Analysis of data from the long-running U.S. Nurses’ Health Studies indicates that higher folic acid intake in women is associated with decreased risk for development of hypertension, according to an article in the January 19th issue of the Journal of the American Medical Association.

John P. Forman, MD, of Brigham and Women’s Hospital and Harvard Medical School, Boston and colleagues analyzed data from two studies (93,803 younger women aged 27 to 44 years in the Nurses’ Health Study II [1991-1999] and 62,260 older women aged 43 to 70 years in the Nurses’ Health Study I [1990-1998]). The participants did not have a history of hypertension. Baseline information on dietary folate and supplemental folic acid intake was derived from food frequency questionnaires and was updated every four years.

The researchers found that younger women who consumed at least 1,000 micrograms a day of total folate (dietary plus supplemental) had a 46-percent decreased risk of hypertension compared with those who consumed less than 200 micrograms a day of total folate. Older women with high total folate intake had an 18-percent reduced risk of hypertension.