Folic acid comes up a lot in my patient consultations; people are often unsure if they need to take supplements, and why it might be important, so this month I’m sharing the information I give to them to help you understand the benefits.
What is Folic Acid? Folic Acid is a man-made version of vitamin B9 – or Folate that is found in a variety of foods, such as green vegetables, including spinach, kale and broccoli, legumes, oranges, yeast and beef extracts, wheat bran and other wholegrain foods.
Folic acid is added to some common foods to ‘fortify’ them, so look out for it on the ingredients list of many breakfast cereals and breads. It was first isolated and extracted from spinach leaves in 1941.
What are its benefits? It’s the vitamin that helps your body make healthy red blood cells and in pregnancy it can help to prevent neural tube defects (NTDs) in the developing embryo.
The neural tube is what will develop into your baby’s brain and spine, so if it fails to close completely while your baby is developing, it can result in defects such as ‘spina bifida’ when a baby’s spine and spinal cord do not develop properly in the womb, or ‘anencephaly’ when a baby is born with a major part of the brain, skull and scalp missing.
Low intake of folate or folic acid during early pregnancy has been linked to an increased risk of cleft lip and palate too.
I eat healthily, do I really need folic acid supplements? It’s a very delicate nutrient that can easily be destroyed by light, heat, cooking, and storage, making low levels in the body more likely. It can also be depleted by stress, alcohol, and some medication so I always recommend to my patients to take a daily supplement of folic acid. However, of course try to eat as many folate-rich foods as you can.
Pregnant and breastfeeding women, people with chronic gastrointestinal tract conditions, people with restricted diets due to medical conditions or weight loss regimes and those with alcohol dependence are all more likely to be folate deficient.
How much should I take? Non-pregnant women need 200mcg of folate per day. Expectant women are advised to take at least 400mcg per day. You can buy it in pharmacies, supermarkets, and health food stores.
When do I need to start taking it? Ideally you should start taking folic acid around 12 weeks before conception, but if you’ve just found out you’re pregnant, I recommend that you begin taking it as soon as possible.
At the same time, it’s worth considering other vitamins and mineral supplements, such as D, C, B6 and B12. Folic acid works well specially with B6 and B12 to reduce levels of homocysteine (an amino acid found in the blood), increased levels of which are linked to dementia, heart disease, stroke, and osteoporosis as well as an increased risk of miscarriage.
Professor Luciano Nardo is a board-certified obstetrician, gynaecologist and expert in reproductive medicine and surgery – and Founder & CEO of NOW-fertility.com