Good Morning, Again
So glad you all enjoyed
the post on Iron . I do believe even non-pregnant women can benefit from that info as well. I was interested to hear how many of you had problems with anemia. I did not mention it in the last post, but I did as well when I was in high school. I had all the symptoms I posted yesterday, I attribute my experience with it to a very poor diet
(back then).
It’s good to see how important it is to eat your plants, and knowing how to get optimal absorption!
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Today I want to talk about Folic Acid. Everyone has heard how important it is to get folic acid during pregnancy. Also known as folate, this nutrient dramatically reduces
(by 50-70%) the chance that your baby will have a neural tube defect like spina bifida. That is a condition in which the baby’s spinal column doesn’t completely close. It also lowers the likelihood of cleft palate and may reduce the risk of premature birth.
In a perfect world, you will start supplementing with folic acid prior to becoming pregnant. Ideally 3 months prior. I started taking this B-6/ Folic Acid/B-12 supplement about a year before we conceived. I hate vitamins, but loved this one from trader Joe’s because it was a small pill that I could take sublingually. I read that taking your B vitamins this way was better for absorption. It also made it more likely that I would be able to take it daily. Even once I became pregnant, I still took these in addition to my prenatal vitamins. For one, I was so nauseous in the first trimester, taking B-6 first thing in the morning helped with that (
B-6 is supposed to be good for nausea). It also ensured I was getting one of the most important nutrients during pregnancy, just in case I was not able to down the prenatals.
Now, as I have said before, I am all about getting most of my nutrients from food, but I did NOT want to mess with the folic acid. Especially early on when most food made me sick to my stomach.
How Much Do you Need?
During pregnancy you need at least 400 micrograms of folic acid (however March of Dimes recommends 800 micrograms), which is double what you need when you are not pregnant. It is possible to get the recommended amount through food, but
most of the time it’s unlikely. This is why supplementing is so important. You should also eat a balanced diet of colorful foods. It helps to know what foods will provide you with some of this nutrient during your pregnancy…
Food Sources of Folic Acid/Folate:
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Whole Grains/ Pasta/ Cereal
I believe it was during World War II that they started fortifying breads with vitamins such as folic acid. The men at war were becoming deficient in nutrients so this was the governments way of preventing this. Today, many breads and cereals are fortified with folate
(read the labels, and try to stay away from the real processed grains). However, there are also many plant sources you should include in your diet, not just relying on breads and other grains.
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Beans & Legumes
Black beans, pinto beans, garbanzo beans (chickpeas), navy beans, kidney beans, sunflower seeds and peanuts are all naturally high in folate. One serving of lentils contains about 90% of the recommended daily value of folic acid for non-pregnant women, meaning you get almost half your RDV during pregnancy. Soups were a great way for me to get in nutrients during my pregnancy. This
Lentil Soup recipe was definitely a favorite!
Green Leafy Vegetables
Lettuce, turnip greens, mustard greens, collard greens, Chinese cabbage, broccoli and Brussels sprouts are good sources of folate. Raw is best, since up to 40% of this nutrient get lost during the cooking process. I make sure to get my raw veggies from green smoothies or juicing. Otherwise, it would be tough in the wintertime
(summer it is MUCH easier to eat more raw foods, IMO).
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Good Morning, Again