Folic Acid News and Research

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Folic acid is a B vitamin. It helps the body make healthy new cells. Everyone needs folic acid. For women who may get pregnant, it is really important. When a woman has enough folic acid in her body before and during pregnancy, it can prevent major birth defects of her baby's brain or spine.

Foods with folic acid in them include leafy green vegetables, fruits, dried beans, peas and nuts. Enriched breads, cereals and other grain products also contain folic acid. If you don't get enough folic acid from the foods you eat, you can also take it as a dietary supplement.

Multivitamins do not help stave off depression but lifestyle coaching may work

A new study has contradicted the existing understanding that taking daily nutritional supplements may help to prevent depression.

6 Mar 2019

Daily consumption of nutritional supplements does not prevent depression

MooDFOOD, the largest randomized clinical trial to study the effects of nutritional strategies on the prevention of major depressive disorder concludes that daily intake of nutritional supplements cannot prevent depression.

5 Mar 2019

Prenatal vitamins may reduce the risk of autism in high-risk families

Researchers have found that mothers of children with autism may be able to reduce the risk of autism in further offspring by taking prenatal vitamins.

28 Feb 2019

A unique study of spina Bifida shows surviving adults are more likely to live independently

A unique study of spina bifida patients found that while mobility tended to decline in later life, surviving adults were more likely to live independently.

23 Jan 2019

B-group vitamins may be beneficial for people with first episode psychosis

B-group vitamins may be beneficial for maintaining concentration skills among people experiencing a first episode of psychosis, a study by researchers from Orygen, the National Centre of Excellence in Youth Mental Health, has found.

16 Jan 2019

Folate deficiency creates more damaging chromosomal abnormalities than previously known

Folate deficiency creates more problems in connection with DNA replication than researchers had hitherto assumed, researchers from the University of Copenhagen show in a new study.

14 Dec 2018

UK set to fortify flour with folic acid to prevent spine defects among newborns

Public Health Minister Steve Brine added that the move would be discussed with the ministers and is likely to raise folic acid consumption among pregnant mothers.

24 Oct 2018

Chewing gum could be a strategy to help reduce vitamin deficiency

Nearly 15 percent of all chewing gum varieties sold promise to provide health-enhancing supplements to users, so Penn State researchers studied whether two vitamin-supplemented products were effective at delivering vitamins to the body. Their results validate the concept of gum as an effective delivery system for at least some vitamins.

10 Oct 2018

Top three immune boosting recommendations to ward off freshers’ flu

Those heading to university this autumn, or returning student’s, might’ve heard of the dreaded freshers’ flu. But don’t let it fool you, it isn’t actually a form of flu.

20 Sep 2018

Folic acid may prevent language delays in children of mothers with epilepsy

Women who take epilepsy drugs while they are pregnant may have a lower risk of having a child with delays in language skills if they take folic acid supplements before and early in pregnancy, according to a study published in the August 1, 2018, online issue of Neurology, the medical journal of the American Academy of Neurology.

2 Aug 2018

Study finds vitamin D deficiency in many pregnant women

One in three pregnant women in Norway has a vitamin D deficiency at the end of her pregnancy, a major study published earlier this year in PLOS One has shown.

6 Jul 2018

Nuts can improve sperm quality finds study

A new study has shown that including nuts in daily diet could significantly improve the quality as well as function of the human sperm. Nuts are part of the Mediterranean diet that is considered to be the healthiest diet for the heart, blood vessels and other organs.

4 Jul 2018

Antioxidants do not improve sperm quality

Researchers have found that despite studies that claim that antioxidants are good for sperm production, a new study has shown that there is no such benefit.

4 Jul 2018

Antioxidants do not improve sperm quality in infertile men, finds study

A large clinical trial has shown that daily antioxidant supplementation among men with infertility does not make a difference to the quality of their sperm.

2 Jul 2018

Substantial number of older adults at risk of vitamin B12 and folate deficiency, study shows

A new study by researchers from The Irish Longitudinal Study on Ageing at Trinity College Dublin, Ireland, has shown for the first time that a substantial number of adults over 50 are at risk of deficiency in vitamin B12 and folate (the natural vitamin linked to the dietary supplement, folic acid).

27 Jun 2018

New study finds increase in use of alternative medicines among children

A new study published in JAMA Pediatrics shows that since 2003, the use of alternative medicines, such as herbal products and nutraceuticals, among children has doubled.

19 Jun 2018

Nutrient supplements do not provide extra benefits says new Australian survey

According to a recent nutrition survey in Australia, 29 percent of the population are taking at least one dietary supplement a day. In the United States, at least 52 percent are taking a dietary supplement a day. The study attempted to look at the long term benefits offered by regular intake of vitamin and mineral supplements for the prevention of diseases such as heart disease and stroke as well as premature death.

30 May 2018

Study: Vitamin or mineral supplements are not beneficial for preventing or treating heart disease

Current research does not show enough evidence that vitamin or mineral supplements are beneficial for preventing or treating heart disease, with the exception of folic acid for reducing stroke risk, according to a review article published in the Journal of the American College of Cardiology.

29 May 2018

Study finds fewer than 5% of low-income, urban mothers use prenatal vitamins before pregnancy

A study of more than 7,000 low-income, urban mothers enrolled in the Boston Birth Cohort found that fewer than 5 percent of them started folic acid supplementation and used it almost daily before pregnancy, a widely recommended public health measure designed to prevent potentially crippling birth defects.

24 May 2018