Adding one ingredient to table salt could prevent fatal birth defects
(STUDY FINDS) -- Folic acid fortification became a requirement in enriched grain products in 1998 to reduce the prevalence of neural tube defects in babies. Needless to say, it worked! Now, a team of international researchers has shown that adding folic acid to salt could prevent birth defects, too.
Folate is crucial for a healthy pregnancy. Currently, the World Health Organization recommends that all women take a supplement containing 400 micrograms of folic acid daily, starting when they’re trying to conceive and through the first three months of pregnancy.
Folic acid and folate aren’t the same thing, although the terms are used interchangeably. Folic acid is the synthetic form of folate, while the latter is what is naturally occurring in food. Folate can be found in dark leafy greens and beef liver. Folic acid is found in most supplements and food products and has been shown to prevent neural tube defects in prior studies.
The post Adding one ingredient to table salt could prevent fatal birth defects appeared first on WND.