Can I take folic acid when my period comes?

Folic acid is a type of vitamin that is generally used to prevent neurological malformations in infants, so pregnant women need to take a large amount of folic acid supplements during pregnancy. Nowadays, many babies are born with diseases because their mothers did not have enough folic acid in their bodies during pregnancy. However, folic acid is a drug with relatively large side effects, so it is not suitable to take folic acid in all situations. So, can I take folic acid when I have my period?

Folic acid, also known as vitamin B9, is a water-soluble vitamin.

0.4 mg of folic acid is used to prevent neural tube defects in the fetus. According to the Silian Folic Acid Project, after 250,000 cases of the China-US Neural Tube Defect Prevention Cooperation Project [1], pregnant women taking 0.4 mg of folic acid during pregnancy preparation can reduce the rate of neural tube defects in the fetus by 85%. This result has been widely used in more than 50 countries around the world. 5 mg of folic acid is used to treat anemia in women. Consumers must carefully read the instructions when purchasing and make choices based on different situations.

Folic acid is one of the vitamin B complexes, equivalent to pteroylglutamic acid (PGA). It was extracted and purified from spinach leaves by Mitchell (HKMitchell, 1941), so it was named folic acid. It promotes the maturation of young cells in the bone marrow. If humans lack folic acid, it may cause megaloblastic anemia and leukocytopenia, which is especially important for pregnant women.

You can take folic acid during your menstrual period.

Folic acid is just a water-soluble B vitamin. It is more appropriate for women to supplement 400 micrograms of folic acid daily starting three months before pregnancy. Excessive folic acid will mask the symptoms of vitamin B12 deficiency, interfere with zinc metabolism, and cause zinc deficiency in pregnant women. The maximum daily supplement should not exceed 1000 micrograms or 1 milligram.

Pregnant women need 4 times more folic acid than normal people. The early pregnancy is a critical period for the differentiation of fetal organ systems and the formation of the placenta, and cell growth and division are very active. At this time, folic acid deficiency can lead to fetal malformations. For example, neural tube defects, which occur at an incidence of about 3.8‰ in my country, include anencephaly, spina bifida, etc. It can also cause early spontaneous abortion.

In the second and third trimesters, in addition to the growth and development of the fetus, the development of the mother's blood volume, breasts, and placenta greatly increases the need for folic acid. If folic acid is insufficient, pregnant women are prone to placental abruption, pregnancy-induced hypertension, and megaloblastic anemia; the fetus is prone to intrauterine growth retardation, premature birth, and low birth weight, and the growth and intellectual development of the fetus after birth will be affected.

The main dietary sources of folic acid are various vegetables, animal liver, egg yolks, etc. The absorption rate of natural folic acid in food is low, and coupled with the loss during the cooking process, folic acid deficiency is more common among women of childbearing age. Preliminary estimates show that about 1/3 of women have varying degrees of deficiency. This condition can be corrected and improved through folic acid supplements.