Supplementation with folic acid is one of the most
significant preventative interventions available in the preconceptual/antenatal
period:
All women should take at least 400 micrograms/day whilst
trying to become pregnant and for at least the first three months of pregnancy
to reduce the risk of neural tube defects (NTDs).
Women at high risk of NTD should take a higher dose of 5
mg/day until 12 weeks of pregnancy. High risk is defined as:
Where either partner has an NTD or has already had a
pregnancy affected by NTD.
Family history of NTD.
Anti-epileptic medication.
Coeliac disease.
Diabetes (type 1 or 2).
Thalassaemia trait (5 mg daily until birth of the baby).
Haemolytic anaemia, particularly thalassaemia or sickle cell
anaemia (5-10 mg until birth of the baby).
Women with a BMI >30 kg/m2.
Folic acid, is an important B-complex vitamin found mostly
in leafy green vegetables like spinach, kale, broccoli and romaine lettuce.
Numerous studies have shown that women who get 400
micrograms daily prior to conception and during early pregnancy reduce the risk
that their baby will be born with a serious neural tube defect by up to 75%.
These defects involve malformation of a structure in the
fetus called the neural tube.
As the baby develops, the top part of this tube helps form
the baby's brain, and the bottom part unfolds to become the baby's spinal
column.
The most common neural tube defects is spina bifida.
When the neural tube fails to close properly, serious brain
and spinal problems can be the result.
This is very important during the first three months of
pregnancy. This is the period when all the organs of the baby’s body are formed
and when optimum nutrition is extremely important.
he benefits of folic acid foods seems to have this profound
effect on the prevention of neural tube defects because this vitamin is crucial
in the development of DNA.
As a result, juicing recipes which contain foods with folic
acid, can play a large role in cell growth and development, as well as tissue
formation in the fetus.
The incidence of this condition is far higher when mothers
have had a nutritionally poor diet with inadequate supplies of folic acid.
Foods high in folic acid should be consumed in their raw
condition as cooking it will destroy most of this vital nutrient.
If these foods are taken in the form of freshly extracted
juicing recipes they will provide the benefits of folic acid as well as the
numerous additional vitamins, minerals and enzymes.
Juicing for you and your baby's health is the single most
powerful and the fastest way to get foods high in folic acid into your system.
