Folic Acid for Your Next Baby

Women of childbearing age are strongly encouraged to consume 400 micrograms of folate or folic acid every day (this is the RDA for folate, a B vitamin). Folate is the form of the vitamin found naturally occurring in food, and folic acid is the form used to enrich foods like bread or breakfast cereal. Taking the RDA of folate/folic acid by pregnant women has been found to significantly reduce the incidence of neural tube birth defects. Since these defects usually occur before a woman even knows she is pregnant, it is important for any woman who could become pregnant to ensure that she is consuming the RDA for this important vitamin. Both oranges and orange juice are good sources of folate.