January 18, 2005

Take Your Vitamins

Study: Folate Good For Women's Blood Pressure

A vitamin called folic acid, or folate, is known to help prevent birth defects, but new research shows that folate holds another major benefit for all women.

Folic acid is found in orange juice, fruit, green leafy vegetables, beans, breads and cereals.

A study in Tuesday's Journal of the American Medical Association says folate can also lower blood pressure.

Researchers said the results were more dramatic in the younger women.

"Among the younger women, those who consumed more than 1,000 micrograms of folate a day, compared to women who consumed less than 200 micrograms per day, had a 46 percent reduction in their risk of developing high blood pressure," researcher Dr. John Forman said.


Huh. You'd think that my insurance company might relax a little on the cost of my prenatal vitamins, then. They're loaded with folic acid, I continue to have low blood pressure, and yet I get violated every time I go in for a refill. It's nuts...