine, l-citrulline, folic acid, vitamin D, magnesium, zinc, α-lipoic acid, coenzyme Q10, melatonin, catechin, curcumin, flavanol, genistein, and quercetin reduced CVD risk variables according to moderate- to high-quality evidence. Supplementing with n-3 fatty acids specifically reduced the risk of coronary heart disease events (RR: 0.86; 95% CI: 0.80-0.93), myocardial infarction (RR: 0.85; 95% CI: 0.78-0.92), and CVD mortality (RR: 0.93; 95% CI: 0.88-0.97). The incidence of stroke decreased with folic acid intake (RR: 0.84; 95% CI: 0.72-0.97), and the risk of all-cause mortality events decreased with coenzyme Q10 supplementation (RR: 0.68; 95% CI: 0.49-0.94). The incidence of CVD or type 2 diabetes was unaffected by vitamins C, D, E, and selenium. Supplementing with β-carotene increased the risk of stroke (RR: 1.09; 95% CI: 1.01-1.17), CVD mortality events (RR: 1.12; 95% CI: 1.06-1.18), and all-cause mortality (RR: 1.10; 1.05-1.15).
Cardiometabolic health may be improved by supplementing some micronutrients but not all of them.
Reference: jacc.org/doi/10.1016/j.jacc.2022.09.048
