Sources of Folic Acid (Folates)

5-6 weeks pregnant, Health advice

To read the first part of this article, go to Vitamins and Folic Acid.

Pour lire la première partie de ce billet, accédez au billet Vitamines et acide folique.

There are many sources of folic acid (folates). Many foods contain folic acid and generally meet a person’s needs. But for a woman who may be pregnant, simple diet makes it difficult to meet suggested blood dosages (folates in red blood cells) to have a protective impact against several malformations.grossesse_jus orange

You will find high levels of folic acid is broccoli, peas, corn, spinach, Brussel sprouts, lentils and oranges.

Recommendations if you want to conceive soon

You need to maintain a balanced diet, rich in folates and take multivitamin supplements containing vitamin B-12 and folic acid.

l faut garder à priori un régime alimentaire équilibré, riche en folates et y ajouter une multivitamine contenant de la vitamine B-12 et de l’acide folique en supplément à votre régime alimentaire.

Your caregiver, doctor, nurse, pharmacist or midwife can suggest the dosage level based on risks due to your health condition, family history (mother and father) to maximise the impact of folic acid on risks for your baby. 

We know that folic acid is absorbed in the intestine, so your caregiver may prefer to increase the recommended dosage depending on whether you have an intestinal health problem, such as Crohn’s disease. They may also increase the dosage if your spouse’s sister had a child with spina-bifida (family history). 

If you are treated with medication for specific health problems, some molecules will impact folate metabolism, reducing their absorption, which will also require an increased dosage to compensate. Some drugs are already identified for this: metformin, methotrexate, chloramphenicol, sulfasalazine, phenobarbital, barbiturates and several others. 

To learn about recommended dosages, see Folic Acid Dosages. 

Pour connaître les dosages recommandés, voir Les dosages de l’acide folique.

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Sources of Folic Acid (Folates)

Par Marie Fortier Temps de lecture: 1 min
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