Folic Acid

Folic acid also known as folate is popular for its ability to prevent birth defects. Recent studies have proved that folic acid or other herbal mood enhancement effects can be availed by depression disorder patients as well. Researchers have found that folic acid deficiency can cause depression. If you are diagnosed with depression and the reason for the disorder is low levels of this vitamin, taking folic acid supplements can help you get recovery.

Some foods like leafy vegetables including spinach, lettuce and broccoli and fruits such as bananas, melons, orange and lemons are also rich in this vitamin. Many food grains are fortified with folic acid.  Increasing your intake of these foods can help treat folate deficiency causing depression. Folic acid for depression can help you ease the symptoms safely. If combined with antidepressants, it can help increase their effectiveness.

Folic Acid Effects On Depression

Folic acid belongs to B vitamin group, which helps in keeping your emotional and mental health at pink. However, it cannot be stored by your body, so you need to take a diet rich in folate to get the benefits. Unfortunately, increased intake of refined sugars, alcohol and nicotine destroys folic acid, causing deficiency. Once this problems is found, it’s important to know about social support and depression for yourself. Folic acid effects on brain chemical monoamines have close links to mood.  Sufficient level of folate helps in the production of feel good chemicals in the brain. It also helps maintain healthy levels of important neurotransmitters like dopamine, serotonin and norepinephrine. Those who do not respond to traditional antidepressants are recommended to take folic acid for depression.
Many researchers suspect that increased levels of homocysteine acid are associated with numerous diseases and disorders, including heart diseases, some types of cancer and depression. Doctors often prescribe supplements of folic acid for depression. The vitamin helps reduce the levels of homocysteine acid in blood and thereby relieves chronic depression.

Folic Acid Supplement Info

Before taking supplements to reduce depression symptoms, it is worth to spend a few minutes in collecting folic acid supplement info. Taking 500 micrograms of folic acid daily along with your regular depression medications for a period of 10 weeks can help reduce the severity of the symptoms and make it easy for you to do your normal activities. Folic acid supplement info provided by various studies shows that women patients respond much better to folic acid supplements than men. Men may need a high dose of folate to get rid of depression.

In order to get the benefits of folate, you can consider getting it in its natural form. Include spinach, okra, broccoli, lettuce, bananas, peas, beans, lemon, melon, asparagus, yeast, nuts and mushroom in your regular diet. Also take orange juice or tomato juice daily. This helps you to reap the benefits of folic acid safely, cheaply and naturally. In addition, you can take supplements to ensure that you are getting the vitamin in sufficient amount.

Remember some medications, such as birth control pills and anticonvulsants can interact with folic acid supplements. If you are taking any medications, you need to first consult with your doctor before adding the supplements to your daily regime.