Folic Acid Deficiency Symptoms: Supplement the Deficiency Before It’s Too Late

Published on: 29 November 2017 Last Updated on: 02 March 2020

The human body needs to continuously take supplements in order to function optimally as not all vitamins and minerals are taken in recommended daily amounts. One such very important vitamin is folate or vitamin B9 or folic acid. In order to prevent further complications brought about by the lack of certain vitamins, it is wise to be proactive and identify folic acid deficiency symptoms at early onset.

Folic acid vs. folate

Both folic acid and folate are forms of the water-soluble vitamin B. Folate, otherwise known as vitamin B9, naturally occurs in foods, while folic acid is the synthetic folate compound that is used in vitamin supplements because of its increased stability.

Folate has been named after “folium,” Latin for “leaves,” because they were first isolated from spinach. Also, folate is the generic term used for both the naturally occurring folate that is found in foods and the synthetic form, folic acid.

The vitamin B complex nutrients are needed by the body in small amounts in order to function and stay healthy. In fact, according to recent medical journals, folate is involved in a number of intracellular reactions as a cofactor.

Deficiency potential

Research has found that the potential for folate deficiency is high or very common. In fact, it can be a serious problem if left untreated. In a 2006 USDA analysis of obtained data, most people in the US obtained adequate amounts of vitamin B9. But there is still a risk for some groups obtaining insufficient amounts.

Because folic acid is water-soluble, excess amounts of the vitamin in the body is excreted via human urine. This means that the human body needs a constant supply of this vitamin because the body cannot store it. And the recommended daily dose of folate is 0.4mg/d, which has been established for 20 years.

Uses of vitamin B9 in the body

Vitamin B9 is vital for synthesis and repair of DNA and RNA, the body’s genetic material. These vitamins also aid in the rapid cell division and growth and are important in the production of red blood cells in the bone marrow.

But folate is particularly important for pregnant women to avoid major birth defects in the baby’s brain or spines, such as neural tube defects, including Spina Bifida and anencephaly. Combined with vitamin B12, it controls the blood levels of the amino acid homocysteine, which is associated with certain chronic conditions such as heart disease.

Folate is also used to prevent eye disease age-related macular degeneration (AMD), to reduce signs of aging, to treat sleep problems, depression, AIDS, and inherited disease called Fragile-X syndrome. It is also used for age-related hearing loss, Alzheimer’s disease, and memory loss.

Folic acid deficiency symptoms

It is widely known that prevention is better than cure. So in order to avoid any further complication due to the lack of vitamin B9 in the body, here are the most common folic acid deficiency symptoms to watch out for, however subtle they may

be:

Poor immune function, which includes frequently getting sick
Chronic fatigue/low energy; also include chronic fatigue syndrome
Poor digestion, including bloating, IBS, and constipation
Early appearance of gray hair
Pale skin
Mouth sores and tender, swollen tongue
Developmental problems during pregnancy and infancy, consisting of stunted growth
Mood change often, such as irritability
Anemia (severe cases)

Causes of folic acid deficiency

Diet. One of the most common causes is poor diet. Folate naturally occurs in a wide array of foods, and among its richest sources include dark green leafy vegetables (such as spinach, asparagus, and broccoli), beef liver and kidney, yeast, and beans. Among other sources are eggs, beet, milk and other dairy products, and whole wheat bread.
Eating overcooked fruits and vegetables. Folate is easily destroyed by heat.
Diseases such as severe kidney problems requiring dialysis, certain types of cancers, celiac disease, and Crohn’s disease affect the absorption of the vitamin in the GI tract
Too much alcohol consumption increases folate excretion via the urine
During pregnancy, a lot of folic acids are used up by the growing baby
Side effects of medication, which includes phenytoin (Dilantin), trimethoprim-sulfamethoxazole, methotrexate, and sulfasalazine

Diagnosis

There are exams and tests taken to confirm folate deficiency in an individual. One of these is a blood test, to check the number of red blood cells and whether the body has enough vitamin B9. This is most common among pregnant women during their prenatal check-ups. But the most common procedure is the doctor checking the patient’s history and current health condition.

