Before you become pregnant, start taking a vitamin supplement which contains folic acid. Folic acid (also known as folacin) is one of the B vitamins. It is known as “folate” when found in natural food sources. Recents studies show that folic acid deficiency may be a significant factor in the formation of neural tube defects (birth defects involving the brain and/or spinal cord).
The average American dietary intake of folate is about 0.2 mg/day. Folate is less “bioavailable” than pure folic acid. This means that natural sources of folates are absorbed and utilized LESS well than pure folic acid. So, before you conceive, you should be consuming 400 mcg (0.4 mg) of folic acid. The current recommendation is that you should be consuming this much folate daily 30 days before you conceive. It is quite possible to get the equivalent of this much folic acid in your daily diet without supplements- BUT MOST PEOPLE DO NOT. The following foods are rich in folates:
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*Table derived from information provided by the USDA’s Nutrient Database.
Since more than half of all pregnancies are unplanned, it has been recommended that ALL women of childbearing age (capable of pregnancy) should be ingesting 0.4 mg (400 mcg) of folic acid every day.