VITAMIN D pills could help reduce your risk of heart attacks, a study shows.
The tablets reduced the risk of major cardiovascular events, according to Australian researchers.
In the largest trial of its kind, they tracked more than 21,000 adults aged 60 to 84 to see how taking the supplement affected their chance of a heart health scare.
Professor Rachel Neale, of QIMR Berghofer Medical Research Institute, said: “Vitamin D supplementation might reduce the incidence of major cardiovascular events.
“This protective effect could be more marked in those taking statins or other cardiovascular drugs.”
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Vitamin D pills can be bought for as little as £4 for 90 — working out at around 4p per pill.
The NHS recommends most people take a daily dose of 10 micrograms of vitamin D during the autumn and winter.
From late March to the end of September, most people are able to get enough of the nutrient from the sun.
But in darker months, food sources like oily fish, red meat, liver, egg yolks and fortified foods may not be enough to get how much you need.
Around 100,000 Brits are hospitalised by a heart attack every year, according to the British Heart Foundation.
Previous research has shown having low levels of vitamin D can increase your risk of heart disease.
The latest study, published in the BMJ, looked at whether supplementing could reduce the chances of suffering a cardiovascular event.
Half the volunteers were given a monthly 60,000 IU tablet of vitamin D, while the other half got a placebo from 2014 to 2020.
Researchers tracked their medical records to see if they were admitted to hospital or died from a major heart event.
Events were around 9 per cent lower in the vitamin D group, with heart attacks 19 per cent less likely.
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Researchers said further research is needed to prove the effect of the supplements and see if they are as effective in people of different ages.
Dr Neale said: “In the meantime, these findings suggest that conclusions that vitamin D supplementation does not alter risk of cardiovascular disease are premature.”