Top Pregnancy Nutrient
In 1998 a British researcher Nicholas Wald linked folate consumption to a reduction in neural-tube defects (NTDs), including spina bifida and anencephaly. In order to make sure that you have a perfectly healthy baby you must not miss out a very crucial pregnancy nutrient: folate. There is enough proof that this B vitamin is a key in preventing serious birth defects and preterm birth, but recent research shows that its consumption is on the decline.
Averting serious birth defects
Spina bifida (“open spine”) is a birth defect that can cause lifelong disabilities, including loss of bowel control and lower-body paralysis, while babies with anencephaly, in which part or all of the brain is missing, die before or shortly after birth. Adequate folate or folic acid intake daily, before and during pregnancy, can reduce your baby’s risk for neural-tube defects by 70 percent.
A recent study also found that getting the recommended amount of folate can cut a baby’s risk of being born with a cleft lip or cleft palate by one-third. But perhaps the most interesting new science, involves folate and premature-birth prevention.
In an unpublished study of 38,000 women sponsored by the National Institutes of Health, United States, folate supplementation for at least one year before conception was linked to a 70 percent decrease in very early preterm deliveries—20 to 28 weeks—and a 50 percent decline in deliveries at 28 to 32 weeks. Further, new research has shown that folic acid taken early in pregnancy can reduce the risk of preeclampsia, a potentially life-threatening blood pressure disorder.
Start taking it now
To receive the greatest benefits from folate you need to supplement before conceiving. Birth defects of the spine and brain occur in the first weeks of pregnancy, in many cases this happens even before a woman even realizes she’s pregnant. Since 50 percent of pregnancies are unplanned, doctors recommend that all women capable of becoming pregnant get 400 micrograms of folic acid from supplements or fortified foods in addition to their intake of folate from a varied diet.
In addition to prenatal vitamins that contain 800-1,000 micrograms, which will cover your folic acid needs, you also need to eat foods like fortified cereals, beans and leafy greens because folate is better absorbed by your body from food.
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