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What You Eat Affects Your Productivity

You must have heard someone say “you are what you eat” at some point in your life but have you ever wondered what exactly does it mean? We’re all aware that the food we consume fuels our body, yet we tend to focus only on the long-term effects of our eating habits instead of the short term consequences of the decisions we make during lunchtime. Perhaps, our eating choices have a profound effect on our mental performance and productivity levels throughout the day. But how exactly does FOOD have the power to do that? And how can you control your productivity by watching what you eat? If you want to find the answers to all such question, keep on reading this article and we guarantee a lot of things will become clear to you. The Link Between Food And Productivity Our diets have a much greater impact on our productivity than we realize. In fact, eating the wrong foods at the wrong times can turn your day upside down. Essentially, whatever you eat has a way of making its way to your bloodstream and eventually reaching your brain. This is because almost every food item that we eat is broken down into glucose in our bodies. Glucose is a simple carbohydrate that can easily cross into the bloodstream to fuel our entire body and keep our brain awake. So when our body is short on glucose, like on an empty stomach, our brain finds it hard to concentrate, focus and perform. But since everything we eat is eventually broken down into glucose, what difference does it make if we eat a bowl of vegetable salad or two scoops of ice cream? Well, here’s the thing: the ability of a certain food to fuel our body and brain depends on the rate at which it can release glucose into our blood, also called the glycemic index (GI). Foods with a low glycemic index like oats or healthy salads release glucose slowly yet sustainably in the blood, regulating blood sugar levels and optimizing brain activity. On the other hand, foods with a high GI such as white rice an ice cream rapidly release glucose in the bloodstream, providing a burst of energy which the body can use immediately. However, the downside is that you’ll be left unfocused and distracted only after a few hours of eating. Moreover, starchy and sugary foods with high GI can impact sleep cycles and actually kill productivity. A sudden spike in blood sugar level increases insulin production in the pancreases which, in turn, floods the brain with hormones like serotonin. Serotonin is a neurotransmitter that also acts as a precursor for the sleep hormone melatonin and regulates circadian rhythms which manage the internal clock of the body and the sleep-wake cycles. Thus, aligning your diet with the circadian rhythms allows you to harness your full potential and make the most of the day. How To Improve Cognitive Performance With Food Now that we have established the link between food and productivity, let’s learn how you can attain a greater mental efficiency by watching your diet and tweaking your lifestyle. Here are some research-based strategies worth giving a try. Watch What You Eat Perhaps, the most important thing you need to do is to keep a check on what you eat. Processed and junk foods spike blood sugars and have a negative relationship with productivity. Instead, make such healthier foods readily available and stack them in plain sight since you’re more likely to eat the first thing you see when you’re hungry. Here are some brain fueling foods you should consider: Fish: A classic brain-food, fish is rich in omega 3 fatty acids that are known to optimize brain function and development and maintain overall energy levels. Dark Chocolate: Dark chocolate has a high content of caffeine that is a well-known concentration booster. Nuts and seeds: Nuts and seeds rich in Vitamin E and other antioxidants reduce cell inflammation and prevent cognitive decline. Fruits and vegetables: Most fruits and vegetables have a low glycemic index and hence are excellent brain power foods. Carrots, avocados, and blueberries are some choices you can opt for to increase your brain activity. Don’t Skip Breakfast In a study published by Roy Baumeister in his book, all children in a class were asked to skip breakfast before coming to school. Then, half of them were fed with a healthy breakfast after coming to school and it was observed that these children displayed better learning patterns and behavior than the other lot. When the unfed children were given a healthy snack during mid-day, their performance also improved. This study perfectly depicts the significance of eating proper breakfast every morning so make sure not to skip on this important meal even if you’re running low on time. Have Small Meals Throughout The Day Since unregulated blood sugar levels can suppress productivity, it’s wise not to let your glucose levels hit the bottom throughout the day. Thus, feast on small and frequent meals during the course of the day to maintain consistent blood sugar levels. You can have small portions of meals during lunch and dinner time and supplement them with 2 healthy snacks at mid-day and evening to fuel your brain more efficiently. Plan Your Meals Beforehand Last-minute eating decisions are not always the best ones since you’re more likely to cave in on unhealthy food cravings that are quite an inefficient source of energy. Hence, it’s good to plan your meals before you get hungry so that you don’t make unhealthy food choices later on. You can prepare your weekly meals over the weekend to save time on weekdays and stay away from ordering unhealthy food out of sheer laziness. Or you can order weekly meal sets from healthy food delivery services like ActivEats if you don’t have the time to cook for yourself. Perhaps, the key to productivity is in your own hands and making subtle changes in your lifestyle and eating habits like those mentioned above can be a step closer to achieving maximum productivity. Read Also: Eating Good Quality Foods For Diet Love Who You Are: How To Prevent Eating Disorders

