Focus on Folate/Folic Acid: What You Should Know

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Are you familiar with the B vitamin folate? You might have heard of it because folate is so important for a woman who is trying to get pregnant or in the child bearing years where pregnancy is a possibility. Folate helps prevent neural tube defects in infants which causes malformation of the spine and brain.

Another role of folate in the body is heart health. Folate is the form of the B vitamin found naturally in food and folic acid is the synthetic form of folate that is added to food and found in supplements.

Here’s why you need folate/folic acid in your diet every day. It’s a water-soluble B vitamin so the excess in the body is excreted in the urine. Your body doesn’t keep it in a storehouse. Folate is a player in the production of new cells, particularly red blood cells. But here’s the ticket when it comes to heart health. Folate is important to help maintain normal levels of the amino acid homocysteine.

Homocysteine is an amino acid found in the blood. Researchers now believe that an elevated level of homocysteine in the blood negatively affects the lining of the blood vessels and may impede blood flow. High levels may damage the arteries increasing inflammation in the body and the risk for plaque and clot formation.

Bottom line: if you rarely eat folate-rich foods or foods supplemented with folic acid, the result may be a high level of homocysteine in the blood which may negatively affect heart function and health.

What to do: add folate foods and/ or folic acid enriched foods to your diet everyday and/or take a supplement that contains folic acid.

Food sources of folate include:
Kidney beans, pinto beans and other beans
Lentils, asparagus, avocado, spinach and leafy greens, citrus fruits and juices

In 1996, the Food and Drug Administration (FDA) passed regulations requiring the addition of folic acid to enriched bread, cereals, flours, corn meals, pastas, rice and other grain products.

Food sources of folic acid include enriched products such as:
Oatmeal
Ready to eat cereals
Breads
Crackers
Pasta
Rice