Folic acid is a vitamin that cells in your body needs for healthy growth and development. If you take it before pregnancy and during your early pregnancy, it can help protect your baby from birth defects of the mouth including. cleft lip and palate and NTDs.
NTDs are birth defects of the spine, brain and spinal cord. This defect affects around 3,000 pregnancies every year in America. If all women take at least 400 micrograms of folic acid daily before getting pregnant and during early pregnancy, it can help prevent up to 7 in 10 NTDs.
How can you get folic acid?
You can get folic acid through supplements, through foods that you eat or you can get them from both. But it is difficult to get all the folic acid that you need from food alone. Even if you eat foods that have folic acid in them, it is best to take vitamin supplements every day too.
A supplement is a product that you take to make up for nutrients that you do not get enough of in the foods that you eat. Folic acid supplements can be a multivitamin. Multivitamins are pills that have a lot of vitamins and other nutrients that can help your body stay healthy.
You can also take prenatal vitamins, they are multivitamins that are made for pregnant women. Your health care provider may give you a prescription for prenatal vitamins or you can get them over the counter without any prescription. You can also take supplements that only contain folic acid.
How can you get folic acid from food?
You can get folic acid from foods that have folic acid added to them. You can search for the terms enriched or fortified on labels on foods like breakfast cereals, pasta, and bread. There are some vegetables and fruits that are good sources of folic acid too. When folic acid is naturally in food, it is called folate. Foods that are good sources of folate are leafy green vegetables, beans, orange juice, and broccoli.
The CDC or the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention suggested blending 1/2 cup mango, 1 small banana, 1/2 cup pineapple, 3/4 cup orange juice and ice in a blender for a healthy boost of folate.
How much folic acid do you need?
Since almost half of all pregnancies in America are unplanned, all women who can get pregnant should take folic acid daily. Before pregnancy, it is best to take a vitamin supplement with 400 mcg of folic acid daily. You can start taking 400 mcg of folic acid every day at least 1 month before pregnancy through the first 12 weeks of pregnancy.
During pregnancy, you can take a prenatal vitamin every day that has 600 mcg of folic acid in it. Keep in mind that folic acid only works to prevent NTDs before pregnancy and during the first few weeks of pregnancy. Later in pregnancy, you need 600 mcg of folic acid every day to help your baby grow and develop. If you are at high risk of having a baby with an NTD, you need to talk to your provider about taking a higher amount of folic acid.
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