In a discussion of the importance vitamin B, folic acid is nearly always included. Not that vitamin B refers to just one vitamin--there are actually many. But at least when vitamins B6 and B12 are involved folic acid is included. This is because folic acid is a B vitamin.
The B vitamins are a set of vitamins that when originally discovered were all mistaken to be one vitamin and that vitamin was named vitamin B. That’s why you will notice that there are so many different vitamins running around these days with ‘vitamin B’ as part of their label.
Today the B vitamins are known as a complex of vitamins that all interact with each other and are commonly found in the same foods. When buying a vitamin B complex in the store it will contain many different vitamins that go under the ‘B vitamin’ label. All in all there are eight B vitamins that we humans use and among them is folic acid. There are other B vitamins that people don’t use but you needn’t worry about them.
You may find folic acid referred to as a folate, Vitamin B-9, Vitamin M and Vitamin B-c. These are all the same vitamin running around under varying pseudonyms. Also you may find it interesting to know that since the discovery that vitamin B was really so many different vitamins many of them have been renamed, so the eight that we have today aren’t all of the original B vitamins. Some have had legal name changes.
Folic acid was found in the nineteen thirties to help prevent anemia in many pregnant women. Of course back then there wasn’t a synthesized form of folic acid, so it was initially given in yeast extract. Later in nineteen forty one it was extracted from spinach.
You can also find folic acid in othere green leafy veggies, dry beans, peas, and fruits. Currently many governments fortify their white flour with folates and you can often find cereal with enough folic acid in it to meet your daily requirment.
Speaking of daily requirement, the recommended daily requirement for folic acid is four hundred micrograms. If you are pregnant, could become pregnant or lactating take between six hundred and eight hundred micrograms daily.
Folic acid is necessary for the replication and maintenance of DNA and RNA. It helps to prevent changes in your DNA that can lead to cancer and its needed for proper growth and to make red blood cells. Thus it is very important for the pregnant and those who may become pregnant in order to prevent birth defects.
A deficiency of folic acid may present itself with Diarhhea, poor apetite, weakness, sore tongue, headaches, heart palpitations, and neurological problems.
In general B vitamins help to keep up your metabolism, help you maintain healthy skin and muscle tone. They benefit your immune system and nervous system. They also help with cell growth and can fight stress, depression, and cardiovascular disease.
Remember your body doesn’t store B vitamins well. You must get them daily but luckily folic acid and other B vitamins are present in many foods.
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Article Source: http://www.fitnesshealtharticles.com.
About the Author:
Author Vincent Platania represents the Rawleigh Products.W.T. Rawleigh founded Rawleigh Products in the late 1800s to create a line of products that possessed both strength and quality. Visit http://www.rawleigh-products.com
Important Interaction of Vitamin B and Folic Acid
