Folic Acid for Prevention of Birth Defects
We all know a popular saying that a pregnant woman is eating for two. The latest research has proved that actually that a woman should be eating for two before she becomes pregnant. Certainly it is all about quality, not quantity of the foods taken in.
The studies have proved that many aspects of the fetus’s normal development depend greatly on the mother’s nutrition before pregnancy, one of the most crucial links being that between the future mother’s intake of folic acid and neural-tube birth defects in her child.
According to research, the risk of neural-tube birth defects can be substantially decreased by eating a healthier diet and increasing their intake of folic acid. By the way, this treatment can be followed before and during pregnancy.
Undoubtedly, a woman’s diet and lifestyle during pregnancy greatly affect the likelihood of having a healthy baby, too. Adequate weight gain during pregnancy is vital for reducing the chance of having a low-birth-weight infant, and avoiding toxic substances (alcohol, tobacco, marijuana, and other illegal drugs), and some legal medications during pregnancy also increases the chances of delivering a healthy baby.
Studies have shown that by getting enough of the folic acid in the month before conception and during the first several weeks of pregnancy, a woman can help prevent neural-tube defects (or NTDs) in her baby. NTDs are proved to be the only birth defects to be so directly linked to the mother’s nutritional status. Unfortunately, pregnant women usually start taking prenatal supplements that provide folic acid when it makes no sense as all NTDs occur in the first four weeks after conception. After that, spinal-cord development is complete.
So, it’s clear: Any woman who might become pregnant should get plenty of folic acid through foods and supplements. Indeed, the U.S. Public Health Service recommends that any woman capable of becoming pregnant consume 0.4 milligram (400 micrograms) of folic acid a day.
Besides multivitamins or prenatal vitamins, food sources of folic acid include fortified breads, cereals, rice, pasta, and other grain foods. Good food sources of folate include leafy green vegetables (romaine, endive lettuce and mustard greens), broccoli, legumes (dried beans and peas and lentils), and orange juice. The Food and Drug Administration (FDA) now mandates that manufacturers add folic acid to enriched grain products (breads, flour, cereals, crackers, cornmeal, rice, pasta), just as they add other B vitamins and iron. Some breakfast cereals are fortified with the full 400 micrograms of folic acid per serving.
It should be mentioned, that folate is in fact the naturally occurring form of B vitamin; folic acid is the synthetic form found in supplements and fortified foods. Folic acid is more easily absorbed by the body. Since your body requires B vitamin in either form for proper protein metabolism, for cell division, and to make the red blood cells that carry life-giving oxygen throughout your body, it’s vitally important for men, women, and children to get plenty of folate from their diet.