Fortifying food with vitamin B12 as well as folic acid could reduce heart disease rates.

It's been standard practice to add folic acid to grain foods in the US since 1998 and already the benefits have been seen with a 19 per cent reduction in neural tube defects in babies. But there's another potential benefit - reduction in heart disease.

Low folic acid intakes are linked to a build-up of homocysteine - an amino acid that raises the risk of heart disease. Doctors in Northern Ireland have measured the effect of supplementing with both folic acid and vitamin B12 in a group of 30 men and 23 women. They conclude that fortifying foods with both substances would give better control of homocysteine which could, in turn, lower your risk of heart disease. In the meantime, make sure you get enough by eating plenty of whole grains, leafy green vegetables and citrus fruits - all of which are rich sources of these vitamins.

Source

Lancet January 19 2002