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What is Folic Acid?

Folic acid, also known as folate or folacin when it naturally occurs in foods, is a B vitamin that is essential for the healthy development of a baby’s spine, brain and skull during the early weeks of pregnancy.

Folic acid has been proven to help reduce the risk of neural tube defects such as spina bifida, by as much as 70% if taken before pregnancy. Read more...

FOLIC ACID

What All Women Should Know

Because many pregnancies are unplanned, all women who could become pregnant should take a daily multivitamin containing 0.4mg (400mcg) of folic acid.

Question of the Month

Can women get too much folic acid?

Answer

You can't get too much folic acid from foods that naturally contain it, but unless your doctor tells you otherwise, don’t consume more than 1 mg of folic acid a day. Consuming too much folic acid can hide signs that a person is lacking vitamin B12 (which can cause nerve damage), though lacking vitamin B12 is rare among women of childbearing age and...

DSM et al petition FDA to fortify corn masa flour with folic acid

A coalition of six organizations including vitamin giant DSM has petitioned the FDA to allow corn masa flour to be fortified with folic acid in a bid to decrease neural tube defects in the...

FDA Asked to Broaden Folic Acid Mandate

A half dozen medical and advocacy groups have petitioned the FDA to require the addition of folic acid to corn masa flour products, such as tortillas, in order to help prevent birth defects in...

Every Healthy Baby is a Victory!

“Dramatically reduce your risk of having a baby with a neural tube birth defect like spina bifida by taking a daily multi-vitamin with folic acid prior to conception and during pregnancy....

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What is Folic Acid?

FOLIC ACID

What All Women Should Know

Question of the Month

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