In case you are thinking about the folic acid side effects during pregnancy you should know that this nutrient is also known as folate. Although it appears naturally in some foods, during pregnancy women may have to take supplements to make sure that they have enough of it.
Dosage and the side effects of folic acid during pregnancy
Normally, adults need about 400 mg of folic acid per day. During pregnancy this increases to 500-600 mg a day. The good news is that the chances of side effects are very small because this is a water soluble nutrient.
This means that the nutrients that aren’t absorbed are simply cleared from the body.
High doses
Although you might think that you can’t have too much of it, the pregnancy folic acid side effects may occur if you have more than 1,000 mg per day. This is because at such high doses the nutrient may influence the way other nutrients are absorbed by the body.
Negative effects of folic acid during pregnancy
You may know that taking folic acid can make sure that the baby won’t be affected by neural tube defects, like spina bifida. However, the high doses can have adverse effects. In case you are taking prescription medications, the folic acid can interfere in the way that they work.
It is interesting to know about the folic acid side effects during pregnancy that the symptoms of folic acid deficiency and vitamin B12 deficiency are pretty much the same. This means that high doses of folic acid can mask a vitamin B12 deficiency, which can lead to low red blood cell count.
Foods to have
If you wish to make sure that you won’t experience the folic acid side effects during pregnancy, you should opt for getting the nutrients from your diet. The foods rich in this nutrient include fortified breakfast cereals, spinach, asparagus, broccoli and peanuts.
Nutritional advice
When it comes to the adverse effects of folic acid the specialists say that it is best to have some folic acid with each meal or snack. Just think about the fact that half a serving of cooked spinach comes with 100 mg of folic acid, which represents one sixth of the daily needs of pregnant women.
In the majority of the cases women have no reason to think about the folic acid side effects during pregnancy because they are mainly taking it for their baby, to avoid neural tube defects, and the dosage is far from being too high.
