Pregnancy & Baby Index: Pregnancy - Health and Wellness: Folic acid is especially important for women of childbearing age
Folic acid is especially important for women of childbearing age
Pat Kendall
If you're a woman of childbearing age, you should include folic acid in
your daily routine, either through fortified foods or in supplemental
form.
That's one of the key messages Surgeon General Richard Carmona hopes to
promote this year as part of "The Year of the Healthy Child." Why?
Because folic acid is important for a healthy pregnancy, especially in
the very early stages when cells are rapidly dividing.
Research has shown that, if taken before and during early pregnancy,
folic acid can reduce the risk of serious birth defects of the brain and
spinal cord, called neural tube birth defects, by 70 percent. Because
neural tube defects originate during the first month of pregnancy, often
before many women even know they're pregnant, consuming adequate amounts
of folic acid is necessary before pregnancy occurs. And since 50 percent
of pregnancies in the United States are unplanned, the 2005 Dietary
Guidelines for Americans recommends that all women of childbearing age
consumer adequate synthetic folic acid daily from fortified foods or
supplements, in addition to food forms of folate from a varied diet.
What's adequate? For most women, the recommended level is 400 micrograms
per day. For women with a family history of neural tube defects, 10
times this amount (4 milligrams) is recommended daily. Carmona urges
women at high risk of neural tube defects to get the higher level
through folic acid supplements and to talk with their physician about
steps they can take to keep themselves healthy during pregnancy.
For all other women, the recommended 400 micrograms of folic acid daily
can be achieved either by taking a multivitamin that includes 400
micrograms of folic acid or by eating a bowl of a breakfast cereal
containing 100 percent of the daily value of folic acid per serving.
Total, Product 19, Cheerios Plus, Special K Plus and Smart Start are
some examples.
In addition, it's recommended that all of us eat a healthy diet rich in
natural and fortified sources of folic acid. Fruits, citrus juices,
leafy green vegetables, dry beans, peanuts and whole-grain products are
naturally rich in folic acid. By including these foods as part of your
daily diet, you consume not only folate, but a variety of other
important vitamins, minerals and phytochemicals. "Enriched" cereal grain
products like pasta, rice, bread, flour and cereals have been fortified
to various levels with folic acid. For example, one slice of bread made
with enriched flour contains approximately 25 micrograms of folic acid
(6 percent of the daily value). Check the Nutrition Facts label on your
favorite brand to be sure.
Besides helping to prevent neural tube defects, folic acid plays other
important roles during pregnancy. It helps pregnant women produce the
additional blood cells they need. It's also essential in supporting the
rapid growth of the placenta and fetus. In one study, women with
inadequate folic acid during pregnancy were more likely to have a baby
who was premature and of low birthweight.
It is important to note that cooking and storage can destroy some of the
folate found naturally in foods; therefore, the amount of the vitamin
available for absorption and use by the body varies widely among foods.
On the other hand, the body can absorb nearly 100 percent of the
synthetic form of folic acid. It's for this reason that the new Dietary
Guidelines for Americans and the Surgeon General now recommend that
women of child-bearing age consume synthetic folic acid, either through
a multivitamin or fortified foods, in addition to what they may get from
a varied diet.
