Folic Acid and Its Function

• Folic acid is part of the B-vitamin family. It is used to make new cells in the body, such as for skin and nails. Women need roughly 400 mcg folic acid daily, according to the Centers for Disease Control, but everyone needs some folic acid in his diet. While this may seem like a lot of folic acid, it can be found in many foods, some with 100 percent of a daily serving.
  
  

Foods with Folic Acid

• While 400 mcg daily may seem like a large amount, many common foods hold folic acid. Folic acid can be found in fruits and vegetables along with peas, beans, soy milk, nuts, peanuts and peanut butter, pastas, white rice, bread and flour. Cereal is another good way to get Vitamin B. Some breakfast cereals even come with the complete daily amount per serving. Cheerios, Raisin Bran, Wheat Chex, Cinnamon Crunch, Special K, and Cap'n'Crunch include the total daily servings, but check the labels on food items because there are others.
  
  Folic acid also helps speed up metabolism, so if you must ingest a couple extra calories to obtain the daily serving, do not fret too much.
  
  

What Folic Acid Prevents

• Folic acid is crucial for pregnant woman or for woman who are thinking about becoming pregnant because it prevents spina bifida and anencephaly. Folic acid needs to be included in everyone's diet because it also helps with homocysteine in the blood, a risk factor for cardiovascular disease. It may help prevent some cancers, Alzheimer's and hearing loss as you grow older. There is some evidence that folic acid can help prevent megaloblastic anemia.
  
  

Spina Bifida and Anencephaly Birth Defects

• Spina bifida is the most common permanently disabling birth defect in the United States according to the Spina Bifida Association. Approximately 3,000 babies per year are born with the disease, which means their spines fail to close properly. While not all people with the disease have all problems, some side effects of the disease are inability to walk, hydrocephalus or a buildup of fluid around the brain, problems looking up and breaking, worsening of brain functions, difficulty staying awake and swallowing. Some may not be able to control their bowels properly. Spina bifida also can cause depression and anxiety throughout life and is incurable.
  
  Anencephaly is a defect in the closure of the narrow channel that forms the brain and spinal cord during the beginning of pregnancy. Babies are born without the front of their bran or the cerebrum, the part of the brain that helps with coordination and thinking. The rest of the brain is usually left exposed. When born, the baby is usually blind, deaf, unconscious and unable to feel pain. If they are not stillborn, the life expectancy of a baby with anencephaly is usually a few hours or days.