Folic acid on the other hand is. Why is folic acid important.
15 Healthy Foods That Are High In Folate Folic Acid
It protects against NTDs.
How to get folic acid. Folic acid is found in some vitamins and foods like breakfast cereal or bread that have folic acid added. Women need an extra 400 micrograms of it in early pregnancy. You can get 400 mcg of folic acid each day by taking a vitamin with folic acid in it eating fortified foods or a combination of the two in addition to consuming a balanced diet rich in natural food folate.
Folic acid helps your body produce and maintain new cells and also helps prevent changes to DNA that may lead to cancer. You might not be eating enough foods like leafy green vegetables beans citrus fruits or whole grains. Folic acid is a type of B vitamin that is normally found in foods such as dried beans peas lentils oranges whole-wheat products liver asparagus beets broccoli brussels sprouts and spinach.
How to get enough folic acid In addition to eating foods with folate from a varied diet women can get folic acid from. A common NTD is Spina. Breakfast cereals and flour products like bread pasta and rice can also be enriched with folic acid the synthetic form of folate found in supplements or fortified foods just double check the.
In general the body processes folate better than folic acid so its best to try to get your daily B-9 recommendation from folate-rich foods like leafy greens enriched grains and pulses. Lentils black-eyed peas and pinto beans have naturally high folic acid values as great as 90 percent per 1 cup. Prenatal vitamins are important for preventing birth defects.
Beef liver cooked spinach and orange juice all contribute more than 20 percent daily value of folic acid per serving and romaine lettuce raspberries. You dont eat enough foods that contain folic acid. Neural tube defects NTDs occur when part of the babys brain or spine doesnt develop properly.
The dosage amount of the folic acid supplementation is also critical as a dosage that is too low or too high will not be beneficial. Folic acid in its synthetic form is added in several fortified food products such as citrus fruit juices breakfast cereals and in bread. Sometimes supplementary folic acid may be required.
You can focus on adequate consumption of B Vitamins from your diet or switch to Vitamin B12 B6 and Folic acid supplements. If you are pregnant or planning to conceive you must take the necessary steps to increase your folic acid levels. Overview All women who are able to get pregnant or planning to get pregnant need 400 micrograms mcg of folic acid every day.
Normally eating fortified food with folic acid is enough to meet the daily requirement in most of the people having folic acid deficiency. Why we need more folic acid. Folate is found in a number of plant and animal foods including spinach kale broccoli avocado citrus fruits eggs and beef liver.
This is the case for most people. Since its impossible to get this amount from dietary sources its important to take a supplement. A daily supplementation of at least 400μg folic acid from either health supplements or daily diet is associated with a lower risk of autism spectrum disorders ASD researchers from Harbin Medical University and Guangzhou Medical University wrote in the.
