PREGNANT WOMEN CARE

Pregnant women plagued by cravings for pickles and ice cream must remember to include plenty of folic acid in their diets. Shown to reduce the risk of miscarriage and birth defects, folic acid – found primarily in leafy green vegetables – is an absolute necessity for any woman who is pregnant or is considering becoming pregnant. In fact, "health officials at the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) now recommend that all women of childbearing age take folic acid (0.4 mg daily) to protect their future newborns from developing a neural tube defect, an anomaly of the spinal cord," writes Burton Goldberg in Alternative Medicine. However, it's not just expectant moms who could stand to add more leafy greens to their plates. Because it is useful in combating everything from acne and canker sores to osteoporosis and cancer, we could all benefit from adding more folic acid to our diets. Along with pregnant women, elderly individuals and people suffering from depression or nervous system disorders especially stand to gain from the addition of this B vitamin. Folic acid, the synthetic form of the B vitamin folate, works primarily in the brain and nervous system and is necessary for the synthesis of DNA, the production of red and white blood cells and of norepinephrine and serotonin in the nervous system. Folic acid also aids in the elimination of the amino acid homocysteine from the blood, a breakdown product of animal protein (methionine, actually) that contributes to heart attacks. A lack of folic acid can lead to anemia, insomnia, irritability and far more serious health problems. Despite its range of health benefits, many Americans are deficient in the vitamin, coming nowhere near the government's recommended daily allowance of 200 micrograms daily. "The average American gets only 61 percent of the old Recommended Dietary Allowance, which is too low anyway," says James Duke, PhD in Anti-Aging Prescriptions. Part of the reason for the shortfall is that more Americans are choosing to eat more animal foods – which are a poor source of folic acid – rather than folic-acid rich plant foods, like dark green vegetables, legumes, root vegetables and whole grains. Dr. Andrew Weil, in Ask Dr. Weil, recommends the use of supplements to make up for the deficiency. "As many as 90 percent of Americans don't get that protective 400 micrograms in their diet – for example, you'd have to eat two cups of steamed spinach, a cup of boiled lentils, or eight oranges every day. So it's important to take a supplement, especially if you're a woman and considering having children someday." As Dr. Weil suggests, for women who are deficient in this essential vitamin, the health costs can be especially high. Folic acid is essential for pregnant women. Not only does it protect against cervical cancer, it also aids in healthy prenatal development and can significantly reduce the risk of serious neural tube birth defects and abnormalities that occur in very early fetal development, such as spina bifida. However, experts say most women aren't getting adequate levels of folic acid early enough to offer the best protection against birth defects. "Very few women of child bearing years are taking folic acid… If a person waits until pregnant, the fetal abnormality is already established. All women of child-bearing age who might become pregnant should be taking 400 mg of folic acid," advises Dr. James Howenstine in A Physicians Guide To Natural Health Products That Work. To make matters even more difficult, women who take birth control pills are especially prone to deficiency in the B vitamin since birth control pills actually produce folic acid deficiency. Men planning to become fathers need to monitor their folic acid intake as well, as low folic acid levels in males has been linked to low sperm count, and some studies suggest deficiency can also damage DNA carried by the sperm. Such damaged DNA could lead to chromosomal damage in a fetus, according to Bottom Line Yearbook 2004. In other words, both men and women who plan to have children should increase their folic acid intake for the sake of their baby-to-be. Folic acid promotes good health for the mind and body, from the earliest stages of life to the latest. Men and women over 60 who feel fatigued and depressed may simply be suffering from a folic acid deficiency. In fact, folic acid deficiency has been linked to depression in patients of all ages, and according to Gary Null'sComplete Guide of Natural Healing, "the lower the level of folic acid in the blood, the higher the degree of depression." Folic acid can also help ward off dementia, according to Patrick Quillin in Beating Cancer With Nutrition, who wrote that experts estimate up to 20 percent of senility in older adults is simply the result of a long-term deficiency of folic acid and vitamin B-12, which can be aided by taking supplements. However, when taking folic acid supplements, it is important to remember that folic acid and vitamin B-12 work most effectively together, so you should make sure you are getting enough vitamin B-12, as well. Vegans often struggle with this balance since their diets are very rich in folic acid but not in B-12. The meager representation of folic acid in the American diet can be increased if we all just take a little more care in planning our meals. One way to up folic acid consumption is to make sure your diet includes raw foods, since heat from cooking easily destroys folic acid. And remember, sources of folic acid are plentiful – soybeans, spinach, broccoli, cabbage, peanuts, asparagus, citrus fruits, brussels sprouts, avocado, sunflower seeds, orange juice and don't forget those leafy greens – we just have to be willing to integrate these foods into our diets. And who wouldn't be willing? After all, some added folic acid could go a long way in helping keep your nervous and circulatory systems in check, while also protecting your body from cancer and heart problems, as well as promoting healthy fetal development in babies. Folic acid is something we need at all stage of life, so we owe it to ourselves to get enough. The experts speak on folic acid General information on folic acidA study is available from the Washington Council for Responsible Nutrition that reports women taking Vitamin E over age 50 and folic acid and Zinc during childbearing years would save Medicare 11 billion dollars, and overall reduce birth defects and coronary heart disease hospital expenses of 20 billion dollars per year. Anti-Aging Manual by Joseph B Marion, page 100WHAT IS IT? Even though your body needs only comparatively minuscule amounts of folic acid, it is a vital nutrient. Folic acid—along with all the other nutrients, of course—is your guarantee of optimum physical and mental health. Your levels of folic acid are dependent on outside sources; your body does not make it on its own. Furthermore, it needs vitamin C to work properly. It works in partnership with B12 and B6, as well as the other B vitamins. Folic acid is essential to the production of norepinephrine and serotonin, chemical go-betweens of the nervous system. Complete Guide Health Nutrition by Gary Null, page 284Folic acid is one of the B vitamins that is crucial for the synthesis of DNA (genetic material) as well as for many other important cell functions. It was discovered in spinach leaves in 1941 and was named "folate," after the Latin word for leaf (folium). The terms folate and folic acid are roughly synonymous. For the sake of simplicity, I will generally use the latter term. Not surprisingly, this vitamin is mainly found in green leafy vegetables. Although folic acid is not an antioxidant, it boosts the antioxidant network and thus has a place in our story. Antioxidants Against Cancer by Ralph Moss PhD, page 92WHO NEEDS folic acid? If you are pregnant, elderly, or suffer from any sort of nervous disorder, you may benefit from additional amounts of folic acid in your diet. Pregnant women, for instance, must be wary of folic acid deficiency. Folic acid supplementation has been helpful in preventing abortion and miscarriage. The elderly need additional folic acid, too. If you are over sixty and depressed, withdrawn, and chronically tired, you may be deficient in this vital element. Let's look at the results of a study in which folic acid was added to the diets of elderly individuals: three groups of patients were used, all with varying degrees of circulation problems. The first group, those with the least degree of difficulty, experienced improved vision less than an hour after receiving folic acid. (Among those with circulatory problems, vision is often impaired because of poor circulation to the optical tissues.) Complete Guide Health Nutrition by Gary Null, page 284Folic acid: a water-soluble vitamin of the B complex essential for the synthesis of nucleic acids and necessary for making red blood cells (hematopoiesis), so a deficiency of folic acid results in anemia. After absorption, it is successively reduced to dihydro-folic acid and then tetrahydrofolic acid, the parent compound of the derivatives that act as coenzyme carriers of one-carbon groups in various metabolic reactions.