Health @ Heart
The Wonders of Folic Acid
Folic Acid is B vitamin. One of the Vitamin Bs. This vitamin is also known a Folate, which is found naturally in some foods. Folic Acid is the synthetic form. This simple ordinary looking pill has prophylactic and therapeutic wonders that are truly amazing.
What foods contain Folate?
Vegetables (especially dark green leafy vegetables), fruits (particularly citrus, berries) and juices, legumes (dried beans and peas), lentils, whole grains, and breakfast cereals all contain folate. The folate contents of the following foods (in micrograms per 100 gram of food or 3.5 ounces) are: dark green leafy vegetables-120 to 160; other vegetables - 40 to 100; fruits - 50 to 100; beans (legumes) - 50 to 300; breakfast cereals - 100 to 400; and whole grains - 60 to 120. Following the recommendation from the US Public Health Services in 1992, the US-FDA in October of 1994 proposed to all manufacturers in the food industry that all bread and grain products (flour, rolls, rice, noodles, farina, buns, cornmeal and corn grits) be fortified with 40 micrograms of folic acid per 100 grams (3.5 ounces).
What are the other past fortification programs?
Iodine fortification of table salt, initiated in 1924 to prevent goiter, cretinism and other signs of iodine deficiency, was one of the earliest and most successful story of fortification in the United States. In the early 1930s vitamin D was added to cow’s milk to help in the absorption of phosphorus and calcium to prevent rickets. To ward off deficiency diseases in the general population, voluntary enrichment of flour and breads was started in 1938 (which included niacin for pellagra, thiamine for beriberi, iron for iron-deficiency anemia, riboflavin for proper functioning of Vitamin B6 and niacin). The government mandated this requirement in 1943. The other fortification came after those, like adding Vitamin A to low and non-fat cow’s milk and other dairy products, and lysine to corn products to maximize protein quality.
How much folate does any of these contain?
To name just a few, a tall glass of orange juice, a bowl of fortified cereal, a large spinach salad, or a bowl of lentil soup, each contains about 0.4 milligrams (400 micrograms) of folic acid, which meets the minimum daily requirement, even for early conceiving mothers (to reduce the incidence of neural tube defect, NTD, in the baby en utero by 60-75%). More than fifty percent of pregnancies are unplanned, and the neural tube defects develop early in gestation, about 18-30 days after conception. About 2500 infants are born with a NTD annually in the United States, one or two for every 1000 births. The best prophylaxis for all women in the child-bearing age is for them to eat a lot of fruits, vegetables and grains daily and to take 400 microgram of folic acid supplement before getting pregnant. Folic acid is also a daily essential for all men and women of all ages, for many great medical reasons discussed later in this article.
What are neural tube defects?
The neural tube, in the embryonic development, is that part of the growing fetus that becomes the brain and the spinal cord/column. Neural defects includes, among others, anencephaly (born without a brain and without a skull), encephalocele (skull defect allowing the protrusion of brain tissue and meninges or brain covering), and spina bifida (defective closure in the vertebral column, allowing protrusion of meninges called meningocele, or spinal cord termed myelocele, or both, named myelomeningocele, commonly in the lower thoracic, lumbar or sacral region of the spine). The baby is born has a big bulge, a sac, in the lower back, with the spinal cord exposed.
How much fruits, vegetables and grains should one eat?
A good rule of thumb is the one listed on the USDA Food Pyramid Guide: 3-5 servings of vegetables, 2-4 fruits and 6-11 servings of grains every day. This will provide between 400 to 500 micrograms of folate daily. This regimen is not only good for its folate contents but for all the natural nutriments and anti-oxidants they provide the body to reduce cardiovascular diseases and cancers.
What other conditions is folate or folic acid good for?
Folic acid/folate has been shown in various researches in the United States and around the world to prevent cancers, cardiovascular diseases and other major ailments. A team of American and Chinese researchers discovered that folic acid (folate) is very effective in preventing breast cancer in pre and post menopausal women. The National Cancer Institute and Finnish National Public Health Institute reported that “an adequate folic acid intake of can materially reduce the risk of developing cancer of the pancreas.” Harvard Medical School studies revealed that “folic acid may provide significant protection against colon cancer,” decreasing the risk, especially among women, by 75%. Folic acid has also been found to prevent cleft lip and cleft palate. Folate deficiency has also been linked to 15% - 38% of adults suffering from depression. A research team from the universities of Oxford (United Kingdom) and Bergen (Norway) reported that “low folate levels are associated with an increased risk of developing Alzheimer’s disease”. Folic acid is also one of the several vitamins and minerals used for the treatment of Chronic Fatigue Syndrome.
How about heart disease and stroke?
Folic acid (folate) has also been found to be effective in reducing the risk of heart attack and stroke. Various studies have confirmed that high homocysteine levels (which is linked to folic acid deficiency) in the blood is a significant cardiovascular risk associated with coronary artery disease, the cause of heart attacks. Homocysteine promotes arteriosclerosis (hardening of the artery) by increasing the oxidative stress and by encouraging endothelial (delicate inner lining of the arteries) dysfunction. This speeds up cholesterol plaque build-up in the inner walls of the coronary and other arteries causing reduced caliber and obstruction, eventually cutting the blood supply leading to heart attack or stroke or blood clots to organs. Folic acid supplementation “reduces homocyteine level and thereby reducing the incidence and mortality from ischemic heart disease” (chest pains and heart attack). Taking one milligram of Folic acid daily results in 25% decrease in homocysteine, which translates to a 15% reduction in mortality from heart attack. Higher dosage was not found to be more beneficial, and could have adverse effects. Except for those with contraindication, Folic acid and low-dose aspirin (81 mg) are now commonly prescribed by physicians as daily prophylaxis for coronary heart disease and stroke. Self-medication is dangerous. This treatment is not for everyone. Consult your physician to find out if Folic Acid and aspirin are right for you.