Folic acid can benefit you in a wide array of areas. It is primarily suggested by doctors and nutritionists for those who are pregnant or could become pregnant. Folic acid has been found to greatly reduce the risks of having children born with certain birth defects, including neural tube defects, cleft palate and cleft lip and spina bifida.
This is a B vitamin and if often found in a ‘B vitamin’ complex. Folic acid by itsel is responsible for the replication and maintenance of DNA and RNA, which you can see is essential for a healthy growing fetus. It’s been found that if a woman is taking folic acid regularly when she becomes pregnant and during the pregnancy she can reduce the risks of her baby being born with a serious birth defect by up to fifty percent.
There have also been studies that show people suffering from depression are often deficient in folic acid. It’s thought that folic acid being able to reduce levels of homecysteine in your blood can help prevent depression. Homocysteine is associated with some forms of depression. And studies of patients with depression while on a supplemental form of folic acid found that their antidepressants were more effective.
Because folic acid is helpful in maintaining your DNA and RNA and replicating it, researchers believe folic acid may be helpful in reducing your risks of cancer. It appears that folic acid is able to prevent cells from mutating, which is what causes cancer. Studies indicate that risks of developing cervical, lung, rectum, and colon cancer are reduced.
Also in recent studies it’s been shown that patients with advanced Alzheimer’s have low blood levels of folic, while patients with high levels of folic acid also had the highest levels of cognitive capabilities. While there is lots more research needed on the subject before a conclusion can be drawn you may find it helpful to take more folic acid as you age.
Folic acid can help to fight anemia in patients, both for those who have a B vitamin deficiency and those who have developed anemia for other reasons. It’s considered most effective when taken in combination with vitamin B12 to help your body boost its red blood cell production. Do be careful in taking folic acid for this condition because it is known for masking other vitamin B deficiencies that may present themselves with anemia.
Last but certainly not least folic acid is thought to slow the progress of multiple sclerosis. Studies have shown that MS patients don’t process vitamin B12 as well as they normally would. And that taking a B12 supplement with folic acid can help to maintain the nervous system in those patients with Multiple Sclerosis.
The recommended daily allowance for folic acid is four hundred micrograms. If you are pregnant or could become pregnant you should take up to six hundred micrograms daily. It is recommended that you do not take more than one thousand micrograms of folic acid a day.
