Vitamin C status of 54-year old eastern Finnish men throughout the year.

We investigated the vitamin C (ascorbic acid) status in 1077 eastern Finnish men aged 54 years of age examined in the "Kuopio Ischaemic Heart Disease Risk Factor Study" in 1984-86. Dietary intake of ascorbic acid had a strong linear correlation to plasma ascorbic acid, and we found a clear seasonal variation in the plasma ascorbic acid levels: the highest values were found in August-September and again in April, and the lowest levels in November-January and in June. A true vitamin C depletion was found in 8.8% of the 1077 men studied, and, in addition, 16.5% had a mild vitamin C deprivation. The decreased plasma levels of this antioxidant vitamin may be associated with elevated blood pressure.