A new study conducted in Japan reveals that, adding vitamin B in the diet of a person can reduce the risk of heart diseases. This study has been printed in Stroke, journal of the American Heart Association.

Hiroyasu Iso, M. D., professor of public health at Osaka University suggest that Japanese need to intake diet rich in folate and vitamin B-6 which will curtail the risk of death from stroke and heart diseases in women and shrink the chances of heart failures in men.

The study was conducted by Boffins, taking in to account data from 23,119 men and 35,611 women (ages 40-79) who had participated to fill the food frequency questionnaires in the Japan Collaborative Cohort (JACC) study. The study continued for a period of 14 years, and in the middle of the study it was found that, 986 died from stroke, 424 from heart disease and 2,087 from all diseases related to the cardiovascular system.

Scientists have separated all the participants in five different groups on the basis of their eating diet rich in folate, vitamin B-6 and vitamin B-12. To arrive at conclusion they compare their consumption levels of these nutrients and found that men taking diet rich in folate and vitamin B-6 faced fewer deaths from heart failures and a lot fewer deaths from stroke, heart disease and any other cardiovascular diseases in women.

After reviewing the findings of the study, investigators said that consumption of folate and vitamin B-6 diminishes the levels of homocysteine; an amino acid present in the blood affected by diet and heredity. Intake of folate and vitamin B breakdown homocysteine in the body and thus protect against cardiovascular diseases.