Why is folic acid so important?
The ultimate "mommy vitamin" is folic acid. This is also reflected in the increased need for folic acid in pregnant women. If the pre-pregnancy folic acid requirement is 400 mg, it increases to 600 mg for pregnant women. This means an additional requirement of 50%!
In general, absorption of folic acid through food is too low. Folic acid belongs to the group of B-vitamins that on the one hand supports cell division and on the other hand is significantly involved in the formation of new cells. It also supports the formation of blood and promotes the development of the brain.
Good sources of folic acid
There is a lot of folic acid in green salads, vegetables (e.g. broccoli), tomatoes, potatoes, eggs, meat and whole grain products. But folic acid is very fragile, it is almost completely destroyed by heat, light and oxygen. It is almost impossible to take enough folic acid with food during pregnancy. A pregnant woman would have to eat about 20 kg of broccoli a day to meet the increased need for folic acid.
Therefore, in this delicate phase of life, foods enriched with folic acid and special dietary supplements such as HiPP Mama are of great importance to both mother and child. In addition, the body consumes folic acid very quickly, especially in the case of twins or triates and during rapidly succeeding pregnancies. It is, of course, advisable not to wait until pregnancy before taking folic acid and to keep several boxes in storage.
For women who want to have children, it is important to consume a sufficient amount of folic acid before the pregnancy is recognized
Deficiency symptoms
Folic acid deficiency causes tiredness and fatigue. In extreme cases, developmental anomalies of the child may occur, like the so-called “split spine”, a defect caused by the incomplete closing of the neural tube. Further possible consequences: cleft lip and palate. That is why an intake of folic acid is of particular importance during the embryonic stage (the first trimester of pregnancy).
