Folic acid

Folic acid as well as pteroyl-L-glutamic acid, pteroyl-L-glutamate, and pteroylmonoglutamic acid are forms of the water-soluble vitamin B9. Folic acid is itself not biologically active, but its biological importance is due to tetrahydrofolate and other derivatives after its conversion to dihydrofolic acid in the liver.
Folate and folic acid derive their names from the food additives Latin word folium. Leafy vegetables are a principal source, although in Western diets fortified cereals and bread may be a larger dietary source. Common symptoms of folate deficiency include diarrhea, macrocytic anemia with weakness or shortness of breath, nerve damage with weakness and limb numbness. Folic acid may also reduce chromosomal defects in sperm.
Folic acid supplements consumed before and during pregnancy may reduce the risk of heart defects in infants. however, worsen the outcomes in people with cardiovascular disease such as angina and myocardial infarction. The risk of toxicity from folic acid is low, Functional red yeast rice because folate is a water-soluble vitamin and is regularly removed from the body through urine. Because of the difference in bioavailability between supplemented folic acid and the different forms of folate found in food.