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Prevention of Birth Defects.
The CDC (Center for Disease Control), the US Preventive Health Task Force, and the Food and Nutrition Board of the National Academy of Science Institute of Medicine all recommend that women of reproductive age should be advised to consume 400 ug of folic acid daily obtained from fortified foods or supplements, for both.
That's because this B vitamin is especially important during phases of rapid cell growth and because of its involvement in the synthes of DNA and other cell components.
It is clear from clinical trial evidence that when women take folic acid supplements periconceptionally, a substantial proportion of neural tube birth defects like spina bifida and anencepathy are prevented.
Scientists estimate that periconception use of supplemental folic acid has the potential to reduce neural tube defects by 50% to 60%.
In addition, all women are advised to consume a balanced, healthy diet that includes folate-rich foods.
Folate is the form of the vitamin that occurs naturally in a variety of foods with spinach and other dark leafy greens, asparagus and brussel sprouts being some of the best sources.
Many women in their childbearing years also fall short on choline, another nutrient that appears to play a role in brain development and in preventing neural tube defects.
A case-controlled study published in the American Journal of Epidemiology found that insufficient maternal intakes of choline during pregnancy were associated with a fourfold increase in the risk of having a pregnancy affected by a neural tube defect.
Higher choline intake was also associated with a reduced risk of neural tube defects, independent of folate intake.
Women require 425 mgs of choline daily and more when pregnant and lactating.
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