Four Easy Ways To Take Back Control Of Your Health This Summer

We can all be guilty of letting things slip when it comes to our personal health. Everyone has been in the position where they have been too swamped with work to deal with that ache or pain right now. Anyone who is a parent will know that the priority is always going to be the health of their children and that we will always wait for a quiet moment before dealing with our own. More often than not, that quiet moment never comes. However, the fact is that we all need to be doing a lot more when it comes to listening to what our bodies are trying to tell us. The summer is the perfect time to do this when the weather is better and most of us are looking forward to a bit of time off to wind down and recuperate. There are things that we can do to help our bodies and our minds look after us, and there are steps that you can take to identify issues before they become a real problem. Let’s have a look at some of the best things that we should all be doing. 1. Book A Check-Up With Your Doctor Most of us only go to see our doctor when there is something obviously wrong. It can take a lot to push us to actually make that appointment and admit that we need to talk to a professional. If you want to take control of your health, then one of the best first steps is to get in touch with your doctor for a check-up. You should be seeing your personal doctor about once a year. You can ask about any issues that may have been keeping you up at night, and you get some advice about changes that you can make to your lifestyle that will help. The sooner you do this, the sooner you can start feeling more in control. 2. Look At An MRI Scan Speaking of health issues that keep us up at night, there is no illness that worries us more than cancer. Most of us are familiar with the big warning signs, but if you really want to take control of your health, then you should think about getting proactive. If you spot any warning signs early, then you have a much better chance of successful treatment and getting rid of it. One of the best ways that you can do this is by going for a full-body MRI. This scan will create 3D images of your body’s structure and your organs, and it is low risk. If you want to learn more about a fully-body MRI works and how it can help you, visit Ezra. They offer an annual scan that will look at up to 13 organs to give you the best chance of beating cancer. 3. Start Getting Organized Many of us struggle with taking control of our health because we have not factored it into our daily schedule. When you are over-stressed and over-tired, of course, you are going to react to problems as they arise and take the easiest route out of any potential issue. This is how you end up not getting as much exercise as you know you should and eating a diet that you know could be much better. If this all sounds a bit too familiar, then one of the best things that you can do is to get organized. Start by sitting down with your daily schedule and look at where you can dedicate an hour, or even half an hour, a day to a bit of exercise. It is recommended that we should all be getting at least 150 minutes of moderate to intensive exercise a week, and if you break it down that is achievable. When it comes to your diet, planning is the key. Write a meal plan at the start of the week and make sure that you have a shopping list before you head to the store. Think about what recipes you can make that will give you the vitamins and minerals you need, and which you enjoy cooking! 4. Take Your Mental Health Seriously Finally, we should talk about mental health. We have seen so many stories about mental health in the last couple of years, but it bears repeating: if you don’t look after your mental health, then everything else will suffer. This is one of the best ways to ensure that you are staying on top of your other health responsibilities, as well as your personal and work ones. Make sure that you are giving yourself time in the day that is just for you. Reach out and talk to people in your life if you are feeling isolated. You should also consider talking to a professional. Needing help with your mental health is nothing to be ashamed of. Read Also: Is It Healthier To Have Dentures?7 Health Tips For Medical StudentsTemporary Health Insurance and Who It SuitsWhen Will Social Media Addiction Be Considered a Mental Health Condition?

Why have a diet chart for weight loss?

