Is folic acid a part of your nutritious breakfast? If you had a bowl of cereal this morning, it probably was.
It’s Folic Acid Awareness Week.
However, it is particularly important for women of child-bearing age because it prevents birth and neural tube defects, like spina bifida, in babies.
For folic acid to help prevent some major birth defects, a woman needs to start taking it at least one month before she becomes pregnant and while she is pregnant. Because half of the pregnancies in the U.S. are unplanned, The March of Dimes urges women ages 15-45 to consume 400 mg of folic acid each day whether they are planning to have a baby or not. Folic acid fortification in all enriched grain products was required in the United States in 1998. Researchers at the CDC estimate mandatory folic acid fortification of cereal grain products has helped about 1,300 U.S. babies to be born without a neural tube defect each year. These birth defects could be further reduced if women also took a multi-vitamin with 400 mg of folic acid each day.
Even if you are not having a baby, folic acid helps you make new cells every day too: for healthy skin, nails and hair. More study is needed, but some research indicates it can also help fight heart disease, strokes, Alzheimer’s and depression.
Brooke Hildebrand Clubbs is the Director of Health Communication at Southeast Missouri State University.
Websites:
http://www.cdc.gov/ncbddd/folicacid/features/folicacid-prevents-ntds.html
http://www.nbdpn.org/faaw2015.php
http://www.marchofdimes.org/pregnancy/take-folic-acid-before-youre-pregnant.aspx
http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC1123448/
http://www.webmd.com/heart-disease/news/20021122/folic-acid-for-your-heart
