Chemistry Reference
In-Depth Information
Table 13.9.
Recommended daily uptake of folate
Folate
mgMJ
-1
(nutrient density)
b
mg equivalent
a
day
-1
Age
Male
Female
Sucklings
<
4 months
c
60
30
32
Sucklings 4-12 months
80
27
28
Children 1-4 years
200
43
45
Children 4-7 years
300
47
52
Children 7-10 years
300
38
42
Children 10-13 years
400
43
47
Children 13-15 years
400
36
43
Adults 15-25 years
d
400
38
48
Adults 25-51 years
d
400
39
51
Adults 51-65 years
400
43
54
Adults
>
65 years
400
48
58
Pregnant
d
600
65
Breast feeding
600
56
From DGE (2007)
a
Calculated for the sum of folates in normal nutrition;
b
calculated for adolescents and adults mostly sedentary
(PAL-value 1.4);
c
estimated value;
d
women planning pregnancy should take additional 400 mg day
-1
synthetic
folic acid (pteroylmonoglutamic acid; PGA) at least 4 weeks before conception and for the first trimester to
avoid neural tube defects.
protein (FBP) in milk (Achanta et al., 2007), which has been suggested to
promote folate uptake by the intestinal mucosa, at least in animals. The
opinion that breast-fed human babies had a better folate status than bottle-
fed babies due to an undenatured FBP in human milk seems to be outdated,
as babies fed with formula food had better folate levels at 2 and 6 months after
birth than breast-fed ones (Karademir et al., 2007).
13.8.3.
Folate Deficiencies
One of the intensively discussed effects of (maternal) folate deficiency is
premature birth, low birth weight and an increased risk of neural tube defects
(NTD) in the offspring (Pitkin, 2007). Therefore, since the late 1990s, in some
countries (the USA, Canada, Chile), selected basic nutrients have been fortified
with folate, leading to a reduction of NTDs of 50-78% (Liu et al., 2004;
Bockelbrink et al., 2005). However, in Germany there are still no such general
fortifications and here the mean daily folate uptake is around 100 mgwhichis
about one fourth of the recommended uptake of 400 mgday
-1
for adults and
even less compared to 600 mgday
-1
for pregnant women or women planning
pregnancy. The latter group, especially, should take care of an optimal folate
