“Vitamin B9 (Mixed)?”Here!folate / folic acid
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As a supplement
Talk to your doctor or pharmacist.
Roll Call does not check drug interactions or assess personal safety.
Vitamin B9 covers folate, the form found naturally in foods like leafy greens and legumes, and folic acid, the synthetic form used in supplements and fortified foods. Both are converted in the body to active forms used in DNA synthesis and cell division.
Why it’s used
Taken to correct or prevent folate deficiency, and by people who are or may become pregnant to support neural tube development in early pregnancy.
What the evidence is for
preventing folate deficiency and supporting neural tube development in early pregnancy.
What the evidence says
NIH ODS confirms folate's essential role in DNA synthesis and cell growth, and strong evidence supports folic acid supplementation before and during early pregnancy in reducing the risk of neural tube defects. Evidence for other claimed benefits, such as mood or cardiovascular effects, is far less consistent.
Dose studied
400–1000 mcg — adult RDA (400 mcg DFE) up to the tolerable upper intake level for synthetic folic acid (1000 mcg), per NIH ODS.
Context
Public health guidance recommending folic acid around pregnancy is based on trials and population data showing reduced neural tube defect risk when intake begins before conception and continues through early pregnancy; the adult RDA and pregnancy-specific recommendations differ from the tolerable upper intake level set for synthetic folic acid from fortified foods and supplements.
Rumors
Preventing the neural tube defects folate deficiency causes in early pregnancy, and correcting its megaloblastic anemia — weakness, fatigue, trouble concentrating and breathlessness.
Supports — establishedhealth and safety evidence
Studied in: women of childbearing age/pregnant women.
Measured as an outcome.
- Folate - Health Professional Fact Sheet (Regulatory) · Funding not checked
How much is a reference amount
- 400 mcg DFE a dayfor adults 19 and over · Recommended Dietary Allowance
Upper limit 1,000 mcg a day, from supplements and fortified foods — it does not apply to the nutrient as it occurs in food and only to synthetic folic acid — not to folate as it occurs in food.
The RDA is in dietary folate equivalents; the UL is in mcg of SYNTHETIC folic acid from supplements and fortified foods only — the FNB set no UL for folate from food. A label stating plain mcg cannot be compared to the DFE figure without knowing the form.
Every applicable line is shown because we don’t know which one is yours, and a reference intake is a target for a population, not a threshold for harm.