Introducing Jenelle Merzon!

Please join us in welcoming Jenelle Merzon to the Go Folic! family.  Jenelle comes to us from Tuoro University, where she is earning her Masters in Public Health degree (MPH).  She will be interning with Go Folic! through January 2015, working on creating a multi-pronged SFDPH-wide event in conjunction with next year’s Folic Acid Awareness Week, scheduled for January 5, 2015 through January 11, 2015.  As Jenelle will also become a regular contributor to this blog, we promise to keep readers updated on our 2015 Folic Acid Awareness Week plans as they take shape.

In the meantime, here is Jenelle in her own words…

I was born and raised on the central coast in San Luis Obispo, California.  I attended the University of California, Santa Barbara and earned a Bachelor of Arts in Communication and a minor in Exercise Physiology.  I have always had an interest in the human body and a passion for staying healthy through exercise and proper nutrition.  These passions led me to physical therapy.

The experience I gained while working in physical therapy set my foundation for pursuing a Masters of Public Health.  I will receive my MPH in December 2014, with an emphasis in Community Public Health, from Touro University, California.  I have volunteered and worked on many different community health projects, ranging from coordinating health promotion events to being a research assistant at Touro University.  While at Touro University I worked on studies that focused on improving MPH student’s health competencies and skills.  I am very excited for the opportunity to begin my internship with the GoFolic! Project within the Department of Public Health, San Francisco.

I am much more than just school and work!  You can commonly find me training for marathons, snowboarding, or attempting to train my dachshund puppies.  Most recently you’ll notice that I love being a newlywed with my husband, Andre.  I would probably be most known for being goofy, a vegetarian for 20+ years with no real reason why, and taking trips around the world.

 

 

Looking Back: Folic Acid Awareness Week Activities Across the Globe

If you are already a reader of this blog, you are aware that last week, Go Folic! participated in Folic Acid Awareness Week (January 6-12, 2013) with a number of activities and events, including vitamin give-aways.  However, we were only one of many organizations across the globe that used last week to promote this important B-Vitamin.  In this post, we’d like to feature some of our favorite FAAW “compadres.”

Some of Our Favorite U.S. Organizations

Every Woman California is an initiative of the Preconception Health Council of California.  The group works with health care providers and communities to improve the physical, emotional and social well-being of reproductive-age women.  Their website includes excellent information on women’s health topics, such as financial health, emotional wellbeing, and folic acid.  It also includes extensive tools for health providers and serves as a state-wide clearing house for agencies involved in promoting women’s wellness, including Go Folic!  Follow EWC on twitter @PHCCalifornia.

Everywoman North Carolina was among the first organizations in the U.S. to operate a vitamin distribution program.  They have now expanded to include more general information on women health, and steps women can take before getting pregnant to have a healthy baby (preconception health).  Their Folic Acid Awareness Week’s twitter feed #NFAAW, was full of useful information and tips regarding folic acid.

Some of Our Favorite International Organizations

 We view Go Folic! UK as a “sister” organization.  A project of the Scottish Spina Bifida Association, the oworks to “find new ways to increase folate intake to prevent Neural Tube Defects (NTD) of which spina bifida is the most common.”  Their website contains a wealth of great information, as does their YouTube channel, which posts numerous videos about children and adults who are living with NTDs.  For the most recent news on folic acid, their Go Folic! Daily is the best English-language source we’ve found. Oh, and we love their catch phrase, “Folic Before You Frolic.”

The MicroNutrient Initiative is the leading international organization working exclusively to eliminate vitamin and mineral deficiencies in the world´s most vulnerable populations. It’s iron and folic acid supplementation program in Nepal supports projects to fortify cereal flours with folic acid and other essential micronutrients as well distributing iron and folic acid supplements to pregnant women through community health volunteers. This program reduced anemia rates in pregnant women from 75% to 42%!  Click here to learn more. It was through MNI that we learned about India’s new campaign to provide adolescent school children with iron and folic acid supplements.

Our Favorite Blog Post of the Week

Ashley Aleksey, who is pursuing a Ph.D. in food chemestry, maintains a blog titled Atoms and Empty Space: Breaking the Silence on Mental Illness.  In observance of Folic Acid Awareness Week, she published a great post on the link between folic acid, folic acid deficiency, depression, and  mental health.  This is a “must read” for anyone who is interested in how folic acid impacts mental well-being.

Clinician’s Corner Re-Post: Is There a “Best Way” to Take Vitamins?

Throughout National Folic Acid Awareness Week (NFAAW), we’ve been encouraging readers to “Go Folic” by taking a daily multi-vitamin with 400-800 mcg of folic acid. So we thought that this would be a great time to re-publish one of our most popular blog posts, “Is There a ‘Best Way’ to Take Vitamins?” by guest blogger and project consultant, Barbara Kass, RNCNP, MSN.

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Morning or Evening?  With or Without Food? Is there a  “Best Way” to take a vitamin supplement?

