Nutrition Nutrition Folic Acid Folate, also called folic acid, is a B vitamin that, among its many functions, reduces the risk of a serious type of birth defect. It is essential particularly in the first few weeks of pregnancy. Lack of folate in the diet is a major source of early pregnancy loss in older women. The western diet is often lacking in folate due mainly to lack of green vegetables in the diet. For many women, an easy way to be sure you're getting enough folic acid is to take a vitamin with folic acid in it. The U.S. Public Health Service recommends that all women who could possibly become pregnant get 400 micrograms (or 0.4 mg) of folic acid every day. This could prevent up to 70% of some types of serious birth defects. But to do this, women need folic acid before they get pregnant. That's why you should always get enough folic acid every day even if you're not thinking about a baby any time soon. Folic acid has been added to some foods, such as enriched breads, pastas, rice, and cereals. A few cereals have 100 percent of the folic acid you need. Sources of Folic Acid Dry beans (like red beans, navy beans, and soybeans), lentils, chickpeas, cow peas, and peanuts Many vegetables, especially leafy greens (spinach, cabbage, brussels sprouts, romaine, looseleaf lettuce), peas, okra, sweet corn, beets, and broccoli Fruits such as blackberries, boysenberries, kiwifruit, oranges, plantains, strawberries, orange juice, and pineapple juice Above courtesy of C.D.C.