Benefits of folic acid in pregnant women
Diet is one of the fundamental aspects in the development of pregnancy for many reasons, among them because it prevents premature births and problems in the development of the newborn. Among the psychological problems of the baby that may come in part from a inadequate nutrition we find autism, Asperger syndrome, spina bifida
Specifically, prenatal supplements of folic acid or vitamin B9 can reduce the risk of autism disorder by 40 percent. Autism is a disease of hereditary nature of which little is known about its evolution but of which its symptoms are known: it is a disease that produces a serious deficit in the development, permanent and profound that affects socialization, communication and emotional reciprocity.
Folic acid in food
Folic acid is necessary for the synthesis and repair of DNA in the human body. Play a fundamental role in moments of rapid growth and cell division as in pregnancy and childhood. It is a necessary vitamin for the formation of proteins and amino acids. Its direct intake is not necessary, but it is found in many foods, such as:
1. The vegetables of green leaf like spinach, escarole, peas, beans, nuts or sunflower seeds.
2. Legumes like chickpeas, lentils, etc.
3. The cereals of breakfast also provide the daily content of folic acid needed.
4. The meat It is poor in folic acid, as in blue fish.
5. The flour It also contains folic acid, especially in countries such as Chile, the United States or Canada where they specifically add vitamin B9 to this food.
The specialists recommend that it is important start to eat more food with folic acid at least one month before pregnancy and that is maintained until the end of the first quarter, to move to a moderate amount during the second and third.
How folic acid affects autism
Researchers from North America and Europe have shown the influence of folic acid in the prevention of congenital malformations and neural tube defects. Specifically, the current report was based on data from the Norwegian Cohort Child Study (MOBA) and its autism substudy, Autism Birth Cohort Study (ABC).
This report was based on a total sample of 85,000 babies born between 2002 and 2008. The study consisted of studying the prenatal feeding of their parents to determine the influence of folic acid in these babies with respect to autism. In total, 270 cases of autism spectrum disorder were identified among babies born in those years, among whom there were 114 of autistic disorder, 56 of Asperger's syndrome and 100 of atypical or non-generalized autism.
Mothers who took folic acid supplements at the beginning of pregnancy had a 40 percent less of probabilities of giving birth to a child with autism compared to mothers who did not take the supplement. The influence of folic acid on Asperger's syndrome could not be determined because the number of children with this disease was too low to obtain a statistical parameter, as occurred with those suffering from atypical autism.
Ana Vázquez Recio
