{"id":2969,"date":"2015-09-29T22:51:40","date_gmt":"2015-09-29T17:21:40","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/familife.in\/en\/?p=2969"},"modified":"2015-09-29T22:51:40","modified_gmt":"2015-09-29T17:21:40","slug":"5-health-benefits-of-folate","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/familife.in\/en\/2969-5-health-benefits-of-folate\/","title":{"rendered":"5 health benefits of folate"},"content":{"rendered":"<div id=\"attachment_2849\" style=\"width: 510px\" class=\"wp-caption aligncenter\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" aria-describedby=\"caption-attachment-2849\" class=\"size-full wp-image-2849\" src=\"http:\/\/familife.in\/en\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/8\/2015\/08\/shutterstock_262043627.jpg\" alt=\"5 health benefits of folate\" width=\"500\" height=\"334\" srcset=\"https:\/\/familife.in\/en\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/8\/2015\/08\/shutterstock_262043627.jpg 500w, https:\/\/familife.in\/en\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/8\/2015\/08\/shutterstock_262043627-60x40.jpg 60w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 500px) 100vw, 500px\" \/><p id=\"caption-attachment-2849\" class=\"wp-caption-text\">Photo: Shutterstock<\/p><\/div>\n<p>Folate, also known as folic acid, needed to make DNA in the body as well as other genetic material. It also helps with cell division. Folate is one of the 12 types of\u00a0B-vitamin and it is present in several foods naturally. Folic acid, a type of this vitamin, is used to fortify certain foods such as cereal, pasta and bread, and is available in supplement form as well.<\/p>\n<p>The folate requirement for individuals depends on age. Here are the average daily recommended amounts in micrograms (mcg) of dietary folate equivalents (DFEs), according to the National Institutes of Health.<\/p>\n<ul>\n<li>Birth to 6 months: 65 mcg DFE<\/li>\n<li>Infants (7\u201312 months): 80 mcg DFE<\/li>\n<li>Children (1\u20133 years): 150 mcg DFE<\/li>\n<li>Children (4\u20138 years): 200 mcg DFE<\/li>\n<li>Children (9\u201313 years): 300 mcg DFE<\/li>\n<li>Teens (14\u201318 years): 400 mcg DFE<\/li>\n<li>Adults (19\u201371+ years): 400 mcg DFE<\/li>\n<li>Pregnant teens and women: 600 mcg DFE<\/li>\n<li>Breastfeeding teens and women: 500 mcg DFE<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<p>Most healthy people are able to meet their folate requirements. However, some groups are more prone to deficiency. These include women aged 14\u201330 years, especially during pregnancy. Pregnant women with folate deficiency\u00a0could give birth to babies with harmful\u00a0health conditions. Birth defects start developing\u00a0within the first 3-4 weeks of pregnancy. So it&#8217;s important to have folic acid in your system during those early stages when your baby&#8217;s brain and spinal cord are developing. Folate taken before conception and during the first few weeks of pregnancy can prevent seven out of ten cases of neural tube defects.<\/p>\n<p>In 2011, a large observational study in the <a href=\"http:\/\/www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov\/pmc\/articles\/PMC2731275\/\">journal Gastroenterology<\/a> linked both folate and folic acid to a reduced risk of colon cancer, though relatively few men took doses of 1,000 micrograms or more.<\/p>\n<p><strong>Benefits of folate<\/strong><\/p>\n<p>Folate plays an integral role in fetal development and the benefits for pregnant women and their offspring cannot be understated. Though folate requirements can be met by eating a healthy diet, women who plan to or are likely to\u00a0become pregnant should get about 400 micrograms (mcg) more of it through folic acid supplements or fortified foods, in addition to the amount they consume in natural form.<\/p>\n<div><b>1. Fetal development<br \/>\n<\/b><\/div>\n<div>Erythrocyte production &#8211; the adequate and appropriate development of an unborn child\u2019s\u00a0brain and spinal cord &#8211; is dependent on foods rich in folate. A lack of folate during pregnancy can lead to gaps in the development of the spinal cord, which can result in paralysis, brain damage, or a stillborn child.<\/div>\n<div><\/div>\n<div><b>2. Helps to produce red blood cells\u00a0<\/b><\/div>\n<div>Folate is key in the development of red blood cells or erythrocytes. A lack of this compound can make the body susceptible to cancer. In addition, the body\u2019s defense mechanism, the white blood cells, are also manufactured in the presence of folate supplements.