Importance of Folic Acid

Folic acid generally known as folate is water soluble Vitamin B which is found in small numbers in most of the foods. Some of the natural sources of folic acid are citrus fruits, cereal, liver, beans, peas, shellfish, pork, poultry products, fresh fruits and green leafy vegetables. Folic acid is the essential element required to maintain and produce human cells.

Insufficiency of folic acid can cause different disorders. Few of these disorders are stated below: -

Ø  Insufficiency of folic acid can cause behavioral disorders, swelling of the tongue, graying of hair, palpitations, poor growth and weakness.

Ø  Insufficiency of folic acid is even related to several common stomach disorders such as weight loss, loss of appetite, peptic ulcer, mouth ulcer and diarrhea.

Ø  Insufficiency of folic acid in women who are pregnant can cause infants with neutral tube defects, low birth weight of infants and premature delivery.

Ø  Anemia on occasions is linked with the shortage of folic acid in the diet.

Ø  In case of anemia, pregnancy, liver or kidney disease, the diseased must intake maximum amount of folic acid. In these cases the diseased must consult the doctor before consuming folic acid.  

Ø  Maximum intake of folic acid must be up to 1000 micro grams everyday or as recommended by the dietician or the doctor.

Ø  Few of the other medications may interrelate with folic acid and they include medicines for controlling blood sugar, diuretics, medicines for treating cancer and medicines for epilepsy. Before taking these medicines it is necessary to consult the doctor.

Ø  If a person is around 50 years of age then they should find out their B 12 vitamin level before taking any supplemental diet of folic acid.  

The NTD or the Neutral Tube Defect is one of the main defects of the spine and brain in the new born babies which cause spine or brain damage. Some of the main Neural Tube Defects are Anencephaly the brain problem and Spina Bifina the spine problem. Up to seventy percent of these defects can be prevented by consuming exact quantity of folic acid each day during pregnancy and also before conception. Generally, most of the women’s are at a high risk of delivering NTD affected babies if they had NTD affected pregnancy before or if they are diabetic or even if they had taken medicines to treat epilepsy during pregnancy. Every women in particular who is pregnant must intake at least 400 micro grams of folic acid each day. In-taking supplemental folic acid along with a healthy folic acid rich diet before the pregnancy and during the pregnancy considerably reduces the risk of having NTD’s affected babies. 

Spina Bifida is one type of a spine disorder which affects the lower part of the spine and a pack of fluid is trapped in the babies back. Most of the new born children with spinal disorders survive but face birth defects. Some of these symptoms include loss of bowl, loss of bladder, loss of fluid pressure to the brain and not being able to move the lower part of the body. Anencephaly is one type of a brain disorder and also part of the bones of brain skull which may not form in the new born babies.