I believe that the first thing many expectant mothers do when preparing for pregnancy is take folic acid .
Although the importance of folic acid supplementation has been popularized for many years, it seems that many expectant mothers have not paid enough attention to it.
Many expectant mothers take folic acid supplements three days for fishing and two days for surfing the Internet . Sometimes they forget to take it and think it’s nothing, and some even don’t take it when they are preparing for pregnancy.
In fact, this idea is really dangerous.
I saw some female friends sharing their pregnancy experiences on the Internet, saying that they had had an unexplained miscarriage. At that time, the doctor suspected that it might be related to folic acid.
In fact, academic circles have long believed that folic acid has a significant relationship with unexplained spontaneous abortion .
So sometimes it is really not alarmist. Folic acid supplementation must not be taken lightly, otherwise it will cause harm to both the fetus and the mother.
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Is folic acid really so important?
Folic acid, also called vitamin B9, is a member of the B family of vitamins and is very abundant in the green leaves of plants.
Folic acid is a very important nutrient for the human body.
It participates in the metabolism of genetic material and protein. It is one of the essential vitamins for the growth, reproduction and development of cells in the body. If it is lacking, it will have a great impact on the normal physiological activities of the human body.
Especially for pregnant women, supplementing an appropriate amount of folic acid can effectively prevent the fetus from premature birth, deformity, spinal dehiscence, underweight, hare lip, and other phenomena.
However, the level of folic acid in the body of women of childbearing age in my country is generally low. Especially pregnant women , in order to supply the growth and development of the fetus in the mother and the growth of placenta and uterus, the demand for folic acid is even greater.
If you rely on daily diet to absorb folic acid, it is difficult to reach a certain amount.
Folic acid is a water-soluble vitamin and is widely found in green leaves of plants.
If the dietary structure of pregnant women lacks green leafy vegetables or the cooking method is incorrect , such as making soup, etc., it will easily lead to insufficient folic acid intake. .
At the same time, if the folic acid before pregnancy is already insufficient, especially if takes contraceptives and other drugs that affect folic acid metabolism, the folic acid deficiency of pregnant women will be more serious, increasing the risk of fetal underdevelopment.
Of course, if excessive folic acid supplement, it will also bring health risks.
Affects the absorption of zinc
Long-term excessive use of folic acid will interfere with the mother's absorption of zinc. Once zinc intake is insufficient, it will affect the normal development of the baby, lead to congenital dementia of the fetus, and even underweight infants Phenomenon.
Masking vitamin B12 deficiency
Overdose of folic acid may affect the content of vitamin B12 in the body and cause megaloblastic anemia.
aggravates nausea and vomiting
Overdose can also cause expectant mothers to lose their appetite, abdominal distension and discomfort, , and even aggravate nausea and vomiting.
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The amount of folic acid that everyone needs to supplement is different.
In fact, the amount of folic acid that everyone needs to supplement is different, because everyone has different folic acid metabolism capabilities.
In China, 60-80% of the population has varying degrees of folic acid metabolism disorder. If these people supplement folic acid at normal doses, it is easy to cause folic acid deficiency.
There are 20-40% of the population with normal folic acid metabolism. If these people supplement too much, it may lead to excessive folic acid.
So how do you know whether your folic acid metabolism is normal or has a disorder?
In fact, there are two main genes related to folate metabolism: MTHFR and MTRR. As long as you detect the two genotypes , you can know whether your folic acid metabolism is normal.
If you want to know your own folic acid metabolism ability, you can do this kind of test.