A dream is a dream for many overweight people when it comes to losing weight and getting back to their fitter self. However, this is not really the case with all. The people that are dedicated to get back into their healthier self-work hard and get back to their healthy figure. Are you also on the track to lose weight? If yes, the Indian diet chart for weight loss could be of great help to you in this regards. Here are some of the reasons why having a diet chart for weight loss should help you in this area. Is a diet chart for weight loss helpful? Well, this is one of the most common questions when it comes to the Indian diet chart for weight loss. You can be sure that having a diet chart will be greatly beneficial for you in the long run. However, it is important for you to follow a set pattern and enjoy it. Most researchers show that when a person starts to eat healthily, it helps him/her to lose weight in the most natural way. You also need to remember that it is helpful provided that you put forth your dedicated efforts along with following the best diet course. Helps you intake healthy food : It is a true fact that you become what you eat, and if you eat healthily you will also become healthy. On the other hand, if you eat food without appropriate nutrition it will make you unhealthy again. This will not only help you lose weight, but it will also help your body from within and make it strong again. Rather than making your body look fit from only outside, it is always best to strengthen your body from within because only this will ensure that you benefit in the long-term process. Helps boost your metabolism : Metabolism is a core functioning that results in you being able to efficiently digest your food. If this is strong, it will help you to burn the food that you intake rather than only converting it to fats. Indian diet chart for weight loss will help you because slowly you will make your body used to eating in appropriate proportions and also healthy food will go inside. This will help you to get back your healthy organs functioning that are required to become fit again. The overall process will take some time but if you are dedicated, you will notice some great changes to your weight loss. Weight loss that is sustainable : It is your sedentary lifestyle that has caused you to put on weight and lead an unhealthy life today. However, all of this has resulted in long-term habits. So you need to be practical and not expect overnight changes to your health. Losing weight all of a sudden is not good for the body and it can lead you to go to a shock at times. However, diet chart for weight loss will ensure that you experience great results at a steady pace. What things do you need to do? You will come across plenty of options when you look for a weight loss diet. However, it is best to not choose an exotic diet plan, but rather go for the one that is simple for you to follow. If you try to go for a diet chart that involves going for highly exotic fruits or vegetables not easily found in India, one day the efforts and cost of availing these things may become a pain. On the other hand, if you choose items that are easily available it will help you follow the diet chart on a regular basis and within your budget as well. Here are some of the tips to help you in this regard: Thirst is marked by the body like hunger, and so it is good to ensure you drink plenty of water per day. This is one of the effective ways to fill up your stomach and then not gorge on food later. So keep drinking water in your list and ensure that you follow it as well. Some of the foods that are nutrient-rich such as millets, fiber-rich fruits, green leafy vegetables, and other such superfoods should be of great help. These food items are also recommended by experts when it comes to experiencing the best of taste and health benefits. You need to ensure that there is no inclination for you to eat at all times and so spread out your daily meals. Try to spread your diet from 3 to 5 times a day so that you always feel full. In your weight loss diet, it is important for you to make sure that you always have protein in it. If there is no protein in your diet it will not provide you with the essential energy needed to convert food into energy. Put forth dedicated efforts : You need to make sure that you always put forth dedicated efforts in order to follow through with your diet chart. If you are not focused on health goals, you may end up going back to the same sedentary lifestyle. It is your dedicated efforts that will result in your good health and so you need to make sure that you are focused on your cause and get the great benefits in the long term. The time and efforts that you spend in following your diet chart will go a long way for you in achieving your health goals. So make sure that you make a list of things and get the benefits in the long term for your health. Health is not something that you can never take for granted because it is what will define your good life. If you spend time in this regard you will experience the best weight loss goals. Spend time in this regard so that you can be aware of what all best things are available for you. Read Also : 10 Best Protein Shake Recipes For Weight Loss If You’ve Reached A Weight Loss Plateau, Fix Your Sleep 6 Imbalances In Body Hampering Weight Loss Efforts

Folic Acid Deficiency Symptoms: Supplement the Deficiency Before It’s Too Late

Folic acid vs. folate

Deficiency potential

Uses of vitamin B9 in the body

Folic acid deficiency symptoms

Causes of folic acid deficiency

Diagnosis

The Perfect Way for Girls to Unwind and Relax With Their Friends

You Can’t Out-diet Your Training

Content Rally

Content Rally wrapped around an online publication where you can publish your own intellectuals. It is a publishing platform designed to make great stories by content creators. This is your era, your place to be online. So come forward share your views, thoughts and ideas via Content Rally.

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Related

What You Eat Affects Your Productivity

Four Easy Ways To Take Back Control Of Your Health This Summer

Why have a diet chart for weight loss?

Folic Acid Deficiency Symptoms: Supplement the Deficiency Before It’s Too Late

Folic acid vs. folate

Deficiency potential

Uses of vitamin B9 in the body

Folic acid deficiency symptoms

Causes of folic acid deficiency

Diagnosis

Share this Article

The Perfect Way for Girls to Unwind and Relax With Their Friends

You Can’t Out-diet Your Training

Content Rally wrapped around an online publication where you can publish your own intellectuals. It is a publishing platform designed to make great stories by content creators. This is your era, your place to be online. So come forward share your views, thoughts and ideas via Content Rally.

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Follow Us

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