Folic Acid is a water-soluble B vitamin and the leftover amounts of the vitamin leave the body through the urine. So body needs a continuous supply of the vitamin in the foods you eat, as it can’t store the vitamin.
Health Benefits of Folic Acid
- It helps the body to make healthy new cells and cells work. So it is particularly crucial during periods of rapid cell division and growth such as infancy and pregnancy.
- For women who may get pregnant, it is really important. When a woman has enough folic acid in her body before and during pregnancy, it can prevent major birth defects of her baby’s brain or spine.
- It contributes to a healthy heart
- It is needed to make DNA and RNA, the building blocks of cells. It also helps prevent mutation changes to DNA that may lead to cancer.
- It helps to make normal red blood cells and prevent anemia.
- It is essential for the metabolism of homocysteine, which maintains normal levels of this amino acid.
Foods rich in Folic Acid
It occurs naturally in leafy dark green vegetables, citrus fruits, liver, broccoli, beans, peas, eggs, and many other foods.
Folic acid is needed more in the following cases
- Pregnancy and lactation (breastfeeding)
- Alcohol abuse
- Malabsorption
- Kidney dialysis
- Liver disease
- Certain anemias
Therapeutic effects of Folic Acid
- Essential for growth of fetus during pregnancy
- Increases immunity
- Prevents Cardio Vascular Diseases.
- Helps in DNA synthesis and functions
- Prevents Cancer by controlling DNA Changes
- Prevents Anemia
