Essential nutrition and Folic Acid
It is a B vitamin occurring naturally in many foods, which plays an important role in the manufacture of new cells. Hence it is essential to pregnant mothers as it promotes healthy development of her baby’s brain and spinal cord. Spina Bifida is a devastating disease which is directly attributed to a deficiency in folic acid at fertilization and early weeks of pregnancy. Folic acid should be taken before as well as during pregnancy. As many pregnancies are unplanned, it is advisable for women of child baring age to supplement with folic acid on an ongoing basis. It is often added to bread and breakfast cereals, so check their labels.
Folic acid is good for Mom and Dad too – it is also known to help prevent heart disease, stroke, some cancers and Alzheimer's disease. These foods contain folic acid:
o Lentils
o Asparagus
o Spinach
o Black beans
o Peanuts
o Orange juice
o Romaine lettuce
o Broccoli
How much folic acid should you take?
Folic acid has no known toxic level. If you ate a bowl of fully fortified cereal (400 micrograms), took a folic acid supplement (400 micrograms), and ate fortified foods and foods rich in folate, you would not get too much folic acid. Even in very high amounts, folic acid is non-toxic
o Child-bearing age 400mcg per day
o During pregnancy 500mcg per day
o Breastfeeding 600mcg per day
o If you have had a baby with Spina Bifida your doctor would have said should you want another child to ask for a prescription for a higher dose of 4,000 mcg starting three months before falling pregnant and during the first 3 months of pregnancy
o Folic acid plays an important part in everyone’s health, so for safety sake, check labeling of all your processed foods, and eat a healthy diet which include the foods above
More Information:
Center for Food Safety and Applied Nutrition
Women's Health
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