Its Folic Acid Awareness week! You should know how important it is for your body!

Folic acid (also known as folate) is a B-vitamin that is needed for red blood cell growth and production. It is important for men and women to keep a good amount of folic acid in their diet by eating foods high in folic acid as:

• Fortified grains like pasta, or breakfast cereal
• Lentils
• Melon
• Orange/orange juice
• Peas
• Spinach

You can also take supplements to get enough folate—folate can be taken in the following forms:

• Multi-vitamins - 400 micrograms (0.4 milligrams) of folate taken daily.

Having enough folic acid in your diet may reduce your chances of getting cardiovascular disease and stroke. If you don’t have enough folic acid you may also be more prone to depression and also may not respond well to antidepressants.

Folate is especially important for women of childbearing age as it can prevent from 50% to 70% of some forms of serious birth defects of the brain and spine. Even if women aren’t planning on becoming pregnant, they should take a folic acid supplement (see above), since 50% of all pregnancies are unplanned.

For more information on folic acid please click here.