Ferulic acid: a natural remedy for heart spasms?
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Heart health often evokes thoughts of exercise, diet, and maybe a daily aspirin. But tucked away in plants like rice bran, apples, wheat, and even your morning coffee is a natural compound that scientists are now studying for its ability to relax blood vessels: ferulic acid.
A team of researchers from Toho University in Chiba, Japan, published a study in the [Journal of Pharmacological Sciences] where they explored how ferulic acid affects the heart’s arteries. Kento Yoshioka, Keisuke Obara, Yoshio Tanaka and their colleagues tried to answer a big question: can this humble plant molecule help prevent dangerous spasms in coronary arteries, the very blood vessels that supply oxygen to the heart?
Let's use an analogy to understand the problem. Imagine you’re watering a garden with a hose. If someone suddenly squeezes the hose, the water flow stops. That’s essentially what happens during a coronary artery spasm: the artery tightens so much that blood struggles to reach the heart muscle. This can trigger chest pain (angina), irregular heartbeats, or even a heart attack.
Doctors already use drugs called **calcium channel blockers** (like diltiazem or verapamil) to relax arteries and prevent these spasms. These medicines work by blocking calcium from entering smooth muscle cells, which keeps the muscles from contracting too tightly. But not everyone responds to these drugs, and they can sometimes cause side effects. That’s why scientists are always looking for safer, gentler options.
Ferulic acid (FA) is a polyphenol, a type of antioxidant compound plants produce for protection. It’s part of the reason whole grains and fruits are considered so good for us. Past research has linked FA to reduced inflammation, lower blood pressure, and even potential benefits against Alzheimer’s disease. But its role in heart artery relaxation wasn’t fully understood.
The Toho University team used pig coronary arteries for their experiments. Why pigs? Because their heart arteries are remarkably similar to ours in structure and function, making them a trusted model in cardiovascular research. The researchers exposed strips of pig coronary arteries to substances known to trigger spasms, things like potassium chloride (KCl), acetylcholine, serotonin, histamine, and endothelin-1. Then they added ferulic acid and watched what happened.
They found that **ferulic acid consistently relaxed the arteries**, reducing their contractions in a dose-dependent way. Against certain triggers (like acetylcholine, serotonin, and endothelin-1), FA actually worked **better than diltiazem**, a widely used prescription calcium channel blocker. FA wasn’t just blocking calcium from entering the cells. It also appeared to interfere with **another contraction pathway inside the muscle cells**, one involving a protein called **myosin light chain (MLC)**. When MLC is phosphorylated (chemically switched on), it drives contraction. FA dampened this process, offering a “two-pronged” approach to preventing spasms. In short: ferulic acid helps arteries relax both by blocking calcium’s entry and by dialing down the machinery that tells muscles to contract in the first place.
Diltiazem and similar drugs mainly work through calcium channel blockade. But coronary artery spasms can still sneak through other cellular routes. By hitting both calcium-dependent and calcium-independent mechanisms, ferulic acid may offer broader protection.
In fact, the study found FA was especially powerful against endothelin-1, a potent natural chemical in the body known to cause stubborn artery spasms that don’t always respond well to conventional drugs.
Now, before you start brewing extra cups of coffee for your heart, here’s an important caveat: the effective doses in the lab were much higher than what you’d normally get from food. For example after eating a slice of bread made with whole wheat, the concentration of ferulic acid in human blood might reach only about **0.000003 moles per liter**. Drinking coffee boosts it a little higher, but still not close to the concentrations (between **0.0003 and 0.003 moles per liter**) that showed strong artery-relaxing effects in the study. However, taking a ferulic acid supplement, typically 100–500 mg, can push blood levels into the **0.00001 mole per liter** range, which might just be enough to matter.
Interestingly, this is not so far off from the blood levels of prescription diltiazem after a normal dose. That suggests that, at least in theory, supplement forms of ferulic acid could have meaningful cardiovascular effects.
One encouraging note: unlike many pharmaceuticals, ferulic acid hasn’t been linked to major side effects. In fact, in one clinical trial, participants took 1,000 mg of FA per day for six weeks without problems, and actually saw improvements in cholesterol and inflammation. That doesn’t mean it’s ready to replace prescription drugs, but it does suggest a good safety profile.
This research highlights a promising trend: looking to natural compounds in our diets as sources of future medicines. Aspirin came from willow bark. Statins, the cholesterol-lowering drugs, were discovered from fungi. Now, scientists are exploring whether everyday plant molecules like ferulic acid could play a role in preventing some of our most feared diseases. The Toho University team’s study opens the door to new possibilities and questions. Could ferulic acid be developed into a safe, plant-based therapy for patients who don’t respond well to current drugs? Could combining ferulic acid with existing medications improve outcomes? Or could we one day design new drugs inspired by ferulic acid’s structure but fine-tuned for maximum effect?
### So, should you load up on ferulic acid?
Ferulic acid seems to act like a natural two-in-one relaxant for heart arteries. But for now, the best advice is the old advice: eat a balanced diet rich in whole grains, fruits, and vegetables. Those foods naturally contain ferulic acid, along with many other helpful plant compounds. While supplements exist, more human trials are needed before doctors can recommend them specifically for heart spasms. Still, this study adds to the growing evidence that what we eat doesn’t just fuel our bodies, it may also help calm our arteries and protect our hearts in ways science is only beginning to uncover. And that’s an idea worth brewing over your next cup of coffee.
If you want to learn more, read the original article titled "Inhibitory effects of ferulic acid on the contraction responses of porcine coronary arteries: a comparison with diltiazem" on [Journal of Pharmacological Sciences] at .
[Journal of Pharmacological Sciences]: http://dx.doi.org/10.1016/j.jphs.2025.04.006