What does folic acid do to the body?
Folic acid and folate help the body make healthy new red blood cells. Red blood cells carry oxygen to all parts of your body. If your body does not make enough red blood cells, you can develop anemia. Anemia happens when your blood cannot carry enough oxygen to your body, which makes you pale, tired, or weak.
Corn chips, tortillas, tamales and pupusas — while all delicious may be missing a key vitamin for women of reproductive age.
Folic acid has long been used to prevent serious birth defects and help babies develop. Medical and public health experts advise daily consumption during pregnancy, but also in the months before becoming pregnant. This B vitamin is so important the federal government requires folic acid in certain foods such as enriched breads and cereals.
Now a California lawmaker is carrying a bill that would require manufacturers of corn masa flour — used to make many classic Latino foods — to also add folic acid to their products. Assemblymember Joaquin Arambula, a Fresno Democrat and physician, is carrying Assembly Bill 1830. The legislation would require that producers add 0.7 milligrams of folic acid to every pound of masa, and that this addition be reflected in the nutrition label.
Arambula wants to address clear disparities in who gets the necessary amount of folic acid. State public health data show that Latinas are less likely to take folic acid in the early weeks of pregnancy or before becoming pregnant when compared to other racial or ethnic groups. This puts them at higher risk of having children born with birth defects of the brain and spinal cord, most commonly spina bifida and anencephaly.
Folic acid, or synthetic folate, promotes healthy cell growth. Research has shown that when taken before and in the early weeks of pregnancy, folic acid can help prevent birth defects by as much as 70%.