Vitamin B9 (Folate) — answers to folate / folic acid
Hasn’t appeared in a scanned product yet.
Talk to your doctor or pharmacist.
Roll Call does not check drug interactions or assess personal safety.
A B-vitamin found naturally in foods like leafy greens and legumes (folate) or manufactured as a more stable synthetic form (folic acid) used in supplements and fortified foods.
Why it’s used
Taken to meet daily folate needs, particularly to support red blood cell formation and, in people who may become pregnant, to reduce the risk of certain birth defects.
What the evidence is for
preventing neural tube defects when taken before and during early pregnancy, and correcting folate-deficiency anemia.
What the evidence says
The NIH Office of Dietary Supplements describes strong evidence that adequate folate intake, including through supplementation, reduces the risk of neural tube defects when taken before and during early pregnancy, and that folate deficiency causes a specific type of anemia correctable with folate. Evidence for other claimed benefits, such as general cognitive support in non-deficient adults, is much weaker.
Dose studied
400–1000 mcg — adult RDA up to the tolerable upper intake level for folic acid, per NIH ODS.
Context
The adult Recommended Dietary Allowance is 400 micrograms of dietary folate equivalents per day, rising during pregnancy; the tolerable upper intake level for folic acid from supplements and fortified foods in adults is 1,000 micrograms per day, per NIH ODS.
Educational information, not medical or safety advice. Consult a professional for allergies or medical concerns.