Table 1.
Baseline characteristics of participants over 40 years old in the SUN cohort by tertiles of total vitamin C intake. Numbers are means (SD) or percentages.
| Baseline Characteristics | Tertiles of Vitamin C Intake | ||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Q1 | Q2 | Q3 | p | ||
| N | 4474 | 4474 | 4473 | ||
| Vitamin C intake (mg/day) | 148 (44.2) | 257 (33.0) | 445 (114) | <0.001 | |
| Fiber intake (g/day) | 23.0 (10.0) | 27.8 (9.8) | 38.3 (14.1) | <0.001 | |
| Vittamin C range (mg/day) | 0–205 | 206–319 | 320–1110 | ||
| Vittamin C from supplements (mg/day) | 0.56 (4.2) | 2.0 (10.0) | 9.6 (33.4) | <0.001 | |
| Sex (female) | 41.6 | 55.8 | 67.9 | <0.001 | |
| Age (years) | 41.2 (10.3) | 42.8 (10.7) | 43.7 (10.8) | <0.001 | |
| BMI (kg/m2) | 24.3 (3.6) | 24.1 (3.5) | 23.8 (3.5) | <0.001 | |
| Mediterranean Dietary Score § | <0.001 | ||||
| Low (0–2 points) | 39.0 | 29.6 | 21.4 | ||
| Medium (3–4 points) | 47.3 | 50.9 | 51.1 | ||
| High (5–7 points) | 13.7 | 19.5 | 27.5 | ||
| Energy intake (kcal/day) | 2548 (804) | 2346 (710) | 2530 (755) | 0.26 | |
| Physical activity (MET-h/week) | 23.4 (20.6) | 25.8 (21.6) | 29.2 (25.3) | <0.001 | |
| Television time (h/week) | 1.63 (1.1) | 1.57 (1.1) | 1.51 (1.1) | <0.001 | |
| Family history of myocardial infarction | 15.8 | 18.3 | 17.1 | 0.09 | |
| Smoking | 0.03 | ||||
| Never | 43 | 44 | 44 | ||
| Current | 29 | 23 | 22 | ||
| Former | 28 | 33 | 34 | ||
| Prevalent diseases | |||||
| Cancer | 3.7 | 4.6 | 5.6 | <0.001 | |
| Coronary heart disease | 0.38 | 0.47 | 0.27 | 0.39 | |
| Tachycardia | 1.9 | 1.6 | 2.3 | 0.12 | |
| Atrial fibrillation | 0.65 | 0.72 | 0.69 | 0.80 | |
| Aortic aneurism | 0.25 | 0.11 | 0.02 | 0.01 | |
| Heart failure | 0.42 | 0.56 | 0.38 | 0.75 | |
| Pulmonary embolism | 0.13 | 0.09 | 0.11 | 0.75 | |
| Venous thrombosis | 0.51 | 0.92 | 0.92 | 0.03 | |
| Claudication | 0.31 | 0.31 | 0.56 | 0.07 | |
| Diabetes | 1.4 | 2.2 | 3.0 | <0.001 | |
| Hypertension | 9.7 | 11.3 | 10.9 | 0.07 | |
| Hypercholesterolemia | 20.0 | 21.9 | 20.7 | 0.42 | |
| Hypertriglyceridemia | 8.5 | 8.9 | 7.3 | 0.04 | |
| Drugs | |||||
| Digoxin | 0.11 | 0.13 | 0.13 | 0.77 | |
| Diuretics | 1.0 | 1.6 | 1.7 | 0.01 | |
| Beta blockers | 1.7 | 2.3 | 1.9 | 0.40 | |
| Calcium antagonists | 0.40 | 0.45 | 0.63 | 0.13 | |
| Nitrite | 0.13 | 0.11 | 0.18 | 0.57 | |
| Antihypertensives | 2.8 | 4.1 | 3.7 | 0.03 | |
| Aspirin | 3.4 | 5.2 | 4.9 | 0.001 | |
| Other CV treatment drug | 5.2 | 6.9 | 6.6 | 0.01 | |
§ Mediterranean Diet Score without the fruit- and vegetable-related items. N = 13,421.