Taking a Folic Acid Supplement

                                                                                         

In today’s world you have the option of taking supplements to help ensure that your body is getting the proper amount of vitamins and nutrients and I’m sure that at some point in their lives nearly everyone have been given a supplement, including you. This is standard procedure when you are sick, pregnant or even when you are a child.

Folic acid is a supplement that many women choose to take, especially if they are pregnant, especially if they think they could become pregnant. Folic acid is very important in the early weeks of the developing fetus’s life and can help to dramatically reduce the risks of developing a birth defect.

In the first three weeks the fetus develops the neural tube which is the basis for the spinal cord and ensuing nervous system. If there is a lack of folic acid in the body its possible for this development to be stopped, leading to birth defects such as Spina Bifida. Note that three weeks is the earliest point at which a woman can usually discover she is pregnant. So it is very important for a woman who could become pregnant to all ready be taking a folic acid supplement.

Some doctors suggest that any and all sexually active women take a supplement with at least the daily recommended amount (RDA) in it. That way all bases are covered if you are sexually active and even if you are using birth control. The food and drug administration has set the RDA at four hundred micrograms for adults. Ideally if you are pregnant, could become pregnant or are lactating you should take a supplement with between six hundred and eight hundred micrograms in it.

Folic acid is so important in the development of the neural tube because it’s involved in the replication of RNA and DNA, which are the building blocks of life, so to speak. It works to keep mutations or mistakes from being built into the DNA strand.

As such a folic acid supplement is also a good idea for anyone. Cancer can be caused by a simple mutated cell that spreads through the body and anyone can be affected by a form of cancer. Though it works best at helping to prevent cancer from occurring folic acid and other vitamins and nutrients may be recommended by a doctor to those currently undergoing treatment for preexisting cancer.

Also folic acid can keep down levels of homocysteine in the blood. Homocysteine is an unstable molecule that has a connection to forms of dementia and cardiovascular disease. Folic acid is involved in the creation of red blood cells and can help to correct forms of anemia.

Folic acid is water soluble and one of the ‘B vitamins’ so you can often find it in a complex with the other major B vitamins. In some cases it’s better to take folic acid in a complex because the B vitamins all work together in similar areas of the human body.


Visit http://www.stanleybeautycare.com

About the author:
Author Vincent Platania represents the Stanley Home Products. Stanley Home Products has been in business since 1936, and offers high quality home and personal care products to keep your home and your body clean.
Visit http://www.stanleybeautycare.com

Article Source: http://www.Free-Articles-Zone.com