Are you a woman in your child bearing years? If so, the following article regarding Folic Acid supplementation is meant for you.   

Folic Acid is a B vitamin which when taken during and prior to pregnancy helps to prevent birth defects of the brain and spine.  This naturally occurring vitamin helps the baby's neural tube, the part of the baby which develops into the brain and spinal cord, develop properly.  When the neural tube does not close properly, a child is born with a serious birth defect named a neural tube defect.  Approximately 2,500 children each year are born with a neural tube defect according to The March of Dimes.  The March of Dimes predicts that if all women took adequate folic acid before conception and during pregnancy, the number of babies born with neural tube defects could drop as much as 70 percent. 

Folic acid works at helping to prevent neural tube defects; however, it only works when taken before and during the first few weeks of pregnancy.  The first few weeks of pregnancy is when the neural tube is developing into the brain and spinal cord.  Since pregnancies are not always planned, it is important for all women of child bearing years to take Folic Acid to ensure neural tube defects can help to be prevented. 

The recommended dosage of Folic Acid for women of child bearing years is 400 micrograms (or 0.4 milligrams) a day.  The easiest way to ensure receiving the proper amounts of Folic Acid is to take a multivitamin which contains 400 micrograms, as well as to eat a well balanced, healthy diet.  While Folic Acid is obtained through your diet, it is hard to get enough every day completely through diet alone.  Some foods which contain Folic Acid and can contribute to your supplementation include the following: 

Folic Acid is not only important for women of child bearing age to take.  Recent studies have suggested that Folic Acid may help to prevent heart disease, stroke, cervical and colon cancer, and possibly breast cancer.