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Folic acid, one of the B vitamins, is necessary to make DNA and is, thus, essential for cell division. Folate deficiency causes serious birth defects and anemia, and it increases the risk for heart attacks and strokes. The United States Public Health Service, in 1992, and the Institute of Medicine, in 1998, recommended that all women of reproductive age consume 400 micrograms of synthetic folic acid to prevent birth defects. Most people are folate-deficient unless they eat approximately 400 micrograms of synthetic folic acid per day, either from a vitamin pill or from foods sufficiently fortified with synthetic folic acid. Governments that require adding a sufficient amount of folic acid to centrally processed and commonly eaten foods, such as flour and cornmeal, can eliminate folate deficiency.

GODFREY P. OAKLEY, JR.

(SEE ALSO: Foods and Diets; Micronutrient Malnutrition; Nutrition; Prenatal Care;)