Vitamin B9 Folic Acid Deficiency
Vitamin B9 Folic Acid is one of the most important vitamins for the health of the human body. Vitamin B9 Folic Acid is involved in many body functions. Nucleotide biosynthesis and remethylation of homocysteine both cannot take place without Vitamin B9 Folic Acid. In fact, the body cannot synthesize DNA, repair DNA, or methylate DNA if it doesn’t have Vitamin B9 Folic Acid. Vitamin B9 Folic Acid is important for people of all ages. There is never a time when the body doesn’t need Vitamin B9 Folic Acid. The body needs Vitamin B9 Folic Acid to create and maintain healthy blood cells and prevent anemia. Whenever the body is going through a time of growth or rapid cell division it will require Vitamin B9 Folic Acid.
Vitamin B9 Folic Acid is water-soluble. This means that when the body encounters Vitamin B9 Folic Acid it will take what it needs from the body’s caloric intake, and then will pass the rest of it through the urinary tract. This means the body cannot store large levels of Vitamin B9 Folic Acid for extended periods of time. While there are benefits to such water-soluble vitamins—a decrease in the toxicity which occurs from having too much Vitamin B9 Folic Acid in a person’s system—it makes it so there are more cases of Vitamin B9 Folic Acid Deficiency.
Recommended Daily Allowance of Vitamin B9 Folic Acid
The best way to prevent Vitamin B9 Folic Acid Deficiency is to monitor the amount of Vitamin B9 Folic Acid in a person’s diet. Here are the recommended daily amounts for Vitamin B9 Folic Acid: Infants under 6 months: 65mcg per day (adequate intake), Infants age 7 - 12 months: 80 mcg per day (adequate intake), Children age 1 - 3 years: 150 mcg per day(RDA), Children age 4 – 8 years: 200 mcg per day (RDA), Children age 9 – 13 years: 300 mcg per day(RDA), Adolescents age 14 – 18 years: 400 mcg per day(RDA), Adult males age 19 years and older: 400 mcg per day(RDA), Adult females age 14 – 50: 400mcg per day plus 400 mcg per day from supplements or fortified foods, Adult females age 50 and over: 400 mcg per day, pregnant woman: 600 mcg per day(RDA), and Breastfeeding women: 500 mcg per day(RDA).
Dangers of Vitamin B9 Folic Acid Deficiency
Cancer is one of the major health issues linked with Vitamin B9 Folic Acid. Intracellular S-adenosylmethionine (SAM) is decreased when there is a deficiency of Vitamin B9 Folic Acid. This inhibits the cytosine methylation in DNA, activates proto-oncogenes, induces malignant transformations, causes DNA precursor imbalances, misincorpatorates uracil into DNA, and promotes chromosome breakage. All of these conditions which occur due to a lack of Vitamin B9 Folic Acid increase the chances and likelihood of a person contracting cancer.
The link between cancer and Vitamin B9 Folic Acid seems to be very complex. Taking high amounts of Vitamin B9 Folic Acid supplementation has been found not only to not prevent cancer, but actually to cause more cancer promoting symptoms. Most studies have found that Vitamin B9 Folic Acid’s role in preventing cancer depends on how much and when a person is taking Vitamin B9 Folic Acid.
A lack of Vitamin B9 Folic Acid also is indicated to raise a person chances for a number of items: heart disease, strokes, depression, obesity, memory and mental problems, schizophrenia, allergic diseases, rheumatoid arthritis, renal disease, type 1 diabetes mellitus, macular degeneration, bone health, and bone loss due to Parkinson’s disease.
Who Needs to Be Concerned With Vitamin B9 Folic Acid Deficiency?
Those people who are obese need to pay attention to how much Vitamin B9 Folic Acid they are getting in their diet. Studies have shown that a person who is obese runs a higher risk of Vitamin B9 Folic Acid Deficiency.
Women who are pregnant or planning to become pregnant really need to be extra careful of the amounts of Vitamin B9 Folic Acid which they are getting in their daily diet. There is a direct link between Vitamin B9 Folic Acid and Neural Tube Defect.
Neural Tube Defect is a birth defect which is among the most common of all birth defects. In the United States alone Neural Tube defect will affect one in every one thousand births. A Neural Tube Defect is an opening in the brain or spinal cord which occurs early in human development. This usually takes place in either the 3rd or the 4th week of a pregnancy. There are special cells in the dorsal region which will begin to curl up and fuse rolls into a Neural Tube, after the baby is conceived. In the cases in which the Neural Tube doesn’t close completely, a Neural Tube Defect occurs.
Vitamin B9 Folic Acid plays an important role in the closing of the Neural Tube. As explained above Vitamin B9 Folic Acid is essential for proper functioning DNA. If a person doesn’t have proper amounts of Vitamin B9 Folic Acid, then new cell production is stunted and that can lead to the Neural tube not closing properly.
Toxicity of Vitamin B9 Folic Acid
The risk of toxicity of Vitamin B9 Folic Acid is very low, but there are some negative effects of having too much Vitamin B9 Folic Acid in a person’s system. One of those negative effects is that having too much Vitamin B9 Folic Acid might mask a problem of having a Vitamin B12 Deficiency. In studies people with too much Vitamin B9 Folic Acid actually have problems absorbing proper levels of Vitamin B12 into their system.
How to Get Enough Vitamin B9 Folic Acid in a Diet?
Vitamin B9 Folic Acid is so important in the human body that many items are fortified with extra levels of Vitamin B9 Folic Acid. This means a person should try and find cereals, breads, and grains which contain extra amounts of Vitamin B9 Folic Acid. A healthy diet of fruits, vegetables, grains, lean meats, and which is low in fat is also very important to not only getting enough Vitamin B9 Folic Acid, but also getting enough of the other essential vitamins and minerals the body needs.
Supplementation is also important for getting enough Vitamin B9 Folic Acid. A good daily multivitamin will provide the balance which will help to ensure the holes in a diet are filled in with nutrition. A person should try to find a daily multivitamin which is gender specific. Especially with Vitamin B9 Folic Acid men and women simply require different amounts. This means a multivitamin should be tailored for the needs of both genders.
Women who are pregnant or are thinking about becoming pregnant should also boost their levels of Vitamin B9 Folic Acid through supplementation. The first four weeks of pregnancy (when most women do not even realize they are pregnant) are very important to the development of the mother’s child. With a disorder like Neural Tube Defect a lack of Vitamin B9 Folic Acid will have a negative effect on the child in the first four weeks of the pregnancy. That is why doctors recommend that women take supplementation to ensure they have proper amounts of Vitamin B9 Folic Acid. Women who are pregnant or women who are thinking of becoming pregnant should really supplement their diets with Prenatal Chocolate. Not only does the chocolate taste great, but it also contains Vitamin B9 Folic Acid. One study in Canada shows that women who actively monitor their levels of Vitamin B9 Folic Acid decrease Neural Tube Defects by nearly half.
