Folates (B9)

Vitamins

The vitamin of leaves — its name comes from folium. Essential for making DNA.

Very heat-sensitive: a raw salad provides far more than the same vegetable cooked for a long time.

Effects and benefits

The vitamin of leaves, essential every time a cell divides. It matters more than ever around pregnancy: a folic acid supplement from the moment you plan a child raises its level, and a low level is a risk factor for neural tube defects in the fetus.

Folates supply the building blocks of DNA: without them, a cell cannot divide properly, and fast-renewing tissues, blood above all, suffer first. In 1931, the physician Lucy Wills showed in Bombay that a yeast extract corrected anemia in pregnant women: the Wills factor was folate.

They contribute to maternal tissue growth during pregnancy, to normal blood formation, to the process of cell division, to normal psychological function and to the reduction of tiredness and fatigue (Regulation 432/2012); and supplemental folic acid increases maternal folate status, low status being a risk factor for neural tube defects in the fetus (Regulation 1135/2014).

By sex and age: EFSA sets the reference intake at 330 µg a day for an adult, 600 during pregnancy and 500 during breastfeeding (EFSA, 2014). In France, 400 µg of folic acid is advised from the moment a pregnancy is planned until the end of the third month: the neural tube closes before many women even know they are pregnant (Santé publique France).

Sources: Wills, BMJ, 1931 · EU Regulations 432/2012 and 1135/2014 · EFSA, 2014 · Santé publique France

Folates (B9)

Effects and benefits

Where to find it (35)

Also, in smaller amounts (48)