<\/div>\n<div><\/div>\n<div><b>3. Preventing\u00a0heart disease<\/b><\/div>\n<div>Folic acid supplements also help the heart stay healthy and function optimally. Folate deficiency can lead to an increased risk of heart disease, coronary complications, and strokes in patients. In the U.S., after bread and cereal companies were asked to add vitamin B12 to their products, the rate of heart disease and stroke decreased by about 15 percent. Folic acid also helps remove homocysteine, a toxic compound that can lead to severe artery damage if not eliminated from the blood.<\/div>\n<div><\/div>\n<div><b>4. Helps in depression<\/b><\/div>\n<div>Several studies have indicated that folate supplements can reduce depression. A deficiency may cause an increased risk of depression and dementia.<\/div>\n<div><\/div>\n<div><b>5. Helps keep brain young<\/b><\/div>\n<div>Adequate folate levels are necessary for proper brain functioning. Studies have shown that folate benefits the brain by slowing down the effects of aging.<\/div>\n<p><strong>Folate deficiency effects<\/strong><\/p>\n<p>Folate deficiency can cause megaloblastic anemia. Symptoms of this include weakness, irritability, headache, heart palpitations, exhaustion, shortness of breath and trouble concentrating. Not getting enough folate can also affect the quality and colour of your skin, fingernails and hair. It can result in sores on the tongue and inside the mouth.<\/p>\n<p><strong>Foods that provide folate<\/strong><\/p>\n<p>In addition to fortified foods, you can meet your folate requirements naturally by consuming a varied diet of vegetables (such as asparagus, Brussels sprouts, spinach and mustard greens), fruits and fruit juices (oranges and orange juice), and nuts, beans and peas (peanuts, black-eyed peas and kidney beans).<\/p>\n<p>Check with your doctor before starting a folate supplement, to ensure that it will not interfere with any medications you are currently taking. Long-term use of folate supplementation may mask an underlying and possibly life-threatening B-12 deficiency.<\/p>\n<p>Share your thoughts, leave a comment below. Please like FamiLife\u2019s <a href=\"https:\/\/facebook.com\/familife\">page<\/a> on Facebook so that you get all our articles and others may find us.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Here are five essential health benefits of folate which is needed to make DNA in the body as well as other genetic material.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":2849,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_exactmetrics_skip_tracking":false,"_exactmetrics_sitenote_active":false,"_exactmetrics_sitenote_note":"","_exactmetrics_sitenote_category":0,"_ef_editorial_meta_date_first-draft-date":"","_ef_editorial_meta_paragraph_assignment":"","_ef_editorial_meta_checkbox_needs-photo":"","_ef_editorial_meta_number_word-count":"","_ef_editorial_meta_user_current-owner":"","footnotes":""},"categories":[284,289,291],"tags":[],"coauthors":[408],"class_list":{"0":"post-2969","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-babies","8":"category-health","9":"category-nutrition","10":"czr-hentry"},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/familife.in\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2969","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/familife.in\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/familife.in\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/familife.in\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/familife.in\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=2969"}],"version-history":[{"count":7,"href":"https:\/\/familife.in\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2969\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":3302,"href":"https:\/\/familife.in\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2969\/revisions\/3302"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/familife.in\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/2849"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/familife.in\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=2969"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/familife.in\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=2969"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/familife.in\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=2969"},{"taxonomy":"author","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/familife.in\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/coauthors?post=2969"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}