The importance of folic acid supply to human health
- 13.08.2004
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- Redaktion
Part 2: Reference values for intake, dietary intake and food fortification
B. Koletzko, K. Pietrzik, Munich, Bonn
The dietary reference intakes for folate recommended for prevention are not met by the usual dietary habits of the major part of the German population. An adequate folate supply during early pregnancy has been shown to reduce the incidence of neural tube defects by 70–75 %.
Terminations of pregnancies following prenatal diagnosis of neural tube defects were reduced to about the same degree. Folic acid supplementation after the diagnosis of pregnancy is usually too late to ensure the prevention of neural tube defects. A better and desirable alternative is folate added to basic food; folate enrichment is also expected to produce further health benefits such as, for instance, a reduction of morbidity and mortality due to cardiovascular diseases.Keywords: Folate / folate supplementation / folate enrichment / neural tube defects / orofacial clefts / dementia / homocysteine / cardiovascular diseases / prevention / pregnancy
Sie finden den Artikel in deutscher Sprache in Ernährungs-Umschau 08/04 ab Seite 313.
