Folic acid and 'neural tube defects'
Why folic acid supplements?
How much folic acid?
Controversies and issues about folic acid supplements
Foods with folic acid

Folic acid or folate is a water-soluble, B group vitamin that is naturally present in many foods. For example, folic acid is present in large quantities in green leafy vegetables, as well as breads, cereals and grains, kidney beans, lentils, tomatoes, eggs, and dairy foods. (A more in depth list is shown later in this section in foods with folic acid.) Folic acid can also be called 'folacin' and the chemical name for it is pteroylglutamic acid (or PGA).

Folic acid is an essential vitamin for the growth of healthy, new body cells. It is also a vital component (along with iron and vitamin B12), involved in the body's formation of oxygen-carrying red blood cells (called haemoglobin). Your body needs to have sufficient levels of haemoglobin to prevent anaemia (or 'low iron'). This is discussed in depth in iron supplements.

If you have a balanced, nutritious diet, you will generally obtain adequate amounts of folic acid for good health. However, when a woman conceives a baby, her folic acid needs increase, from about 200 micrograms (or 200 µg) a day, to about 400 micrograms a day. This is because her rapidly growing baby is creating thousands of new body cells, especially during the first 6 to 12 weeks of her pregnancy, and her body is producing more red blood cells to support the pregnancy.