Folate during pregnancy

What is folate good for?

We need folate from the very beginning of our pregnancy and if you are one of the 50% that had planned your pregnancy start taking it months before you conceive, everything will have an affect on you and your baby by the time your little one starts to grow you will have enough nutrients in your body, if that’s not the case don’t worry, is never too late!

Folate is essencial for the body to make DNA and RNA and metabolize amino acids which are required for cell division and red blood cell creation. Multiple studies suggest a lack of folic acid may lead to mental conditions such as depression,  anemia, fetal neural tube defects and brain defects during pregnancy.

Humans we don’t make folate so we need to include it in our diet.

Here are some recommendations of fruits and vegetables high in folate which is the natural form of vitamin, it’s also known as folic acid which is the synthetic form, or B9.

Beets 

one cup of boiled beets will provide you with approximately 136 mcg of folate, accounting for 34% of your daily needs.

Lentils

358 mcg of folate (90% DV) per cup

Okra 

One cup of cooked okra will give you approximately 37 mcg of folic acid.

Chickpeas

282 mcg of folate (71% DV) per cup

Avocado

90 mcg of folate per cup, which accounts for appoximately 22% of your daily needs

Asparragus

One cup of boiled asparagus will give you 262 mcg of folic acid, approximately 65% of your daily needs.

Black beans 1 cup = 256 mcg of folate (64% DV) and kidney beans 1 cup = 229 mcg of folate (57% DV)

Lets make a bean salad and get lots of folate from our food!