Folic Acid Early Benefits Blood Pressure Health Later

by | May 18, 2012 | 2012, Blood Pressure, Cardiovascular Health, Folic Acid & Folate

Written by Greg Arnold, DC, CSCS. A 20 year study showed that those with the highest 20% of folic acid intake had a 52% reduced risk of getting high blood pressure compared to those with the lowest 20% of folic acid intake.


High blood pressure effects an estimated 50 million Americans (1). It is “a serious condition that can lead to heart disease, heart failure, stroke, kidney failure” (2) and costs our healthcare system an estimated $24 billion each year (3). Dietary changes, managing stress, and increased exercise (4) are some important ways to help maintain a healthy blood pressure.

Now a new study (10) suggests folic acid taken early in the life will help benefit blood pressure later. In the study, 4,400 men and women between the ages of 18 and 30 participating in the Coronary Artery Risk Development in Young Adults study (11) between 1985 and 2005 completed dietary histories and underwent physical exams 6 times (in 1987, 1990, 1992, 1995, 2000, and 2005), including blood pressure readings. After 20 years of follow-up, 989 cases of high blood pressure were diagnosed (having a blood pressure > 140/90 mm Hg). Those with the highest 20% of folic acid intake had a 52% reduced risk of getting high blood pressure compared to those with the lowest 20% of folic acid intake (> 302.3 vs. < 91.8 micrograms/day, p < 0.01). When they looked at race, the blood pressure-lowering effect of folic acid was more beneficial in whites, producing a 67% reduced risk vs. a 46% reduced risk in African-Americans but did not offer any explanations as to these result discrepancies.

They also did not pose an explanation for how folic acid was able to lower blood pressure. Previous research has shown folic acid to help lower levels of an inflammatory protein called homocysteine (12) but the researchers’ data did not show this to be the mechanism that reduced risk in their study.  They also cited research suggesting folic acid to affect nitric oxide levels in blood vessels that can lower blood pressure (13) but the researcher admitted not examining this in their study.

In addition to calling their data “fairly robust”, the researchers concluded that “Higher folate intake in young adulthood was longitudinally associated with a lower incidence of [high blood pressure] later in life.”

Source: Xun, Pengcheng, et al. “Folate intake and incidence of hypertension among American young adults: a 20-y follow-up study.” The American journal of clinical nutrition 95.5 (2012): 1023-1030.

© 2012 American Society for Nutrition

Posted May 18, 2012. 

Greg Arnold is a Chiropractic Physician practicing in Hauppauge, NY.

References:

  1. Cherry DK, Woodwell DA. National Ambulatory Medical Care Survey: 2000 summary. Adv Data. 2002;328:1-32.
  2. “What Is High Blood Pressure?” –  posted on the National Heart, Lung and Blood Institute website.
  3.  “Controlling High Blood Pressure” posted on The National Committee for Quality Assurance website.
  4. “How is High Blood Pressure Treated?” – posted on the National Heart, Lung and Blood Institute website.
  5. Forman JP. Plasma 25-Hydroxyvitamin D Levels and Risk of Incident Hypertension Among Young Women. Hypertension. 2008;52:828-832; published online before print October 6 2008, doi:10.1161/HYPERTENSIONAHA.108.117630.
  6. Rousseau D. Dietary n-3 PUFAs affect the blood pressure rise and cardiac impairments in a hyperinsulinemia rat model in vivo. Am J Physiol Heart Circ Physiol 2003 Sep;285(3):H1294-302.
  7. Whelton, SP. Effect of dietary fiber intake on blood pressure: a meta-analysis of randomized, controlled clinical trials. J Hypertens. 2005 Mar;23(3):475-81.
  8. Juraschek SP.  Effects of vitamin C supplementation on blood pressure: a meta-analysis of randomized controlled trials.  Amer Jou Clin Nutr 2012 – doi: 10.3945/ajcn.111.027995.
  9. Karianna FM.  A.  Protein supplementation lowers blood pressure in overweight adults: effect of dietary proteins on blood pressure (PROPRES), a randomized trial.  Amer Jou Clin Nutr 2012.  First published ahead of print February 22, 2012 as doi: 10.3945/ajcn.111.029116.
  10. Xun P.  Folate intake and incidence of hypertension among American young adults: a 20-y follow-up study. Am J Clin Nutr 2012;95:1023–30.
  11. “CARDIA Study” – posted on the CARDIA website.
  12. Usui M, Matsuoka H, Miyazaki H, Ueda S, Okuda S, Imaizumi T. Endothelial dysfunction by acute hyperhomocyst(e)inaemia: restoration by folic acid. Clin Sci (Lond) 1999;96:235–9.
  13. Moens AL, Vrints CJ, Claeys MJ, Timmermans JP, Champion HC, Kass DA. Mechanisms and potential therapeutic targets for folic acid in cardiovascular disease. Am J Physiol Heart Circ Physiol 2008;294: H1971–7.