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Good Food Sources of Folate by Karen Schroeder Kassel, MS, RD, MEd

Here's Why Folate Is Good for You

salad_spinach_eating_pregnancy Folate, also known as folic acid, is a B vitamin that is essential for good health. Folic acid plays an extremely important role in preventing birth defects. Low blood levels of folate during pregnancy can cause neural tube defects—anencephaly and spina bifida. Because these defects occur in the first month of pregnancy, before a woman knows she is pregnant, it is important for any woman of childbearing age to get 400 mcg (micrograms) of folic acid daily. Taking folate during pregancy may offer additional benefits, like reducing a child's risk of having severe language delays. Pairing folate with iron may reduce the number of infants born with low birth weight and reduce infant mortality.

Folate deficiency can also result in megaloblastic anemia. This is due to the role that folic acid plays in the DNA synthesis and red blood cell division. Without folic acid new red blood cells can’t divide and thus stay large and immature.

Recommended Intake

Age group (in years)	Recommended Dietary Allowance
Age group (in years)	Females	Males
1 - 3	150 mcg	150 mcg
4 - 8	200 mcg	200 mcg
9 - 13	300 mcg	300 mcg
14 - 18	400 mcg	400 mcg
Pregnancy, ages 14-18	600 mcg	n/a
Lactation, ages 14-18	500 mcg	n/a
19+	400 mcg	400 mcg
Pregnancy, ages 19+	600 mcg	n/a
Lactation, ages 19+	500 mcg	n/a

Here's How You Can Get Folate

Major Food Sources

Foods with the high amounts of folate include:

Fortified breakfast cereal
Beef liver
Lentils
Spinach
Egg noodles
Great Northern beans
Asparagus
Macaroni
Rice
Avocado
Papaya
Corn
Broccoli

Tips For Increasing Your Folate Intake

To help increase your intake of folate:

Spread a little avocado on your sandwich in place of mayonnaise.
Drink a glass of orange juice or tomato juice in the morning.
Add spinach to your scrambled eggs.
Slice a banana on top of your breakfast cereal.
Sprinkle some toasted wheat germ on top of pasta or a stir-fry.
Throw some chickpeas or kidney beans into a salad.
If you take a vitamin supplement, make sure it contains folate.

RESOURCES:

Academy of Nutrition and Dietetics http://www.eatright.org
Food and Nutrition United States Department of Agriculture http://www.usda.gov

CANADIAN RESOURCES:

Dietitians of Canada http://www.dietitians.ca/
Food and Nutrition Health Canada http://www.hc-sc.gc.ca/fn-an/index-eng.php

References:

Folate. Office of Dietary Supplements website. Available at: http://ods.od.nih.gov/factsheets/Folate-HealthProfessional/. Accessed August 28, 2012.
Folate deficiency. EBSCO DynaMed website. Available at: http://www.ebscohost.com/dynamed. Updated December 15, 2012. Accessed August 28, 2012.
Folic acid. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention website. Available at: http://www.cdc.gov/ncbddd/folicacid/index.html. Updated March 10, 2011. Accessed on August 26, 2012.
Folic acid information. WIC Learning Center website. Available at: http://www.nal.usda.gov/wicworks/Learning_Center/WICfood_folic.html. Accessed on August 28, 2012.
Garrison RH, Somer E. The Nutrition Desk Reference. New Canann, CT: Keats Publishing; 1995.
Hankey GJ. Is plasma homocysteine a modifiable risk factor for stroke? Nat Clin Pract Neurol. 2006;2(review):26-33.
Herrmann W. Significance of hyperhomocysteinemia. Clin Lab. 2006;52(review):367-374.
Micronutrient needs during pregnancy and lactation. Oregon State University Linus Pauling Institute website. Available at: http://lpi.oregonstate.edu/infocenter/lifestages/pregnancyandlactation/index.html. Accessed August 28, 2012.
Roth C, Magnus P, Schjolberg S, et al. Folic acid supplements in pregnancy and severe language delay in children. JAMA. 2011 Oct 12;306(14):1566-73.
Toole J, Malinow R, Chambless L, et al. Lowering homocysteine in patients with ischemic stroke to prevent recurrent stroke, myocardial infarction, and death: the Vitamin Intervention for Stroke Prevention (VISP) randomized controlled trial. JAMA. 2004;291:565-575.
11/6/2009 DynaMed's Systematic Literature Surveillance DynaMed's Systematic Literature Surveillance: Christian P, Stewart CP, LeClerq SC, et al. Antenatal and postnatal iron supplementation and childhood mortality in rural Nepal: a prospective follow-up in a randomized, controlled community trial. Am J Epidemiol. 2009;170:1127-1136. Christian P, Khatry SK, Katz J, et al. Effects of alternative maternal micronutrient supplements on low birth weight in rural Nepal: double blind randomised community trial. BMJ. 2003;326(7389):571.
10/21/2011 DynaMed's Systematic Literature Surveillance DynaMed's Systematic Literature Surveillance: Roth C, Magnus P, Schjølberg S, et al. Folic acid supplements in pregnancy and severe language delay in children. JAMA. 2011;306(14):1566-1573.

Last reviewed August 2012 by Brian Randall, MD

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