According to a new study, folic acid could help prevent strokes, especially in those people, who have high blood pressure. The study has been published in the Journal of the American Medical Association. It was conducted on 20,000 Chinese adults, who were suffering from high blood pressure.

It was found by the researchers in a 4.5-year period that the patients, who were given folic acid supplements together with the anti-hypertension drug enalapril had less chances of having a stroke compared to those who took the medication alone.

Additionally, the cardiovascular benefits of folic acid were also recorded. Pills could be taken to get more folates, but citrus fruits, green leafy vegetables and beans; grain-based foods like rice, pasta and cornmeal are also good sources of folates.

“Fruits and vegetables are important sources of folate in the diet, and they also bring lots of other benefits, such as potassium and phytonutrients, that also help lower cardiovascular disease”, said Dr. Walter Willett, professor of epidemiology and nutrition at Harvard T.H. Chan School of Public Health, via the Harvard Health Blog.

Most of the food items in the US, including wheat flour are rich in folate. According to researchers, people should make sure that they get their vitamins and minerals, together with folates, from whole fruits and vegetables and whole grains.

According to the researchers, the population without folic acid fortification was found to be varying in plasma folate levels and participants with lower folate levels were found to get more benefit. They also said that more efforts could be made to reduce stroke cases in the countries with a widespread use of folic acid supplements with use of more targeted folic acid therapy.