B9 vitamin is folic acid. Folic acid is found in a wide variety of foods, including leafy green vegetables, citrus fruits, legumes, grains and yeast.
The body does not make folic acid on its own. You need to get it from food or supplements.
Folate is needed by the body for DNA synthesis and cell division. It also helps produce red blood cells, which carry oxygen throughout the body. Folate helps prevent anemia and birth defects due to neural tube defects like spina bifida.
Folate deficiency can lead to megaloblastic anemia (causing enlarged red blood cells), macrocytic anemia (causing abnormally large red blood cells) and macrocytosis (having abnormally large red blood cells). It can also cause depression or other mental health problems.
Foods to avoid when taking folic acid
Folic acid is one of the B complex vitamins. It plays a key role in the production of red blood cells and DNA, and so it is important for many bodily functions. It has also been linked to reducing the risk of birth defects such as spina bifida and anencephaly.
However, there are some foods that you should avoid if you are on a high-dose folic acid supplement or if you are pregnant.
These include:
Alcohol – Alcohol interferes with the way your body absorbs folic acid, leading to lower levels in your body. This can make it more difficult to prevent birth defects like spina bifida and anencephaly if you are deficient in this vitamin.
Asparagus – Asparagus contains substances called thiamine antagonists, which inhibit the absorption of thiamine (vitamin B1). Thiamine is needed for proper brain functioning. If you eat asparagus without enough thiamine in your diet, this can lead to a condition called beriberi, which causes weakness, fatigue and heart problems.
Coffee – Coffee contains caffeine, which can affect your body’s absorption of other nutrients like folic acid or
Folic acid is a B vitamin that helps reduce the risk of neural tube defects. These birth defects can develop in a developing baby’s brain and spinal cord.
The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention recommends that all women who are capable of getting pregnant take a daily supplement containing 400 micrograms (mcg) of folic acid. This recommendation is made because studies have shown that taking this amount reduces the risk of having a baby born with a neural tube defect by about 70 percent.
If you’re planning to get pregnant, you should start taking folic acid supplements before conception. But if you already know you’re pregnant, it’s not too late to start taking them — talk to your doctor about what’s best for your situation.
Folic acid is naturally found in many foods, including leafy green vegetables, legumes, oranges and fortified cereals. However, to prevent birth defects from occurring, it is recommended that women take an additional dose of 400 mcg of folic acid every day while they are trying to conceive, during pregnancy and while breast-feeding
Folic acid is a water-soluble B vitamin that is necessary for normal cell division and the formation of red blood cells.
Folic acid is also known as folate, and it is one of the B vitamins. The other B vitamins include niacin (vitamin B3), riboflavin (vitamin B2), thiamine (vitamin B1) and pantothenic acid (vitamin B5).
Folic acid is an essential nutrient that must be obtained through diet, as the body cannot produce it on its own. Folic acid helps to form new cells and red blood cells, and helps to promote healthy nervous system function. It helps keep DNA stable and nucleic acids functional.
Folic acid also plays a role in brain development during pregnancy and infancy — babies who are born with a folic acid deficiency can develop serious birth defects such as mental retardation or spina bifida.
The recommended daily allowance of folate for adults ranges from 400 micrograms per day for women who are pregnant or breastfeeding to 600 micrograms per day for women who are not pregnant or breastfeeding, according to the Office of Dietary Supplements at the National Institutes of Health (NIH). Men need approximately 400 micro.
Folic acid is a B vitamin that’s used to prevent neural tube defects (NTDs), most notably spina bifida. The neural tube, which eventually forms the brain and spinal cord, begins as a flat strip of tissue that folds and closes during the first month of pregnancy. If it doesn’t close completely, an NTD can develop.
Folic acid works by making red blood cells more flexible so they can easily squeeze through the small blood vessels of the developing fetus’ body. This helps prevent NTDs from occurring.
Most people are able to get enough folic acid from the foods they eat, but certain groups may have trouble getting enough from food alone.
These groups include:
Women who are pregnant or trying to become pregnant
Women who’ve had a baby with an NTD
People with gastrointestinal disorders like Crohn’s disease or ulcerative colitis (UC)
People taking certain medications such as phenobarbital or rifampin (these medications interfere with folic acid absorption)
The B vitamins are a group of water-soluble vitamins that play important roles in cell metabolism. Though these vitamins share similar names, research shows that they are chemically distinct vitamins that often coexist in the same foods.
Folate is part of a family of water-soluble B vitamins (B9). Folic acid refers to synthetic folic acid and is often added to fortified foods and dietary supplements as well as many prenatal vitamins. The body needs folic acid to make new cells because it plays an important role in cell division.
Folic acid is a B vitamin that is naturally present in food, but it is also added to foods and dietary supplements. Folic acid is important for normal growth and development of the baby.
Before you take any medicine, including over-the-counter medicine, read the label to make sure you know if it contains folic acid. If it does, talk to your doctor or pharmacist.
Foods to avoid when taking folic acid
Some foods contain large amounts of folate, but they are not as easily absorbed by your body as folic acid.
These foods include:
Leafy green vegetables (eg spinach)
Beans and legumes (eg lentils, kidney beans)
Folic acid is a B vitamin. It helps your body make and repair DNA, the genetic material in all cells.
In pregnancy, folic acid supplements can help prevent neural tube defects, such as spina bifida. These are serious malformations of the spine or spinal cord.
Folic acid also helps prevent other birth defects that affect the brain and spinal cord. These include anencephaly and encephalocele, which are fatal within days or weeks after birth. Folic acid may also prevent heart defects, including ventricular septal defect (VSD) and atrial septal defect (ASD).
Folic acid is a type of B vitamin that is essential for a baby’s growth and development. Folic acid is found in leafy green vegetables, beans, lentils, nuts, seeds, citrus fruits and fortified breakfast cereals.
Folic acid food sources are important during pregnancy because they can reduce the risk of having a baby with neural tube defects like spina bifida. These defects occur when the spine or spinal cord fails to develop properly before birth.
The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) recommend that all women of childbearing age get enough folic acid from foods or supplements to prevent neural tube defects.
Folic acid is a B vitamin that’s essential for the healthy development of a baby in the womb.
Folic acid is naturally present in some foods. It can also be taken as a supplement.
If you’re pregnant and have had a previous child with neural tube defects, your doctor may recommend that you take folic acid supplements before and during early pregnancy to help reduce the risk of having another baby with this condition.
Foods containing folic acid include:
bread
cereals (such as cornflakes, puffed rice and wheat flakes)
pasta (only brown or wholemeal varieties)
potatoes (not fried or roasted)
rice (brown or wild)
beans and pulses (soya beans, kidney beans, chick peas and lentils)
Folic acid is a B vitamin that helps your body make new cells.
It’s also important for women who are pregnant or planning to become pregnant, since it can help prevent birth defects of the brain and spinal cord (neural tube defects). Folic acid supplements are recommended during pregnancy to help prevent these birth defects.
The following foods contain folic acid:
Dried beans and peas
Asparagus
Lentils
Spinach
Broccoli
Whole grains, such as wheat germ and bran**.