Everyone talks about recommended dietary allowance of RDA. But very few people know the exact interpretation. Generally it is perceived as the daily requirement of a nutrition. In the case of folic acid RDA many think it is the daily requirement of folic acid. It is not so. It is the allowance having some tolerance of more or less than the requirement. It is impossible to determine the exact requirement of any nutrition for a particular individual.
Before we understand RDA let us know another important reference in nutrition intake. That is called dietary reference intake or DRI. This is the reference value used for planning and assessing nutrient intake for healthy people. Under DRI three types of reference values are listed. One is the RDA. This is the scientifically observed reference value that shows the dietary allowance for majority of the people across all age and gender who leads a healthy life. Next is adequate intake AI reference. Here there is no scientifically observed reference value because of insufficient data to establish RDA. It is not that reliable but believed to be more or less tenable. Third type is the tolerable upper intake level UL. Folate is an important nutrition for many health reasons. Hence folic acid RDA has to be understood properly.
Folate is essential for cell formation and maintenance. For pregnant woman this nutrition is vital to ensure a healthy baby. Neural defect has been observed with the babies born to mothers who were having inadequate folic acid. This is required for production of red blood cells. Anemia is the result of insufficient folate. Apart from these there are other symptoms of folate deficiency like heart palpitation, diarrhea, loss of weight, loss of appetite etc.
Folate is rich in green leafy vegetables like spinach, broccoli, green turnip etc. Orange, strawberry, pineapple and the like citrus fruits have folate. Pig liver is another source of folate. In your normal diet you are taking folate but may not be adequate and thus you may have the above symptoms. Before you take any supplement consult your physician.
Folic acid RDA is expressed in terms of dietary folate equivalent DFA. Not to complicate 1 DFA = 1 mcg of food folate = 0.6 mcg of folic acid from supplements or fortified food. When food folate is synthesised in our body we get folic acid. When we take folic acid from external sources in fortified foods we offer instant folic acid to our health. This shows that if we take 1 mcg of folate rich food our body gets only 0.6 mcg of folic acid. When we say that an adult should require daily 400 mcg as per RDA one should adjust the intake depending upon the natural folate rich foods or supplement.
For pregnant woman the RDA is 600 mcg per day. In the case of infants below 1 year there is no RDA but only AI which has been based on the breast-milk-fed healthy babies. It is 65 mcg per day for 0 to 6 months old babies and 80 mcg per day for 6 months to 12 months old babies.
Both vitamin b12 deficiency and folate deficiency lead to same kind of symptoms. But folate cannot treat neural and brain related issues caused due to b12 deficiency. It is preferable to take multi vitamin. Daily I am getting 400 mcg of folic acid with 25 mcg of b12 through a fantastic natural nutrition supplement that ensures balanced nutrition to me in a holistic way. If you want to know more about folic acid RDA visit my website.
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