Folic Acid background
Folic acid is a B vitamin and it was discovered early last century. It became known as folate and occurs naturally in leafy green vegetables such as brocolli and spinach, also black beans lentils, breads, pasta and some nuts. The absorption of folic acid from foods can be low however, and this is why a folic acid supplement is recommended before conception and during the first pregnancy weeks. Although this website does not endorse particular levels of folic acid that are optimum during pregnancy we can tell you that the general recommendation for pregnant and lactating women is 600 mcg/day and 500 mcg/day, respectively. Apparently women with inadequate folic acid intake are more likely to give birth to low birth weight babies (less than 5 ½ pounds) in addition to being more at risk of having a baby with a neural tube defect.