Folacin is another name for vitamin B9. Folate is the naturally occurring form of the vitamin found in food and folic acid is the synthetic form of the vitamin found in enriched foods and dietary supplements. Why should any of this matter to you? Because close to 10% of Americans are folate deficient and for many others their intake is well below the desirable level. Most important, 35% of non-pregnant women do not meet their need for this vitamin.
Adequate folate intake is important for reducing many pregnancy complications – anemia, preterm birth, infant heart defects, cleft lip and cleft palate. Though folate is important throughout pregnancy, it is vital in the early stages when there is rapid cell division, growth and development.
Because folate helps to make up the genetic material of every cell in the body, it is essential to support the growth of an unborn child. If a mother takes a supplement of folic acid with at least 400 micrograms, 4 weeks before conception and 8 weeks after conception, 90% of neural tube defects and 40% of heart anomalies can be prevented in babies. Neural tube defects (NTDs) are birth defects of the spine and brain which include life-altering anencephaly and spina bifida.
Because many pregnancies are unplanned, early supplementation of folic acid by women of child-bearing age doesn’t usually occur. Based on the connection between the need for folic acid and the risk for birth defects, in 1998 the US Food and Drug Administration required folic acid fortification of enriched grain products. In 2016 this fortification requirement was enlarged to include corn masa. Folic acid fortification has prevented at least 1,300 NTDs each year and the incidence of this birth defect has dropped by 35% since 1998.
