Should We Be Putting Folic Acid in Our Flour?

Taking care of your wellbeing during pregnancy is one of the first steps you can take to support family wellness. Your doctor will tell you to take certain supplements such as folic acid, to prevent your baby’s risk of being born with a neural tube defect (birth defects that can affect the brain, spine and spinal cord), such as spina bifida. However, a UK study has found that just a third of women report taking folic acid before pregnancy, which has prompted calls for flour to be fortified with folic acid.

 

If your baby’s wellness is affected by spina bifida, it means he or she can suffer from learning difficulties, paralysis of the lower limbs and bladder and bowel incontinence. Therefore, it is recommended that you take a 400 microgram folic acid tablet every day while trying to get pregnant and until you are 12 weeks pregnant (or, if your baby was a happy surprise, you should take folic acid as soon as you find out you are pregnant). However, the study found only a third of women were taking this recommended amount, and that young women were less likely to take folic acid than older women, and non-white women were less likely to take folic acid than white women. As a result of these findings, the researchers have called for food in the UK to be fortified with folic acid. This is a practise that already occurs in the US, Canada and Australia, but could be met with resistance if actually proposed by UK politicians and policy makers.

 

It’s important to point out that the study, which was carried out by researchers from the Wolfson Institute of Preventive Medicine, was given no support or funding to report and there were no competing interests. The cross-sectional survey covered women who had antenatal screening for Down’s syndrome and neural tube defects at the Institute between 1999 and 2012. These women were asked if they had started taking folic acid supplements before pregnancy, once the pregnancy was confirmed or if they hadn’t taken folic acid supplements. The researchers also accounted for:

• if women had previously had a neural tube defect pregnancy


• if women had previously had a Down’s syndrome pregnancy


• the woman’s ethnicity, weight, age and if she smoked


• if the women had diabetes


• if the women had got pregnant using IVF


• where the women lived


• time of screening (first or second trimester)

 

The results of the study, which were published in the peer-reviewed journal PLOS One, revealed that the proportion of women taking folic acid supplements before pregnancy had declined, from 35% over the 1999-2001 period to 31% over 2011-12. Moreover, just 6% of women aged under 20 took folic acid supplements before pregnancy compared with 40% of women aged 35 and over. 17% of Afro-Caribbean, 25% of Oriental and 20% of South Asian women took folic acid supplements, compared with 35% of Caucasian women. In addition, women who had a previous neural tube defect pregnancy or a previous Down’s syndrome pregnancy were more likely to take folic acid supplements before the current pregnancy (51% and 54% respectively, compared to just 30% of women who had not had either pregnancy.)

 

So how did the researchers interpret the results? The study investigators commented, ‘The policy of folic acid supplementation is failing and has led to health inequalities. This study demonstrates the need to fortify flour and other cereal grain with folic acid in all countries.’ The Food Standard Agency, the Scientific Advisory Committee on Nutrition and the Chief Medical Officers have all recommended fortification, and this is being considered by UK health ministers.

Categories: acid supplements, defect pregnancy, flour, folic acid, neural tube, Research, spina bifida, syndrome pregnancy, tube defect, white women, women aged

Which Supplements Are Vital for Your Bones, Baby and Belly?

Nutrition is vital to female wellness, whether you’re working on the wellbeing of your bones, belly or future baby. The good news is, with a healthy, balanced diet you’re already getting everything you need, says Women’s Health Nutrition Expert and Registered Dietitian Keri Glassman : ‘We get a wide variety of nutrients from eating fruits, vegetables, whole grains, and healthy fats, often in perfect proportions. We rarely over or under do it.’

 

Still, sometimes you need a little extra nutrient power here and there, and that’s where supplements come in. You might need to take certain vitamins or minerals if you’re unwell, pregnant or a vegetarian, or as an insurance policy for those times you eat a bag of doughnuts for breakfast instead of your usual whole-wheat toast. According to Glassman, ‘When considering supplements, women need to think bones, babies, and bellies. Sufficient bone density is needed to prevent osteoporosis, an adequate store of folate is essential for fertility and foetal development, and a healthy waistline lowers the risk of cardiovascular disease and other chronic diseases. Women must also load up on the nutrients that are essential to prevent chronic diseases in the future.’

 

Bones – As you were told as a kid, calcium is vital for keeping bones strong, but your need for it doesn’t stop just because you’ve stopped growing. Mary Ellen Camire, PhD, a nutrition professor at the University of Maine at Orono, explains, ‘Women start losing bone density in their twenties. Calcium is your single best defence, and you should start taking it now.’

 

Babies – If you’re pregnant, folate is absolutely essential. A deficiency in this B vitamin can lead to serious complications, such as your baby being born prematurely or with neural tube defects. Taking 600mg of folate when pregnant can reduce your baby’s chances of neural tube defects by 72-100%!

 

Belly – As the most studied and most active antioxidant in green tea, epigallocatechin-3-gallate (EGCG) may help reduce your waistline by fighting weight-causing free radicals. Plus, the antioxidant properties of green tea work to lower your cholesterol (which reduces your heart disease risk) and may help prevent the development and growth of skin tumors.

Categories: Baby, bone density, bones, calcium, Chronic Diseases, folate, green tea, nbsp, neural tube, Supplements, tube defects, Women

How Folic Acid Can Help Reduce The Risk of Autism

Folic acid has long been recommended during pregnancy to help reduce the risk of many health concerns in the unborn child, but new studies suggest that it could help to prevent autism from developing. The March of Dimes, a private US group, has gone even further to suggest that all women of a childbearing age should take this potent B-vitamin, even if they aren’t planning to get pregnant, as it can help to reduce the risk of autism in everyone.

The neural tube is the origin of the brain in the foetus and this closes very early on in the development of the child. It is when this tube is damaged that defects can occur. Such defects include spina bifida, which is a condition where the spine is damaged, as well as some brain defects. When looking at the impact of folic acid on the formation on the neural tube, they noticed that it had a positive effect on the prevention of autism as well. Studies found that the risk was 40 percent lower in those who had taken folic acid than those who hadn’t.

Folic acid can be found in many foods, including green leafy vegetables such as spinach and cabbage, fruits and nuts, which naturally contain folate. This vitamin helps the body to develop new cells. The majority of pre-natal supplements will contain this as it is a vital nutrient in the healthy development of your child. As many pregnancies are unplanned, folic acid supplements from a childbearing age are important to reduce the risk in the early stages of development, where the sensitive stage of pregnancy holds the risk of autism developing. If you’re unsure whether you’re getting enough folic acid, check with your GP who can advise you.

How Folic Acid Can Help Reduce The Risk of Autism

Categories: acid, autism, childbearing age, children's health, folic, folic acid, neural tube, pregnancy, reduce, risk