A study just published in the Journal of The American Medical Association showed that giving folic acid to patients taking medication for high blood pressure significantly reduced the risk of having a stroke. In this placebo controlled double blind study the participants took either the medication enalapril alone or were given folic acid along with enalapril. The study was done in China where stroke is the leading cause of death and monitored 2,194 patients between 2008 and 2013. The participants in the study were between the ages of 45 and 75 years old with the diagnosis of high blood pressure. None of the participants had ever suffered a stroke, as this study was done to assess prevention of a first stroke, and not prevention of recurrence in those who had already had a stroke.
The study data revealed that those who were given folic acid had a lower incidence of stroke during the follow up period which averaged four and a half years.
The foods highest in folate content are lentils, asparagus, spinach, various beans, brocolli, beets, papaya, strawberry and tomato.
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