Wednesday, July 10, 2013

Garbh Sanskar: All About Folic Acid During Pregnancy

Folic Acid: Your Superhero In Pregnancy

Folic  acid is a B vitamin. It helps the body make healthy new cells. "Folic acid" and "folate" mean the same thing. Folic acid is a manmade form of folate. Folate is found naturally in some foods. Most women do not get all the folic acid they need through food alone.

Folic acid allows the body to perform many essential functions including nucleotide biosynthesis in cells, DNA synthesis and repair, red blood cell creation, and prevention of anemia.Folic acid is a pregnancy superhero! Taking a prenatal vitamin with the recommended 400 micrograms (mcg) of folic acid before and during pregnancy can help prevent birth defects of your baby's brain and spinal cord.

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Birth defects occur within the first 3-4 weeks of pregnancy. So it's important to have folic acid in your system during those early stages when your baby's brain and spinal cord are developing. Once you're pregnant to make sure it has the recommended amounts of everything you need, including folic acid. All prenatal vitamins are not the same and some may have less or more of the vitamins and minerals you need.

Folic acid plays an important role in helping your body make red blood cells. Red blood cells are important because they carry oxygen from your lungs to all parts of your body.

All people need folic acid. But folic acid is very important for women who are able to get pregnant. When a woman has enough folic acid in her body before and during pregnancy, it can prevent major birth defects, including:

  • Spina bifida (SPEYE-nuh BIF-ih-duh), which occurs when an unborn baby’s spinal column does not close to protect the spinal cord. As a result, the nerves that control leg movements and other functions do not work. Children with spina bifida often have lifelong disabilities. They may also need many surgeries.
  • Anencephaly (an-en-SEF-uh-lee), which is when most or all of the brain does not develop. Babies with this problem die before or shortly after birth.

Here's how much folic acid is recommended each day in terms of pregnancy:

  • While you're trying to conceive: 400 mcg
  • For the first three months of pregnancy: 400 mcg
  • For months four to nine of pregnancy: 600 mcg
  • While breastfeeding: 500 mcg

Some flour, breads, cereals and pasta have folic acid added to them. Look for “fortified” or “enriched” on the package to know if the product has folic acid in it. Even if you eat fortified or enriched foods, be sure to keep taking your multivitamin or prenatal vitamin with folic acid.

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You also can get folic acid from some fruits and vegetables. When folic acid is naturally in a food, it’s called folate. Foods that are good sources of folate are:

  • Beans, like lentils and black beans
  • wholemeal bread and oats
  • Leafy green vegetables, like spinach
  • Peanuts (But don’t eat them if you have a peanut allergy)
  • Citrus fruits, like oranges and grapefruit
  • Orange juice (From concentrate is best)
  • soya products,almonds and nuts
  • potato and sweet potato
  • spinach,beetroot, brussel sprouts,broccoli,cabbage,banana,oranges,asparagus,peaches,strawberries, honeydew or pineapple, papaya and raspberries
  • Milk,Cheese,Yoghurt
  • almonds, cashew nuts, peanuts, walnuts and sesame seeds.
  • Any kind of citrus juice is good for folic acid, like orange or grapefruit.
  • Bell Peppers

you could make a few small changes to your diet:

  • Include orange juice at breakfast or chopped fruit with your breakfast cereal.
  • Choose a bowl of fruit salad at snack time.

Guideline

  • Include more foods that are high in Folic Acid in the diet
  • Fruit and vegetables should be eaten raw whenever possible as cooking destroys Folic Acid
  • Increase the use of wheat flour and soya flour in baking and food preparation

Note: The folic acid in foods is delicate and can be destroyed by cooking. Try to cook in a covered pan with the minimum amount of boiling water. Eat vegetables lightly steamed, microwaved, or raw.

It doesn’t matter if it’s pumpkin, sesame, sunflower or flax seeds, eating them raw, sprouted, or sprinkled onto a salad will add a healthy dose of folic acid. Sunflower seeds, flax seeds and peanuts are especially high in folate, with one cup offering up to 300 mcg. Nuts are also very high in folic acid, with both peanuts and almonds ranking especially high. Below is a short list of the best seeds and nuts for folic acid.

