Foods high in folic acid are easier to find than you think. Stop paying top dollar for folate supplements when you can easily get the same nutrition from food sources like edamame soybeans, broccoli, spinach, and liver.
What are some food sources of folate?
Whether you are a nutrition buff or not it is highly unlikely you have not come across a nutrient of the name Folic Acid often seen written on the nutritional facts labels of many of the foods we eat. There are other names for folic acid, most notably folate and vitamin B9.
Just because you've become familiar to the word folic acid doesn't mean you know what it does in your body. Let's face it, not many do. Simply put, it is an irreplaceable part of your diet essential for establishing lifelong health.
In this daily take on Slism, we will introduce good food sources of folate that you can easily incorporate into your diet lowering the need to over pay for diet supplements that means helping you get your daily nutrition on a tighter budget.
Quick Folate Foods
About Folic Acid and Areas to Benefit in Your Health
Folic acid is a type of water soluble B vitamin that that play an important role in your red blood cells and development in the womb. It also takes part in your amino acid and vitamin metabolism affecting how proteins are put together in your body as well as blood forming bodily functions.
Getting folic acid in your diet is said to reduce the rice of some complications in the womb. That is why it is often emphasized to get the recommended amount of folate prior or during the first stages of pregnancy.
Just because getting folic acid in your diet is a good thing doesn't mean that there are no limits. While beneficial to your health, excess intake of folate in your diet could harm your body and is not recommended.
What Happens When You Don't Get Enough Folate?
When lack folic acid in your diet especially when during pregnancy, breast feeding, and overdrinking you rick malnutrition. In some special cases it affects the nutrition absorption rate in your digestive tract.
Not having enough folate in your diet may result in complications concerning healthy blood flow including possible nerve damage and blood clotting.
Due to the risk involved with not getting enough folic acid in your body, folate supplementation is highly recommended during the first stages of pregnancy to a certain amount. However, that doesn't mean you shouldn't want consult with your doctor before moving forward.
Foods High In Folate to Help You Get It in Your Diet
Folic acid like that found in spinach can also be found in Japanese-Edamame and Dried Nori-Seaweed. The foods introduced here contain high folate content per 100g serving size. Refer to the daily recommended intake for folic acid and start getting more Vitamin B9 in your body right away.
Edamame
Japanese green soybeans most widely known as Eda-mame in addition to being an excellent source for vitamins and minerals, and protein, give you more folic acid in your diet.
In addition to added nutritional value, eating edamame is irreplaceable when drinking alcohol for is said to help break down ethanol faster helping your escape a hangover and even succeed on a drunk diet.
Edamame contains a substance known as lecithin, a type of fat that is less likely to be absorbed in your body most likely to be flushed out of your body. This is advantageous for people on a diet trying to reduce body fat.
| Type | Amount |
|---|---|
| Edamame (Raw) | 320μg |
| Edamame (Boiled) | 260μg |
| Edamame (Frozen) | 310μg |
Broccoli (210μg)
Broccoli is an excellent source of folic acid in addition to Vitamin C said to help with the creation off collagen in your body for better looking skin.
Note that water soluble vitamins like vitamin C get destroyed throw long boiling. So when cooking broccoli it is recommended that you drink the broth so not to waist vitamin C.
There is said to be 41 calories in broccoli weighing 125g with 5.38g of protein (21.52Cal), 0.63g of fat (5.67Cal), and 6.5g of carbohydrates (26Cal). The calories from eating 1 medium broccoli can be burned off jumping rope for 5 minutes.
Spinach (210μg)
Spinach gives you more than folate including Iron to prevent anemia and vitamin C that when combined with iron has a higher nutrient absorption rate than normal.
Eating foods rich in vitamin C with spinach is a great way to boost absorption of vitamin C by your body helping you optimize nutrition.
There are 20 calories in spinach per 100g serving size with 2.2g of protein (8.8Cal), 0.4g of fat (3.6Cal), and 3.1g of carbohydrates (12.4Cal). Eating 100g of raw spinach sets over the recommended meal intake of vitamin C with 35mg of vitamin C. Calories from 100g of spinach can be burned off swimming for 3 minutes.
Laver "Seaweed"
Laver also known as nori dried seaweed is a great source of folate in your diet that can be easily added to your daily meals by eating with rice or simply adding to your favorite soup replacing the need to add salt.
There are 180 calories per 100g serving size of laver. Practically speaking, you will only eat a fraction of this amount, which does little to affect your diet not pushing you over your calorie limits.
On the other hand, laver such as dried nori seaweed contains a relatively large amount of folic acid that serves as an easy way to get you daily intake of folate in one fell swoop.
| Type | Amount |
|---|---|
| Dried Seaweed | 1200μg |
| Baked Seaweed | 1900μg |
| Flavored Seaweed | 1600μg |
Liver
The folate content in raw liver doesn't differ much from where you get it. In addition to being a good source for folic acid, liver is known to contain iron and copper which are recommended if you are feeling a bit anemic.
Trying to cut back in your diet can often be the cause of anemia. So that doesn't happen, getting more iron in your diet eating healthy liver and spinach keeps anemic feeling at by while helping your get your daily folate.
However the consumption of raw liver is very much prohibited, properly preparing liver before consumption is recommended. Take special care in cooking to prevent consumption related complications.
| Type | Amount |
|---|---|
| Beef Liver | 1000μg |
| Pork Liver | 810μg |
| Chicken Liver | 1300μg |
Folic Acid Recommended Daily Intake for Supplements
The daily recommended intake of folic acid for men over the age of 18 is 200μg and 240μg for women. A good rule of thumb is to get at bare minimum this amount.
On the other hand between the 4th and 8th week of maternity it is said to be good to be getting between 400μg and 800μg of folic acid in your diet daily. Please consult with your doctor to discuss this matter in further detail.
- Mature woman: 240μg of folate from diet
- Pregnant women between the 4th and 8th week of pregnancy
240μg from diet + 400μg from supplements OR
240μg from diet + 800μg from other food sources
If you are concerned of whether are not you are getting enough folic acid in your diet, consult with your doctor regarding good supplements to use allowing you to make up the difference.
