Green leafies seem better everyday.

In a new study, an international team of heart experts at Johns Hopkins and elsewhere report that rats fed 10 milligrams daily of folate, also known as folic acid or vitamin B9, for a week prior to heart attack had smaller infarcts than rats who took no supplements. On average, researchers say, the amount of muscle tissue exposed to damage and scarred by the arterial blockage was shrunk to less than a tenth. The team's findings, set for publication in the April 8 edition of the journal Circulation, come just weeks after other international studies in humans suggested that low-dose folic acid supplements may prevent dementia in the elderly and premature births.
While people are not rats, study after study has shown that folic acid, found in green leafy vegetables, is one of the few consistent findings about the human diet. Further, this naturally occurring dietary supplement continues to show its value not only during the perinatal period but throughout life. Broccoli and other greens really are worth eating.