There are also many pregnancy-specific products on the market that have been fortified with folic acid. Some of these are at levels that meet or exceed the RDA for folate. Women should be careful about including a high amount of these products in their diets along with their prenatal multivitamin.
Taking more is not needed and does not provide any added benefit. The tolerable upper intake level for folic acid is micrograms mcg a day.
This limit is based on folic acid that comes from supplements and fortified foods. It does not refer to the folate found naturally in foods. Folic acid does not cause harm when used at recommended levels. Folic acid dissolves in water. This means that it is regularly removed from the body through urine, so excess amounts do not build up in the body. You should not get more than mcg per day of folic acid.
Using higher levels of folic acid can mask vitamin B12 deficiency. The best way to get the daily requirement of essential vitamins is to eat a wide variety of foods.
Most people in the United States get enough folic acid in their diet because there is plenty of it in the food supply. Folic acid can help reduce the risk for certain birth defects, such as spina bifida and anencephaly. For this reason, many experts recommend supplementing with 5-methyltetrahydrofolate over folic acid. Folic acid and folate are two forms of vitamin B9.
However, they do not have the same effects on your health. MTHFR is a gene everyone has. Some mutations of the MTHFR gene may be associated with health problems and complications in pregnancy.
Learn about…. Folate is responsible for healthy cell growth. But is there any evidence that folic acid is a hair-growth treatment?
This article examines the benefits of B-complex vitamins, as well as dosage and…. Folate, also known as vitamin B9, is a water-soluble vitamin that has many important functions in your body. Here are 15 healthy foods that are high…. Vitamin B deficiencies can cause a wide range of symptoms.
Learn the importance of each B vitamin, their deficiency symptoms, and the best food…. Folic acid deficiency anemia is caused by having too little folate vitamin B9 in your blood. Folate is a B vitamin. It helps make DNA and produce red blood cells. A folate deficiency can lead to complications, especially in pregnant women. Health Conditions Discover Plan Connect.
What is folic acid? Recommended intake levels. Benefits and uses. Genetic polymorphisms that affect folate status. Folic acid for pregnancy. Side effects and precautions. Dosage and how to take. Age range UL Adults 1, mcg Children ages 14—18 mcg Children ages 9—13 mcg Children ages 4—8 mcg Children ages 1—3 mcg. Storage and handling. Use in specific populations. Read this next. Folic Acid vs. Medically reviewed by Carolyn Kay, M.
Medically reviewed by Deborah Weatherspoon, Ph. Medically reviewed by Natalie Olsen, R. Symptoms of Vitamin B Deficiencies. Medically reviewed by Madeline Knott, MD. There can be too much of a good thing. There is no upper limit for taking in folate found naturally in foods. However, there are recommended limits for the amount of folate you get from fortified foods and supplements:. Large doses of folate can make it hard to spot symptoms of low vitamin B12 B12 deficiency.
This can look a lot like having too little folate. But too little B12 can also cause damage to the nervous system. Folate supplements will help the symptoms of anemia caused by too little vitamin B12, but they will not stop damage to the nervous system.
A blood test will help find out if your folate and vitamin B12 levels are low. You may need to take vitamin B12 supplements along with the folate.
Talk to your doctor before you take any supplement. Accessed June 10, Folate deficiency. USDA national nutritional database for standard reference, release US Department of Agriculture website. Folic acid. Exceptional Nurses Winchester Hospital was the first community hospital in the state to achieve Magnet designation, recognition for nursing excellence.
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Home Health Library. Finding Folate Folate is a B vitamin. It can happen for a number of reasons, like: Higher need, as with pregnancy Not eating enough foods with folate Very high levels of folate passing out of the body Medicine that makes it hard for the body to use folate, such as anti-seizure medicine Groups at Risk of Having Too Little Folate These groups may be at risk of having too little folate and may need a supplement: Pregnant women: Folate plays a big role in the making and upkeep of new cells.
Folic acid is the synthetic form of B9, found in supplements and fortified foods, while folate occurs naturally in foods. Folic acid is crucial for proper brain function and plays an important role in mental and emotional health. It aids in the production of DNA and RNA, the body's genetic material, and is especially important when cells and tissues are growing rapidly, such as in infancy, adolescence, and pregnancy. Folic acid also works closely with vitamin B12 to help make red blood cells and help iron work properly in the body.
Vitamin B9 works with vitamins B6 and B12 and other nutrients to control blood levels of the amino acid homocysteine. High levels of homocysteine are associated with heart disease, however researchers are not sure whether homocysteine is a cause of heart disease or just a marker that indicates someone may have heart disease. It is fairly common to have low levels of folic acid. Alcoholism, inflammatory bowel disease IBD , and celiac disease can cause folic acid deficiency.
Also, certain medications may lower levels of folic acid in the body. Folic acid deficiency can cause:. Pregnant women need more folic acid to lower the risk of neural tube birth defects, including cleft palate, spina bifida, and brain damage. Neural tube defects are birth defects caused by abnormal development of the neural tube, a structure that eventually gives rise to the brain and spinal cord. Since folic acid has been added to many grain foods in the U.
As mentioned, pregnant women who do not get enough folic acid are more likely to have children with birth defects. Pregnant women should get mcg of folic acid per day. Women who plan to become pregnant should make sure to get the recommended mcg per day since many neural tube defects can happen shortly after conception and before a woman even knows she is pregnant.
Prenatal vitamins contain the needed amount of folic acid for pregnant women. Other studies suggest that in the setting of folic acid fortification of grains, folic acid supplementation does not appear to offer further benefit for preventing spina bifida.
Child development studies show that taking prenatal folic acid supplements at the time of conception is associated with a lower risk of autism. Other studies show that taking folic acid supplements in early pregnancy was associated with a reduced risk of severe language delay in children at age 3 years. And some research suggests that low folate levels during pregnancy is associated with a higher risk of emotional problems in the offspring.
Folate may help protect the heart through several methods. First, there is some evidence that getting enough folic acid in your diet can reduce your risk of heart disease, although this evidence is based on population studies and not more definitive clinical trials.
There is not yet any evidence that taking folic acid supplements would help. Also, many studies suggest that people with high levels of the amino acid homocysteine are roughly 1. B complex vitamins, especially vitamins B9, B6, and B12, help lower homocysteine levels. However, there is no evidence that high homocysteine levels actually cause heart disease. Most people who are concerned about heart disease should focus on getting enough B vitamins from healthy foods.
In some cases, however, your doctor may recommend taking B vitamins to lower homocysteine levels. If you are worried about heart disease, ask your doctor whether taking a B vitamin supplement is right for you. One study suggests that folic acid supplements help slow the progression of age-related hearing loss in elderly people with high homocysteine levels and low folate in their diet.
It is not known whether healthy seniors would benefit. One large study found that women who took 2, mcg of folic acid along with mg of vitamin B6 and 1, mcg of cyanocobalamin vitamin B12 daily reduced their risk of developing AMD, an eye disease that can cause vision loss.
The evidence about whether folic acid can help relieve depression is mixed. One study found that people who did not get better when taking antidepressants had low levels of folic acid. A double-blind, placebo-controlled study found that taking mcg of folic acid daily helped the antidepressant Prozac work better in women, but possibly not men.
Another study found that taking folic acid and vitamin B12 was no better than placebo in relieving depression in older people. Folic acid in the diet seems to protect against the development of some forms of cancer, including:. However, this evidence is based on population studies that show people who get enough folate in their diet have lower rates of these cancers.
Researchers do not know exactly how folate might help prevent cancer. Some think that folic acid keeps DNA healthy and prevents mutations that can lead to cancer.
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