Bleeding gums may indicate vitamin C deficiency

If your gums bleed, make sure to improve your intake of vitamin C to reverse the problem, a new study suggests.

The study, published in the journal Nutrition Reviews, shows that bleeding of the gums on gentle probing, or gingival bleeding tendency and also bleeding in the eye, or retinal haemorrhaging, were associated with low vitamin C levels in the bloodstream.

"When you see your gums bleed, the first thing you should think about is not, I should brush more. You should try to figure out why your gums are bleeding. And vitamin C deficiency is one possible reason," said lead author Philippe Hujoel from the University of Washington in the US. The results showed that bleeding of the gums on gentle probing, or gingival bleeding tendency, and also bleeding in the eye, or retinal haemorrhaging, were associated with low vitamin C levels in the bloodstream.

And, the researchers found that increasing daily intake of vitamin C in those people with low vitamin C plasma levels helped to reverse these bleeding issues.