Folic acid can be found naturally in leafy green vegetables, legumes, and citrus fruits, and whole grains and is a very important part of every day health. This vitamin is actually vitamin B9 in a complex vitamin called folate. Getting enough of this vitamin is essential to your overall being as it keeps you from developing heart disease, depression, and ensures that babies develop in the womb properly, with no birth defects.

Folic acid has been shown to effectively prevent heart disease and promote heart health. It works by minimizing homocysteine in the body, which is an amino acid that causes cardiovascular disease and attacks blood vessel walls. Further to this, researchers say it can also help prevent strokes. The benefits of this vitamin extend to include the treatment or prevention of depression in certain individuals. Depression researchers have found a correlation with depression and low levels of B Vitamins and folate levels-in fact up to one third of psychiatric patients have shown to be folate deficient. By increasing the level of folate in the body, patients often benefit by showing signs of improved mood and cognitive function. Lastly, folic acid should be an essential vitamin to women who are pregnant. A website on health states, “Repeated studies have shown that women who get 400 micrograms (0.4 milligrams) daily prior to conception and during early pregnancy reduce the risk that their baby will be born with a serious neural tube defect (a birth defect involving incomplete development of the brain and spinal cord) by up to 70%”.

As most diets are low in folic acid content, try to incorporate spinach, beans, oranges, and whole grains into your food every day food intake or take a multivitamin which contains folic acid to ensure you are getting the proper amounts.