Researchers at Holstebro Hospital in Denmark gave these supplements to a group of 112 high blood pressure patients for 20 weeks and found that they were as effective as prescribed medicine in reducing their blood pressure.
Dr Thomas Larsen, who led the study, said: "Probably the majority of Europeans have vitamin D deficiency, and many of these will also have high blood pressure."
"What our results suggest is that hypertensive patients can benefit from vitamin D supplementation if they have vitamin D insufficiency. Dr Larsen was quoted as saying by the Daily Telegraph.
"Vitamin D would not be a cure for hypertension in these patients, but it may help, especially in the winter months. However, it's important to stress that this was a small study, and that larger studies are needed to provide solid evidence."
In the study, which was presented at the European Society of Hypertension conference in London, 92 of the patients were found to have low levels of vitamin D at the beginning.
The researchers found that those patients taking the vitamin D supplement showed a significant reduction in central systolic blood pressure, measured at the aorta, near the heart, when compared to the placebo group.
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The systolic blood pressure, the first number expressed in a blood pressure reading, was reduced by 6.8 mmHg, diastolic blood pressure was reduced by 1.7mmHg.
Professor Anna Dominiczak, vice-president of the European Society of Hypertension and University of Glasgow, said: "The effects of vitamin D supplements was as powerful as tablets in trials. These results show a significant reduction in Central Systolic Blood Pressure in patients taking the vitamin D supplement for 20 weeks, when compared to the placebo group.
"This is an initial study, so it needs to be confirmed, but it is potentially interesting as part of an overall strategy for managing hypertension in patients with low levels of vitamin D." PTI SKP AKJ