What about Folic Acid?

Folic acid is a synthetic version of folate.

In general, our bodies do best with the real thing, not the fake thing.

Folic acid supplementation is implicated in tongue and lip ties in babies, which cause big problems with nursing as well as proper tooth, jaw and airway development.

I personally would not advise using it. 

The push to supplement pregnant women with folic acid is based on research about prevention of neural tube defects, which is a good thing to prevent! Unfortunately, the push to supplement with folic acid may have caused more problems than it solved.

It would have made more sense, to focus simply on natural food-based sources of folate rather than synthetic forms, which often behave in slightly different ways than the thing they are imitating. 

For example, imagine the difference between a genuine leather and a synthetic leather purse. 

They may look similar from a distance, but up close the genuine leather has a nicer hand feel and will hold up to aging much better.

Our bodies respond that way to natural foods vs. artificial substances.

I would advise seeking out natural sources of folate, such as well-cooked leafy greens, legumes and beef liver.

If you are trying to attain the RDA of folate (600 pregnancy, 500 nursing), you can easily achieve that with a 1/2 cup serving of beans with each meal, as well as leafy greens once a day. Liver pills are a nice complement.

Happy baby making!

Warmly,

Dr. Suuzi Hazen