Understand what is folic acid
Folic Acid is a water-soluble vitamin in the vitamin B group, also known as vitamin B9. Because it is water-soluble, it cannot be stored in the body and must be supplemented daily through diet or nutrition. Do you know what are the benefits of taking folic acid?
Folic acid is an indispensable nutrient in the human body. It is also often called “hematopoietic vitamin”. It is an indispensable substance for making red blood cells. It is a double-column in the hematopoietic system with vitamin B12.
If there is currently a need for pregnant women, the requirement for folic acids is even more indispensable, because a sufficient amount of folic acid can help the development of fetal nerve cells and can reduce congenital abnormalities or defects. possibility.
It is also recommended by many doctors to prepare for pregnancy and the necessary vitamins for pregnancy!
What are the benefits of taking folic acid?
There is a lot of information about the benefits of folic acid on the Internet. Here, I will help you to organize some researches and researches related to the empirical medicine-related literature.
Regarding the benefits of folic acid supplementation on the human body, especially those who are pregnant, it is necessary to pay attention to the related benefits:
- Can prevent pregnant women “newborn neural tube defects”
- Can reduce pregnant women’s “pregnancy-induced hypertension disease event”
- Can reduce pregnant women “newborn congenital heart disease risk”
- Can reduce pregnant women “newborn cleft lip and palate event”
- Can reduce “stroke incidence”
- Can prevent “anemia in pregnant women/anemia in general people”
- Helps to “synthesize DNA/RNA” to reduce cancer rate
- Helps the body “utilize protein and amino acids”
- Helps maintain “normal operation of the nervous system”
- Helps “remove emotional anxiety and anxiety”
- Helps to “improve male infertility” and stabilize sperm quality
- Helps “maintain cardiovascular health”
There is no pregnancy status, but do I lack folic acid?
After reading the efficacy and benefits of folic acid, we should have a better understanding of folic acid.
Folic acid is a water-soluble vitamin and cannot be stored in the body for a long time. Therefore, if the body lacks folic acid, “folic acid deficiency” may occur.
Folic acid deficiency is a common nutritional deficiency, but the symptoms of folic acid deficiency are not easy to go. Direction association.
Therefore, if there are men and women who need pregnancy, special attention is required.
According to the analysis of the folic acid nutritional status, the intake of dark green vegetables and fruits for adults 19-30 years old is low, which affects the intake of folic acid.
Plus 19-30 years old is just the peak group for pregnancy. Insufficient intake will be affected accordingly.
So I have sorted out for you, when the body lacks folic acid, what symptoms may occur, you can check yourself to see if it is possible that you are a member of folic acid deficiency!
If such a physical state, of course, it is not conducive to the state of pregnancy.
The body’s lack of folic acid may cause the following 6 major symptoms, which will not be conducive to pregnancy status and pregnancy preparation:
- Anemia (feeling tired and weak, women pay special attention)
- Body pain (hypoxic headache caused by anemia, chest pain, leg pain)
- Symptoms of mouth inflammation (tongue headache, mouth break, swallowing pain)
- Shortness of breath (faster heart rate, dizziness, or even fainting)
- Cognitive problems (forgetfulness, growth retardation, poor brain function, dementia symptoms)
- Emotional problems (feeling irritable, depressed, autistic mood)
- Digestive problems (digestion and absorption, diarrhea, nausea and vomiting, decreased appetite)
Who is suitable for folic acid? How to eat folic acid? How much is the pregnancy intake?
As mentioned earlier, folic acid is a water-soluble vitamin, so it is not stored in the body and needs to be replenished daily. Therefore, those who are preparing for pregnancy must be supplemented as soon as possible.
An adequate amount of folic acid is beneficial to the human body as mentioned above, especially for pregnant mothers.
Who recommends a suitable folic acid supplement:
- Those who clearly lack folic acid
- Women planning to become pregnant/lactating
- Folic acid deficiency leads to macrosphere anemia
- People with symptoms of anemia
- Depressive patients
- Seniors with cognitive impairment
- Men suffering from infertility
- Sports fitness needs a supplement
- MTHFR gene mutation (can not effectively convert folate in food)
In terms of folic acid intake, the average adult, we recommend that about 300 to 400 micrograms (ug) of folic acid intake per day is sufficient.
It is recommended that you can choose to take folic acid supplements 30 minutes after any meal in the daytime.
