- Folic acid may help prevent certain birth defects.
- Folic acid may work only if taken before and during early pregnancy.
- Take a daily multivitamin with 400 micrograms of folic acid.
Yes, but it's sometimes hard to get enough folic acid each day just from food. Foods that contain folate (the natural form of folic acid) include lentils, spinach, black beans, peanuts, orange juice, romaine lettuce and broccoli. You have to eat a lot of these foods to get the right amount of folic acid. Fortified grains, like bread, pasta and breakfast cereal, have more folic acid. "Fortified" means that folic acid has been added to the food. Check the product label to see how much folic acid each serving contains. The simplest way to get enough folic acid every day is to take a multivitamin or a prenatal vitamin. If you're not pregnant yet, take a multivitamin with 400 micrograms (mcg) of folic acid in it each day. If you’re pregnant, take a prenatal vitamin with at least 600 mcg of folic acid in it each day.
