You hear all about them in every day conversation but what do you really know about vitamins? Everyone knows that they’re good for us but how are they good for us? Give us the details, please!
Vitamin B9, or Folate, is water-soluble and is crucial to building DNA and RNA, regulating cellular metabolism and cell division. It supports healthy tissue growth and the regeneration of red blood and immune cells. Very essential for fetal development, it’s critical for pregnant women and those who may become pregnant to get enough folate.
Folate’s importance during pregnancy makes sense when you consider its function in the body. Vitamin B9 is essential for building DNA and genetic material and plays an important role in cell division, red blood and immune cells. Both of those processes are critical for the rapidly growing tissues of a fetus. Vitamin B9’s roles in DNA and cell division are also important throughout the human life cycle, as is it’s connection to coenzymes that regulate cellular metabolism.
If you don’t have enough Vitamin B9, you may be putting your cardiovascular health at risk. Folate helps convert the amino acid homocysteine to methionine, high levels of homocysteine in the blood have been shown to adversely affect your cardiovascular system.
Folate can be found in legumes, enriched grains, asparagus, broccoli, and spinach but during pregnancy, you need even more in your diet. 400 micrograms is recommended for a normal adult but it goes up to 600 micrograms for pregnant women. Deficiencies during pregnancy are associated with low birth weight and increased rate of neural tube defects – all women of childbearing age should supplement with 600 micrograms of Folate per day, whether or not they intend to become pregnant any time soon.
So let’s review – Folate is an essential water-soluble vitamin critical for DNA and RNA construction and cell division and cellular metabolism regulation. All extremely good reasons to make Vitamin B9 a part of your daily life and nutritional plan.