Folic acid (vitamin B9) is most often prescribed for pregnant women and people suffering from iron deficiency anemia. However, folic acid is useful for all people, but not everyone knows how to take it correctly.
Why should I drink folic acid?
Folic acid is an excellent prevention of atherosclerosis, thrombosis and pulmonary embolism. Those people who constantly take folic acid, are less likely to suffer from strokes. This vitamin takes part in metabolism, the synthesis of immune cells and many other processes.
But it is especially important to drink folic acid for pregnant women, since it significantly reduces the risk of congenital malformations in the fetus. Clinical studies have shown that the risk of malformations is reduced by 80% if a woman starts taking vitamin B9 while in the planning stage of pregnancy.
First of all, the lack of folic acid negatively affects the fetal nervous system and the production of blood cells. A woman's risk of spontaneous abortion increases. And with a lack of vitamin B9 in breast milk during breastfeeding, the child may develop anemia, mental retardation, weakness of immunity.
How correctly to drink folic acid?
With folio-deficiency anemia, adults should take vitamin B9 at 1 mg per day. Newborns are prescribed 0.1 mg per day, children under 4 years - 0.3 mg per day, from 4 to 14 years - 0.4 mg per day. When pregnancy and lactation is recommended from 0.1 to 1 mg per day. With severe avitaminosis , alcoholism, chronic infections, hemolytic anemia, liver cirrhosis and some other diseases, up to 5 mg of folic acid per day is prescribed. How long to drink folic acid, you will tell the doctor, since this issue is purely individual. However, most often, the duration of taking B9 is from one to three months, depending on the reasons for which it was prescribed.