Facts about Folic Acid

400 mcg Folic Acid

What every woman between ages 11-45 should know...

Did you know that you can reduce your baby's risk of spina bifida, a common birth defect, by taking a multivitamin with folic acid and eating a healthy diet?

Even if you're not pregnant, or not planning to get pregnant, you need to take a multivitamin with 400 mcg folic acid every day. The early stages of pregnancy are the most important in a baby's development. Many women don't know they are pregnant right away and more than 50% of all pregnancies are unplanned. By the time you find out you're pregnant, your baby may already be at risk for this preventable birth defect.

What is folic acid?

Folic acid is a water soluble B-vitamin that helps build healthy cells.  "Water soluble" means it does not stay in your body for very long, so you need to take it every day to prevent neural tube defects.  During periods of rapid growth, such as pregnancy and fetal development, the body's requirement for this vitamin increases.

There are two different forms of folic acid:

1. Synthetic folic acid found in multivitamins; fortified bread and grain products, such as breakfast cereals; and folic acid prescriptions (women at increased risk for spina bifida should speak with their health care provider).

2. Natural folic acid‹also called folate‹which is available leafy green vegetables, such as broccoli and spinach; also in some fruits and juices, including orange juice

Our bodies absorb the synthetic form of folic acid more easily than the natural form. A diet rich in folate is important; however, the average American diet does not supply enough folic acid. Here is a list of foods rich in folate.

Folic Acid Recommendation

SBAA advises the 60 million women of childbearing age not to depend on food alone for folic acid.  SBAA urges women to follow the 1992 US Public Health Service folic acid recommendations:

• Women who could become pregnant should take 400 micrograms (mcg) of folic acid through a vitamin.  (This amount is also written as 0.4 milligrams (mg).)
• Women at increased risk for spina bifida should take 4000 mcg (4.0 mg) of folic acid by prescription for 1 to 3 months before becoming pregnant.
• Many things can affect a baby, including family genes and things women may come in contact with during pregnancy.  Taking folic acid cannot guarantee having a healthy baby, but it can help.
• Because NTDs occur early in pregnancy, often before a woman knows she is pregnant, it is important to take folic acid every day.  Taking folic acid before and during early pregnancy reduces the risk of spina bifida and other neural tube defects.

Recent Prevention Studies

Randomized control trials and observational studies have shown that if all women who could become pregnant were to take a multivitamin with the B-vitamin folic acid, the risk of neural tube defects could be reduced by up to 75%.

For women at higher risk for spina bifida or other neural  tube defects, an increased level of folic acid is recommended by prescription.  Research has shown that 4000 mcg of folic acid reduces the risk of neural tube defects for these women.

Folic Acid Fortification

In 1998, breads and enriched cereal grain products were fortified with synthetic folic acid by order of the Food and Drug Administration (FDA).  All US Wheat, rice, and corn are fortified at the rate of 140 mcg per 100 grams of grain, thus providing most people with 100 mcg of folic acid daily.

The addition of folic acid to all food grains was based on research at the time, which indicated that only about 25 percent of women of childbearing age regularly consume enough folic acid in the form of vitamin supplement.
In fact, the current fortification levels have reduced the number of cases of spina bifida and anencephaly annually by an estimated 19%.

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