Folate, vitamin B 6, and vitamin B 12 intakes are negatively associated with the prevalence of hypertension: A national population-based study

We hypothesized that the prevalence of hypertension is related to B-vitamin intake in the general population, but it has not been sufficiently studied. This study aimed to investi-gate the intakes of dietary folate, vitamin B 6 , and vitamin B 12 concerning hypertension in US adults. A total of 55 569 adults from National Health and Nutrition Examination Survey III and 1999-2014 were included in this study. Nutrient intake was collected from subjects through one or two 24-hour dietary reviews. Multiple logistic regression models were used to examine the relationship between these nutrient intakes and hypertension. Among male participants, dietary folate, vitamin B 6 , and vitamin B 12 intakes were significantly and neg-atively associated with the prevalence of hypertension, with multivariate-adjusted odds ra-tios (ORs) of 0.61 (95% confidence interval [CI], 0.55-0.68), 0.65 (95% CI, 0.59-0.72), and 0.84 (95% CI, 0.75-0.95) for the highest quartile group compared with the lowest group. Results were similar for female participants, with multivariate-adjusted ORs of 0.63 (95% CI, 0.57- 0.71), 0.60 (95% CI, 0.53-0.66), and 0.87 (95% CI, 0.77-0.98) for the highest quartile group. More-over, there was a linear trend (Ptrend < .001) in both men and women that the prevalence of hypertension tended to decrease with increased intake of folate, vitamin B 6 , and vitamin B 12 ; however, the decreases above the third quartile were negligible. Dietary folate, vitamin B 6 , and vitamin B 12 were significantly associated negatively with hypertension, indicating that these nutrients might have a protective effect against hypertension in United States adults.(c) 2023 Published by Elsevier Inc.

Automated summary

This study investigated the relationship between dietary folate, vitamin B6, and vitamin B12 intake and hypertension in US adults. The results showed a negative association between dietary intake of these nutrients and the prevalence of hypertension in both male and female participants. Moreover, there was a linear trend indicating that higher intake of folate, vitamin B6, and vitamin B12 was associated with a lower prevalence of hypertension.