Here are some food that contain folic acid if you do not prefer pills. Pills can be a pain in the ass sometimes.
Folic acid is well known for preventing birth defects, but it's not solely for pregnant women. Folic acid may help prevent heart disease, depression, prevent Alzheimer's disease, type-2 diabetes, and even some forms of cancer.
Accodring to (Madison, 2012)
Heart Health: How does Folic Acid protect my heart? Folic acid pairs with Vitamin B12 as a coenzyme to help metabolism the amino acids methonine and homocysteine. Without folic acid, homocysteine levels can cause blood to clot more easily than normal and cause cardiovascular disease and heart attacks. Studies have shown folic acid may lower homocysteine levels (Madison, 2012).
Natural Depression Remedy: Folic acid supplements have been used to help treat depression and enhance antidepressant drugs. Studies have shown that people who are deficient in folic acid have less response to antidepressant medication. Folic acid is also believed to play a part in mood regulation.
Alzheimer’s Disease: A recent study of 579 men and women ages 60 and up has shown that folic acid may help ward off Alzheimer’s disease. The study found that participants who regularly consumed the recommended daily allowance of folic acid (400 mcg) through both food and supplements cut their risk of developing Alzheimer’s in half. Folic Acid also may play a key role in preventing overall memory loss associated with old age.
Diabetes Prevention: Folic Acid may help with the breakdown of triglycerides. Triglycerides are a type of fat found in the blood that are used for energy. Type-2 diabetes is linked to high levels of triglycerides in the blood. A study by the European Journal of Endocrinology also found when looking at four different groups of women from different geographical locations, those with a BMI of 30 and above also had low levels of folic acid.
Cancer Benefits: According to The American Cancer Society, low levels of folic acid in the blood have been linked with higher rates of colorectal cancer and some other types of cancer (Madison, 2012). A large study from 1980 to 1994 found that the women who took more than 400 mcg of folic acid per day were less likely to get colon cancer than those with those who took less than 200 mcg.
Folic acid is necessary to make and repair DNA when creating new cells. Scientists believe that low levels of folic acid may lead to changes in chemicals that affect DNA (Madison, 2012). This may alter how well cells can repair themselves or divide properly, which may lead to cancer.
Reference:
1. Madison. (2012). Five surprising benefits of folic acid. Healthy to Go. Retrience March 2, 2016 from http://togobrands.com/benefits-of-folic-acid/
2. The American Cancer Society. (May 7, 2011). Folic Acid. Retrieved November 30, 2012 fromhttp://www.cancer.org/treatment/treatmentsandsideeffects/complementaryandalternativemedicine/herbsvitaminsandminerals/folic-acid
2. The American Cancer Society. (May 7, 2011). Folic Acid. Retrieved November 30, 2012 fromhttp://www.cancer.org/treatment/treatmentsandsideeffects/complementaryandalternativemedicine/herbsvitaminsandminerals/folic-acid
I like how you showed how folic acid help with each condition. This blog post is informative and helpful. I learned something new about Folic Acid since I didn't know much before. Good job.
ReplyDeleteI only ever think of folic acid in terms of being pregnant, so I thought that it was very nice how you broke it down with each condition so you can see how very important it is.
ReplyDeleteI did not realize that folic acid had this many benefits, so this post was very informative!
ReplyDeleteThis was good!!! I like you explained what folic acid can fix and how. And how important it is when a mother is pregnant. A lot of the things you put down for treatment is super easy, affordable and helpful
ReplyDeleteThis was a great post because i never really understood what folic acid was and why pregnant women needed it until reading this and finding out the treatments for it.
ReplyDeleteI realy enjoyed this post i like how you explained what contains folic acid because alot of people arent aware of that. These are good facts to know for future references when people are thinking about having kids
ReplyDeleteI really enjoyed reading this post and I had no idea how important folic acid was to our diets. I like the pictures of different foods that are good to eat and that you listed all the different diseases that folic acid can help reduce your risk of getting.
ReplyDeleteThis is a great topic! Very few people know how important it is to get the adequate amount of folic acid. Many don't even hear about it until they become pregnant. Great Job. Well written!
ReplyDelete