Folate

Folate (the natural form of folic acid) is one of the B-group of vitamins. Because it’s water-soluble it can’t be stored in the body, so you need to make sure you eat foods containing folate regularly.

Folate plays a crucial part in cell division and the formation of proteins in the body and works together with vitamin B12 to help form healthy blood cells.

Adults need 0.2mg of folate per day, but you shouldn’t worry about going out of your way to find foods rich in folate; follow a varied and balanced diet and you’ll be getting all your body needs.

Good sources of folate include fortified breakfast cereals, green leafy vegetables, brussel sprouts, broccoli, spinach, lentils, liver, yeast extracts, wholemeal bread and most beans.

Women and pregnancy

You may well have heard about folic acid and its importance to women who are pregnant or hoping to conceive.

Health professionals recommend that ‘women who could become pregnant’ should take a supplement containing 0.4mg (400 micrograms 200% of the RDA) folic acid in addition to their normal dietary folate intake until the 12th week of pregnancy. This is to help prevent neural tube defects such as spina bifida.

An additional dose of 5mg daily is recommended for women at a high risk of neural tube defect affected pregnancy. Of course, before you start taking any dietary supplements relating to pregnancy, you should always seek the advice of your GP.

Heart disease

There is accumulating evidence that high levels of homocysteine in blood increases the risk of heart disease. Most people with a high homocysteine level don't get enough folate in their diet and adequate folate in the diet can help return the homocysteine level to normal.