What to drink folic acid (vitamin B9) before pregnancy and in the first weeks it is vital for the proper development of the fetus is something that nobody doubts. It has been considered a worldwide recommendation for many years that it has been effective in reducing neurological development problems in infants.
However, a recent study seems to have found something somewhat disturbing: that not only folic acid deficit can be harmful, but also excess. And is that having an excess of folic acid increases the risk of the baby having autism.
Why folic acid is so important
As recommended for many years and WHO confirmed in 2014 the report "Daily administration of iron and folic acid supplements in pregnancy"Having adequate levels of folic acid in the blood is essential for a healthy pregnancy. This is because in pregnancy the needs of folic acid increase due to the rapid development of the fetus and a greater loss of it through the urine.
Folic acid supplementation helps decrease the risk of neural tube defects in the newborn, defects in the formation of the heart, fetal urinary malformations, hydranencephaly and cleft lip.
Since 1998 the recommendation is that women consume a supplement of 0.4 mg daily which should be started before pregnancy, if possible (the neural tube closes at the first month of pregnancy and many women do not even know they are), and until the first quarter is met. If consumption begins after this date there is no such benefit, because these organs are already formed.
But in excess, it seems to be a cause of autism
To date, what we knew was that a deficit of folic acid was dangerous, but we did not know that an excess can be too. A recent study conducted in the Johns Hopkins School of Public Health they have found that if a mother has elevated folate levels after childbirth (there is talk of four times more than adequate) the risk of your child developing an autism spectrum disorder is double.
In addition, they studied the changes that variations of b12 vitamin and found something similar, that an excess of it can triple the risk of the child having autism.
When the excess happens with both substances, folic acid and vitamin B12, the risk increases in no less than 17.6 times.
In the words of Danielle Fallin, co-author of the study:
Proper supplementation is protective: that is still true when we talk about folic acid. We have known for a long time that a deficiency of folic acid in pregnant women is detrimental to the development of your child. But what this tells us is that excessive amounts can also cause harm. We must try to achieve optimal levels of this important nutrient.
But is there a deficit of folic acid?
Despite the strategy and despite the fact that more and more women are informed of the need to supplement their diet with this supplement, some women still do not receive enough or do not absorb it as they should, resulting in deficits. According to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention one in four women of reproductive age in the US It has insufficient folate levels.
This concern now clashes directly with another: the growing number of children with autism, which is currently estimated at one in 68 children (An atrocity). Obviously, this is not the only cause, but one more than a lot of causes that would cause some cases and that, added up, make so many children with ASD.
One in 10 women had an excess of folic acid
To conduct the study, data from 1,391 women who gave birth in Boston between 1998 and 2013 were analyzed. The researchers found that one in 10 women had excess folic acid (more than 59 nmol / l) and six percent had an excessive amount of vitamin B12 (more than 600 pmol / l).
According to the WHO, the adequate amount of folic acid in the first trimester of pregnancy is between 13.5 and 45.3 nmol / l. With respect to vitamin B12, the limits are not yet well established.
When asking mothers, many of them explained that they had taken multivitamins (with folic acid and vitamin B12) throughout pregnancy, but as many of those who did not suffer too much did, the researchers do not risk predicting why some had such high levels of these vitamins.
It could be that they had consumed too many foods enriched or rich in folic acid or that they had taken too many supplements. Or it could also be that these women were genetically predisposed to absorb more of what they received or metabolize it more slowly, or perhaps a combination of both factors.
And then, how much to take? Even when?
Well, these are the two most important questions, without having an answer. The study only mentions that, that the excess can be detrimental as the lack can be, so the researchers mention that more studies are needed to determine what is the amount of folic acid that a woman must consume during pregnancy to achieve levels desired, although they drop taking vitamin supplements throughout pregnancy could be the cause of such excess.
