Folic Acid 

Folic Acid (also known as Vitamin M and Folacin) and Folate (the anionic form) are forms of the water-soluble Vitamin B9. These occur naturally in food and can also be taken as supplements. Folate gets its name from the Latin word folium ("leaf").

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Folic Acid in food and other sources

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Leafy vegetables such as spinach, turnip greens, lettuces, dried beans and peas, fortified cereal products, sunflower seeds and certain other fruits and vegetables are rich sources of folate. Liver and liver products also contain high amounts of folate, as does baker's yeast. Some breakfast cereals (ready-to-eat and others) are fortified with 25% to 100% of the recommended daily allowance (RDA) for folic acid. A table of selected food sources of folate and folic acid can be found at the USDA National Nutrient Datanse for Standard Reference. Folate is also found in Vegemite or Marmite, with an average serving (5g) containing 100μg. Folate is also synthesized in bacteria.

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Medicinal Uses of Folic Acid

Human Reproduction: There are several important nutrients that serve as building blocks of a healthy pregnancy. Two of the more well-known nutrients for women during child bearing years are folic acid and calcium (with Vitamin D). One nutrient that women are not as familiar with is DHA (decosahexaeonic acid) omega-3. DHA is important for optimal infant brain, eye and nervous system development, and has been shown to support a healthy pregnancy.

Folic acid is very important for all women who may become pregnant. Adequate folate intake during the periconceptional period, the time just before and just after a woman becomes pregnant, helps protect against a number of congenital malformations including neural tube defects. Neural tube defects result in malformations of the spine (spia bifida), skull, and brain (anencephaly). The risk of neural tube defects is significantly reduced when supplemental folic acid is consumed in addition to a healthy diet prior to and during the first month following conception.

Women who could become pregnant are advised to eat foods fortified with folic acid or take supplements in addition to eating folate-rich foods to reduce the risk of some serious birth defects. The most notable birth defects that occur from folate deficiency are neural tube defects. Taking 400 micrograms of synthetic folic acid daily from fortified foods and/or supplements has been suggested. The RDA for folate equivalents for pregnant women is 600-800 micrograms, twice the normal RDA of 400 micrograms for women who are not pregnant. Recent research has shown that it is also very important for men who are planning on fathering children, reducing birth defect risks.

Folic acid is found in the following products:

ANDRO-VITO

APHRO-VITA

APHRO 40+

EREXUS

LOVE FIRE