What Are the Health Benefits of Folic Acid  ?

Here you can learn about the health benefits of folic acid, folate or vitamin B9. How to take and how much are important, please read carefully.

Folic Acid – A Must Have

It is one of the essential vitamins, meaning that the body must have it to function, but cannot produce it. If it is not present in the foods that we eat, serious health problems will ensue.

Folate & Pregnancy

Pregnant women and those that could become pregnant are advised to take a supplement, because low intake during the very early stages of pregnancy could cause birth defects like spina bifida. The defects are known as neural tube defects and are still the most common ones, even in industrialized societies. In neural tube defects, there is an abnormal opening in the brain or spinal cord. The result can be paralysis, brain damage or stillbirth.

Vitamin B9 & Red Blood Cells

Children and adults require the nutrient to produce red blood cells. Low intake of the nutrient on a continuous basis may not result in an obvious deficiency, but could lead to the development of cancer, because the nutrient is necessary for the production and maintenance of all of the cells of the body.

Folate Deficiency & Heart Disease

The health benefits of folic acid supplementation may be numerous. Folate deficiency increases a person’s risk of heart disease and stroke. The incidence of ischemic heart disease and stroke in the US has reduced by 15%, since food manufacturers were required to fortify breads and cereals with the nutrient.

Sources of Folic Acid

The best source of the nutrient is actually dark leafy greens. Beans and peas are also a good source. Other fruits and vegetables provide a significant amount. So, it is not that the nutrient occurs in few foods. It is that people’s dietary preferences have them eating more breads and cereals. Thus fortification was believed to be important and seems to be effective.

Depression, Obesity, Type II Diabetes

Other health benefits of folic acid supplementation have to do with depression and obesity. There are several studies indicating that the supplements are beneficial in treating depression and may have a role in the prevention of obesity and type II diabetes.

Folic Acid – How to Take & How Much

Another study concerned memory and mental agility in older people. Verbal fluency and short term memory was found to be better in people taking a supplement. But, simply meeting your minimum daily requirements for the nutrient will not provide that benefit. Twice the current RDA was given to the participants in the study.

Although there may be many health benefits of folic acid supplementation, it is important to take other B vitamins and nutrients along with it. A single-ingredient supplement could interfere with the absorption of B12 and other nutrients.

Multi-Supplement Approach

It always makes more sense to take a well-designed multi-nutritional formula, even if you feel that you are eating a balanced diet and getting most of the essential nutrients through the foods that you eat. For one thing, the minimum recommended daily allowances may provide only minimally good health, as exemplified by the study concerning memory in the elderly.

What you have read about here are just a few of the health benefits of folic acid. There are others that you might be interested in.