Taking Folic Acid, Not Other Folates, Is Recommended to Reduce Risk of Birth Defects

SciCheck Digest

A folic acid supplement is recommended during pregnancy and prior to conception because it reduces the risk of neural tube defects in babies. Social media posts have claimed that people should avoid folic acid in favor of a different form of the vitamin, but folic acid is the only one that has been established to help prevent birth defects.

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Neural tube defects affect the spinal cord and brain. They occur very early in pregnancy when the neural tube doesn’t close properly. The most common types are spina bifida, a defect of the spine that can range from having little impact to causing intellectual disability or paralysis, and anencephaly, a fatal defect in which parts of the brain and skull do not form.

Taking a folic acid supplement prior to and during pregnancy — first broadly recommended in the U.S. in 1992 — can reduce the risk of these birth defects. The rate of neural tube defects fell in the U.S. after the government mandated in 1998 that certain grain products be fortified with folic acid.

Folic acid is a form of folate, or vitamin B9. Folate helps the body with basic functions such as making DNA, which is necessary for cells to replicate.

Widely shared social media posts incorrectly claim that people should not ingest folic acid, particularly those who have a certain common gene variant.

“Folic acid is not a physiological active form of folate. It doesn’t do anything good,” one recent post stated, recommending that people take other folates. “If you have the mthfr gene mutation, avoid folic acid!” said another. People have made similar claims on multiple accounts over several years.

There is a common variant of the MTHFR gene, the body’s ability to process folic acid. But people with this variant can still process folic acid and should take folic acid supplements at the usual dose, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention website.