Do boys need to take folic acid?

Presumably, women who have experienced pregnancy should know that in the early stages of pregnancy, they should supplement the amount of folic acid needed by the body, because folic acid can effectively prevent congenital malformations in the fetus. From a nutritional point of view, folic acid actually belongs to the vitamin B group in the human body, so basically everyone has more or less folic acid in their body. But if a man is deficient in folic acid, can he take folic acid tablets?

During the period of preparing for pregnancy and during pregnancy, folic acid is indispensable and strict for pregnant mothers. In fact, some friends may wonder: Should boys take folic acid when preparing for pregnancy? Why should they take folic acid when preparing for pregnancy? Next, the editor will introduce this aspect in detail.

Should boys take folic acid when preparing for pregnancy?

The main function of folic acid is to allow the fetus' neural tube cells to develop normally, so as to prevent the fetus from developing neural tube defects. Secondly, folic acid supplementation can also prevent birth defects in infants. Moreover, women taking folic acid can also prevent anemia. Folic acid can produce red blood cells, and pregnant women taking folic acid can also prevent anemia during pregnancy. Studies have shown that when pregnant women have sufficient folic acid in their bodies, the placenta can grow faster and absorb more nutrients from the mother.

In fact, folic acid has a great impact on male sperm. Everyone knows that the quality of sperm affects pregnancy and even the health of the fetus. Studies have shown that if a man has too little folic acid in his body, it will cause too many or too few chromosomes in his semen. If this abnormal sperm combines with the egg, the child born is likely to have chromosome defect diseases, such as Down syndrome, and the probability of developing cancer when growing up will be higher than that of ordinary people. In addition, because modern men have a lot of social activities outside, smoking and drinking are inevitable, which leads to poor sperm in many men. If men take some folic acid every day, the risk of sperm abnormalities will be reduced by about 30%.

It is recommended that men should supplement folic acid before pregnancy, eat more spinach, asparagus, animal liver and other foods, and of course, folic acid tablets can be taken if necessary. At the same time, it is also recommended that prospective fathers should eat more zinc-containing foods, selenium-containing foods and protein-containing foods that are good for sperm before pregnancy.

Why should you take folic acid when preparing for pregnancy?

Under normal circumstances, if we are not picky about food and consume enough fresh vegetables, fruits and meat every day, we can meet our daily needs for folic acid. However, due to their special physiological conditions, pregnant women need 4 times more folic acid than normal people.

Early pregnancy, especially the first three months of pregnancy, is a critical period for the differentiation of fetal organ systems and the formation of the placenta. The growth and division of embryonic cells are very vigorous. At this time, if folic acid is deficient, it can lead to severe fetal malformations, including optic tube defects, anencephaly, spina bifida, etc. In addition, it may also cause spontaneous abortion in early pregnancy.