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Folic acid, a B vitamin, helps prevent birth defects of the brain and spinal cord when taken very early in pregnancy. The nutrient is available in most multivitamins, as a folic acid-only supplement and in some foods. The western diet is most deficient in this B vitamin. Some studies suggest that folic acid may also protect women and men from heart disease, cervical and colon cancer and possibly breast cancer. Supplementing with folic acid reduces levels of homocystine in the body that contributes to arteriosclerosis and osteoporosis.

Folic acid is a naturally occurring B vitamin that helps a baby's neural tube —the part of a developing baby that becomes the brain and spinal cord—develop properly. It must be taken before and during early pregnancy when the neural tube is developing.

The best way to get enough folic acid is to take a multivitamin with 400 micrograms of folic acid in it and eat a healthy diet. If all women took adequate folic acid before conception and during pregnancy, the number of babies born with a neural tube defect could drop by as much as 70 percent!

Folic acid is very high in black eye peas, wheat germ and beef liver.

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