This cruciferous vegetable is typically regarded as one of the best vitamin C foods, but it’s also a great source of folic acid. Eating just one cup of cauliflower will give you approximately 55 mcg of folate-adding fresh cauliflower to a salad is best ideas to get extra one.

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Beets are also known as one of the best foods with folic acid. Eating one cup of boiled beets will provide you with approximately 136 mcg of folate, accounting for 34% of your daily needs.

Just one cup of cooked corn will give you approximately 76 mcg of folic acid, accounting for almost 20% of your daily needs. I recommend avoiding canned veggies and opting for fresh and organic.

Just one cup of raw celery will give you approximately 34 mcg of folate, accounting for 8% of your daily needs.

Just one cup of raw carrots will give you almost 5% of your daily recommended needs for folic acid. Eat baby carrots as a snack or add them to your salads for a folate boost and this is another best idea to get extra one.

Eating one cup of boiled brussels sprouts will give you approximately 25% of your daily recommended amount. Brussels sprouts are also high in vitamin C, vitamin K, vitamin A, manganese and potassium.

Not only are avocados one of the best foods with folic acid, but it’s also an excellent source of fatty acids, vitamin K and dietary fiber. Adding them to sandwiches or salads will make for an extra-healthy treat.

Beans and peas especially high in folic acid include green peas, black-eyed peas and kidney beans. A small bowl of any type of lentils will give you the majority of your recommended daily amounts of folate. 

One large banana will give you 27.0 mcg of folate.

Leafy vegetables are extremely nutrient dense with a load of essential vitamins, minerals, phytonutrients, and powerful antioxidants to help you maintain your body function. In terms of folic acid content, usually darker and leafier vegetables are more concentrated with folate. To really get the most folate out of your vegetables, some light cooking can be a good idea. This can help breakdown the vegetables and release the folate that is held within. For example, a cup of raw spinach gives you about 58 micrograms of folate, but a cup of lightly cooked spinach gives you about 260 micrograms of folate. Remember not to overcook them though. Folic acids are water soluble and very heat sensitive. Prolonged cooking time or exposure to high heat can significantly reduce the folate in your food. 

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Folic Acid is important because…

  • Folic acid may decrease the risk of your unborn baby developing serious birth defects.
  • Folic acid may reduce a woman’s risk of having a baby with a birth defect when consumed prior to conception and during the early weeks of pregnancy. During preconception.
  • Folic acid helps reduce the incidence of birth defects by 50 to 70 percent.
  • If you have enough folic acid in your body before pregnancy, this vitamin can prevent birth defects in a baby’s brain or spine, also called neural tube defects.
  • There is evidence that folic acid may prevent neural tube defects as well as other types of birth defects, including cleft palate, certain congenital heart defects, limb-reduction, and urinary tract defects.
  • Some studies also suggest that an adequate intake of folic acid may help decrease the risk of adult diseases,
  • including heart disease, stroke, and colon and cervical cancer.

The best cooking methods to preserve the nutrition are boiling or steaming.

You have an increased risk if:

  • you or your partner have a neural tube defect 
  • you have had a previous pregnancy affected by a neural tube defect
  • you or your partner have a family history of neural tube defects
  • you have diabetes

Pregnant women should continue taking 400 mcg of folic acid through early pregnancy.

Typically, the neural tube closes 28 days after conception (gestational week six), according to the study researchers, and the development of basic brain structures occurs 15 to 56 days after conception (during gestational weeks five to 10.)

Click below link for research  article:

http://jama.jamanetwork.com/article.aspx?articleid=1104494

Take care of your unborn baby.

Disclaimer
The sole purpose of these blogs is to provide information about the tradition of ayurveda. This information is not intended for use in the diagnosis, prevention or cure of any disease. If you have any serious, acute or chronic health concern, please consult a trained doctor/health professional who can fully assess your needs and address them effectively. If you are seeking the medical advice of a trained Ayurvedic expert, call us or e mail.

Dr Unnati Chavda
(Promoting pregnancy wellness)
www.ayurvedapanchkarma.in

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