Many people associate heart disease primarily with men, but upwards of 500,000 American women die each year from cardiovascular disease, according to the American Heart Association. That's one in every three deaths. Yet only about half of the women in the U.S. correctly name heart disease as the No. 1 killer of women. While many women work diligently to maintain a healthy weight and eat right --- including taking supplements such as folic acid --- fewer than 50 percent can identify safe blood pressure and cholesterol targets, which are among the most important contributors to heart health.
Folic Acid
Folic acid, also called folate or vitamin B9, is among the micronutrients essential to the maintenance of healthy cells in your body. It helps in the production of red blood cells and DNA. And along with vitamins B12 and C, it aids in the breakdown of old proteins and the manufacture of new ones. While folic acid is an especially important nutrient for pregnant women, as it helps prevent birth defects, research does not support folic acid supplementation for protecting women against heart disease, and in some instances it may even be harmful.
Folic Acid and Heart Disease
In the 1990s, researchers noticed that people who have a high level of an amino acid called homocysteine in their blood were more likely to have heart disease. Folic acid, along with vitamins B12 and B6, is known to reduce levels of homocysteine, so health care professionals recommended fortification of many foods with folate. Up until about 2007, the AHA even suggested folic acid supplementation for patients at risk of heart disease who were not getting adequate dietary folate. At that time, some new studies questioned whether folic acid supplementation was making any difference in preventing heart attacks, so the AHA stopped recommending it. A 2010 study even suggested that some women might be at increased risk of heart attack or stroke with folic acid supplementation.
Dietary Folic Acid
While taking a folic acid supplement may not aid in heart health for women, it's still an important micronutrient. The daily recommended allowance for adults of this B vitamin is 400 mcg. Pregnant women should get 600 mcg per day and women who are nursing, 500 mcg every day, according to the Office of Dietary Supplements of the National Institutes of Health. You can easily meet these dietary goals by eating plenty of leafy green vegetables, citrus fruits and juices and dried beans and peas. Other good sources are fortified grains, including breakfast cereals.
Heart Health for Women
The most important thing you can do for your heart health is to know your blood pressure and cholesterol levels. If you don't, make an appointment with your doctor to discuss them. Other women's heart disease risk factors that you can control are smoking, use of birth control pills, obesity and stress. You can't make yourself younger, but you can eat plenty of fresh fruits and vegetables and exercise 30 minutes each day.
References
- Go Red for Women: Learn the Basics
- American Heart Association; Updated Heart Disease Prevention Guidelines for Women; February 2011
- American Heart Association; Updated Guidelines Advise Focusing on Women's Lifetime Heart Risk; June 2007
- "Newsweek" magazine; Folic Acid Doesn't Cut Heart-Attack Risk; Sharon Begley; June 2010
- Linus Pauling Institute; Folic Acid; September 2007
- "American Journal of Cardiology"; Meta-Analysis of Folic Acid Supplementation Trials on Risk of Cardiovascular Disease and Risk Interaction with Baseline Homocysteine Levels; Miller ER, 3rd, et al.; August 2010
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