Balanced diet helps lower risky homocysteine levels

Dec 12, 2011, 3:06 GMT

Munich - Elevated levels of homocysteine, an amino acid produced by the body in the digestion of protein and considered to be a risk factor for heart attacks and strokes, can be lowered with dietary supplements of B-vitamins and folic acid.

But high doses of the supplements can be harmful to patients with coronary heart disease (CHD), warned Norbert Smetak, chairman of the German Association of Cardiologists in Private Practice.

Smetak advises lowering homocysteine levels by ingesting B-vitamins and folic acid via a balanced diet. Recommended foods include green, leafy vegetables and wholegrain products.

Legumes (for example beans, peas and lentils) are rich in folic acid. Walnuts have a high vitamin B6 content, and there is a lot of vitamin B12 in animal-based foods such as milk and eggs, and also in sauerkraut.

Although elevated homocysteine levels are usually treated in the long term with high doses of vitamin preparations, Smetak said that no study to date had proven that they actually help prevent cardiovascular disease.

He cited an inconclusive trial involving more than 12,000 patients with CHD (a narrowing of the small blood vessels that supply blood and oxygen to the heart) who took high doses of dietary supplements daily for nearly seven years.