Folic Acid Awareness

While you may be concerned about your weight and New Year’s resolutions in January, perhaps you should be looking at your supplement bottle.   January 6-12 is Folic Acid Awareness Week.  What can this powerful B vitamin do you for you?Folate (found in foods that contain the vitamin) is needed for normal DNA synthesis, cell growth as well as preventing anemia.   Foods high in folate include ‘folliage’ or leafy vegetables such as spinach, kale, mustard and other greens, broccoli, Brussels sprouts and asparagus.  Oranges and peanuts are also a decent form of folate.Folic acid is the synthetic form of folate and may be known as vitamin B9.  In 1998, grains and cereal products were fortified with folic acid by the USDA.  This helped to reduce the incidence of birth defects in up to 70% of pregnancies, because let’s face it- women are carbohydrate eaters!  The DRI for folic acid is 400 micrograms/day, which can be obtained in a womens’ daily multi-vitamin.Can you get too much folic acid?  YES.  While folic acid is water-soluble, recent research suggests that too excessive folic acid has been linked with increased risk of several cancers, including prostate cancer.  Researchers from the University of Alabama reviewed several large prospective studies on folic acid and found that cancer incidence was higher in individuals who supplemented folic acid than those who did not.  Scientists believe that excess folic acid may cause cancer cells to grow.  Folate (found in food) helps protect against the disease.What should you do?  If you have prostate cancer or you’re at risk for it, avoid taking folic acid supplements, especially more than 1000 mcg (1 gram) per day.  Women taking folic acid before or during pregnancy are not at increased risk for cancer.Bottom line?  Food over pills!