In addition, I specifically aimed at women who need to prepare for pregnant women.
In accordance with the needs of the fetus at different periods, I have compiled a phased reference folic acid intake for folic acid supplementation:
- Pregnancy period: 400～600 mcg/day (It is recommended to start taking 3 months before conception)
- Early pregnant women (1-3 months): 800 mcg/day
- Pregnant women in the second trimester (4-6 months): 400～800 mcg/day
- Pregnant women in late pregnancy (7-10 months): 400～800 mcg/day
- Lactation stage: 400～800 mcg/day
PS. The above intake is the reference value of the recommended average recommended amount of “Folic Acid in Daily Diet” + “Folic Acid Supplement through Health Food”.
Food recommendations rich in folic acid
In addition to supplementing folic acid through the health food folic acid nutrition, “folic acid” as the name suggests is the nutrients present in leafy vegetables, so regardless of whether it is pregnant women, everyone recommends that you can eat 3 to 5 servings of green vegetables daily, except In addition to supplementing folic acid, it is more beneficial to your health~
5 recommended foods rich in folic acid, also help you organize it! If you are pregnant, please eat more of these vegetables, it will be of great help:
- Pumpkin 267 mcg
- Cabbage 240 mcg
- 210 mcg spinach
- Green cauliflower 210 mcg
- Asparagus 190 mcg
*If you can’t take a balanced diet, or are busy with work and eating out, you can choose the recommended folic acid health food to supplement.
Where can I buy the best folic acid?
In recent years, food safety problems in various countries have exploded, and it is not healthy but black-hearted products that everyone spends on. Therefore, European and American products with relatively strict quality control have become popular products.
And iHerb.com is a large-scale medical cosmetics e-commerce company in the United States. It has a high satisfaction rate of 97% in the evaluation of Google customers. It provides global home delivery so that you can buy it without risking buying fakes through purchasing high-quality health products.
Share 3 principles to choose high-quality folic acid for pregnant people
1. “Super active folic acid” is a better choice
At present, the types of folic acid in the world can be divided into four types of folic acid, and super active folic acid is currently a folic acid supplement, which has been widely used abroad and is a source of high-quality folic acid supplemented by scientific experimental data.
Note 1. No matter the so-called dietary folic acid (folate) ingested from food or the so-called folic acid (folic acid) supplemented in health foods, they need to be transformed by the human body to be active and can be absorbed and utilized, but those with MTHFR gene mutation, the conversion efficiency of this conversion machine is not good, so it will be suggested to supplement super folic acid-containing 5-MTHF() activity that can be directly absorbed and utilized by the body.
Note 2. At present, the internationally recognized super folic acid brand is Quatrefolic®, and the “fourth generation super active folic acid” supplied by it is widely used by major brands.
Folic acid benefits recommended-prepare for pregnancy and anemia-2018-2019 efficacy comparison-fourth generation super folic acid
2. Multiply with compound effect (e.g. iron, vitamin C… etc.)
Supplementing a single formula of healthy food is relatively inefficient for busy modern people, and the combination of the compound can also complement the function of the main formula.
For folic acid, folic acid has a higher solubility under weak alkalinity, but folic acid is more stable under weak acid, so choose a folic acid product with vitamin C, which can reduce folic acid from being broken down and lose its activity.
In addition, for those who are pregnant/anemia, iron is also an important nutrient. You can also choose iron-containing folic acid products as supplements.
3. The choice of the dosage form is also very important
If anyone who reads my teacher’s article often knows, I often say that lozenges actually need to be added with more artificial compounds to make, and lozenges are also the dosage forms with the lowest cost of health food production.
So folic acid tablets = folic acid powder + excipient + adhesive + chemical composition
Therefore, it is more recommended to choose the dosage form mainly in the form of capsules when selecting folic acid.
Conclusion
Finally, let me review the key points for you, as long as you master the following folic acid selection rules, you can choose a safe and healthy folic acid product~
Based on the above viewpoints, a good “folic acid” should meet the following conditions for pregnant women:
- “Super active folic acid” is a better choice
- Capsules are better than tablets
- Combined with compound effect (e.g. iron, vitamin C)
- Brands that use patented raw materials are more secure
- Reassuring with SGS inspection (Western medicine, heavy metals)
There will also be many related articles to read and reference. I hope you can understand the effect of folic acid on yourself regardless of whether you are preparing for pregnancy. Your body is healthier.