Posts Tagged ‘folic acid’

I think attempting to do work on a Sunday night definitely has its disadvantages. I finished the last blog entry and was on my way to completing other tasks, when I realized I forgot to share some useful information with you. I am a firm believer in the saying “practice what you preach.”  I told you to make sure you get enough folic acid everyday and to share that information with other women in your life. You may be thinking, “oh great, something else I have to worry about.” Well, believe me when I say, making sure you get enough folic acid everyday is pretty easy. Yes, you need to do this everyday, because folic acid is a water-soluble vitamin. This means that your body cannot store this vitamin, so you have to make sure you get it everyday. One of the easiest ways to guarantee you’re getting enough folic acid is to take a multi-vitamin that contains 400mcg of folic acid. As you can see in my last post, this is conveniently listed on the vitamin bottle label. Personally, I put my vitamins on my nightstand for two reasons. One, I always take water to bed, so when I set my glass down my vitamins are right there ready to be taken. Find a routine that is easy for you. I prefer to take the women’s multi-vitamin, so I get the extra Calcium to help prevent osteoporosis. I take the generic brand, because they are just as good as the name brand. Secondly, taking vitamins makes me feel nauseous. If this happens to you too, taking them at night helps.

You can get folic acid in foods that are fortified with it, which means the manufacturer has added folic acid to the product. You can get folate, which is the B-vitamin when it naturally occurs, through a variety of foods. Below you will find a list of foods that will help you reach your daily requirements.

Fortified Foods

• Breakfast cereals (Some have 100% of the Daily Value of folic acid in each serving)
• Breads
• Flours
• Pastas
• Cornmeals
• White rice

Foods High in Folate

• Beans and lentils
• Peas (black-eyed peas, chickpeas, green peas)
• Juices (orange, tomato, grapefruit, pineapple)
• Fruits (oranges, cantaloupe, honeydew melon, avocado, papaya, raspberries)
• Soymilk
• Vegetables (green leafy vegetables such as spinach, lettuce, turnip greens, mustard greens, collard greens, and Chinese cabbage; broccoli; Brussels sprouts; asparagus; artichokes; okra; corn; cauliflower; potato; beets; green onions; sweet red peppers)
• Nuts
• Sunflower seeds
• Peanuts and peanut butter
• Liver
• Giblets

Sources for this blog entry: Womens Health

Did you even know that there was a Folic Acid Awareness week? For that matter, do you even know what Folic Acid is or why it is important to take? I didn’t know what Folic Acid was until I started working here at NCPPC. If you have ever been pregnant, your doctor should have recommended that you take prenatal vitamins that have Folic Acid in them. Folic Acid is a B vitamin, which in its natural form in foods is called folate. This B vitamin is very important because it helps replace dead skin cells and hair, helps in the production of red blood cells and it may even help reduce the risk of some cancers, Alzheimer’s disease and hearing loss as you age. Another amazing benefit of Folic Acid is that it can reduce the risk of neural tube defects, which occur when the brain or spinal cord do not develop correctly in a baby. The most common neural tube defect is Spina Bifida. Folic Acid can actually help reduce the risk of these defects by up to 70%.

Stop right now! This next tidbit of information is crucial.

In order for Folic Acid to be effective in reducing the risk of the neuaral tube birth defects, a woman must be taking it before she is pregnant and during early pregnancy. Not planning on getting pregnant any time soon? Well, neither were 50% of the pregnancies last year. That’s right, every year in the United States nearly half of all pregnancies are not planned. This is another one of those “teachable moments.” I want you to be the smartest person in the room. So, tell your sister, your cousin, your best friends, and any woman of child bearing age you know, that they need to start taking folic acid today!

Sources for this blog entry: Womens Health, Kids Health