If you’re reading this, you already know that taking a daily multivitamin with 400-800 mcg of folic acid is good for your health. But how can you get the most from your supplement? It all has to do with when and how you take it.

On an empty stomach or with food?

Try to take your supplement with a meal. Your body makes better use of vitamins when you already have food in your stomach. If you can’t take it with a meal, try to take it within 30 minutes of eating. Taking supplements with food can also help prevent nausea.

When is the best time to take a vitamin?

It’s most important to take the supplement when it is most convenient for you and when you’ll remember to take it.  However, you may not want to take it in the afternoon or evening. Doing so may prevent you from sleeping well that evening.

Do vitamin supplements and medicines mix well?

If you are taking any medicines, ask your doctor if taking a multivitamin is safe. Some vitamins don’t mix with certain medicines such as blood pressure and blood thinning medicines. Other medicines may increase your need for certain vitamins.

Do multi-vitamins replace a good diet?

No! Vitamin supplements cannot replace a good diet.  They won’t give you protein, fiber and many other important nutrients found in foods.  Your diet should include fruits, vegetables, lean protein and whole grains. Vitamin supplements need to work with these foods to help you stay healthy.

Is there anything special to look for when buying supplements?

Be sure that there is a ‘USP’ on the label.  USP stands for United States Pharmacopia.  This means that the supplement meets national quality standards. Also make sure that the vitamins aren’t old. Check the expiration date on the package.  If it has expired, will expire soon, or there is no expiration date, don’t buy the supplement.

Anything else I need to know?

Keep your vitamins in a dry, cool place. Don’t store them in a hot and humid place like a bathroom. Also, be sure to store them safely so that little children can’t take them.

Barbara Kass-Annese, RNCNP, MSN, is a clinician who has written extensively on the topic of vitamins and women’s health.  She also serves as a medical consultant to the Go Folic! Women’s Nutrition Project.

Going Folic in 2013 – An Easy New Year’s Resolution to Keep!

How many New Year’s resolutions have you made over the years? How many of these resolutions have you kept?  According to USA.gov, the top 10 most popular resolutions are (not in any particular order): drink less alcohol, get a better education, get a better job, get fit, lose weight, manage debt, manage stress, quit smoking, recycle more, save money, take a trip, volunteer. With the exception of losing weight (read an alternative view here)

Go Folic! staff members like, and have made, many of the above resolutions over the years – volunteering, taking a trip, quitting smoking, recycling more. That said, we know that while New Year’s resolutions are easy to make, they can be less easy to maintain.

We have one resolution that can be easy to keep- Go Folic! for 2013!

Going folic means getting the recommended daily requirement for folic acid – 400 mcg.  Doing so is easy!  Just take a daily multi-vitamin with the recommended amount.  We recommend a multi-vitamin instead of a folic acid supplement because this B-vitamin needs other B-vitamins to do it’s work (visit our folic facts web page to learn why folic acid is so important).

But vitamins can be expensive…

If you are a woman between the ages of 14 – 54, and live in San Francisco, you can get free Go Folic! multis that contain the recommended RDA for all vitamins, including vitamins K and D.  Visit our website to find out how.

What if I don’t like taking pills?

It’s still easy!  Eat a bowl of fortified cereal with the recommended amount everyday (cereal doesn’t have to be just a breakfast food). The graphic at right shows some of the cereals that contain 100% of the RDA for folic acid (click the image to enlarge it).  Click here to get a more complete list of cereals from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.  Note: while we have included sugary cereals in our graphic, we recommend eating the whole grain variety!

Why not get all I need from folate-rich foods?

At Go Folic! we are all about “turbo-charging” your diet with folate-rich foods.  However, the truth is that it’s difficult to get enough folic acid from food alone, even if your diet is healthful.  This is because your body only absorbs 50% of the folate (the form of folic acid found in food) you get from food, 85% of the folic acid in fortified grains and cereal, and 100% of the folic acid contained in a multi-vitamin.  Read this special health report from the Harvard Medical School on why it’s important to back up a healthy diet with a daily multi-vitamin.

Does my multi-vitamin or favorite cereal contain folic acid?

This is easy to determine, too.  Read the label – it should tell you exactly how much folic acid your multi-vitamin or favorite cereal contain.  Again, you want a multi-vitamin or cereal that contains at least 400 mcg of folate.

We hope that we convinced you…

… to Go Folic! in 2013.  It’s one easy step you can take for a healthier, and more beautiful you!  Should you decide to start or expand your family, it is also one step towards a healthier tomorrow.

January 6-12 is National Folic Acid Awareness Week (NFAAW)!

By taking the B-vitamin folic acid at least three months before pregnancy, women can reduce their risk for having a baby with a neural tube defect (NTD) by 70%. Since half of all pregnancies in the United States are unplanned, the U.S. Centers for Disease Control wants all reproductive-age women to take a daily supplement with at least 400 mcg of this nutrient.

Despite this advice, almost 2/3 of women in the U.S. don’t take a folic acid supplement.   This week was created by the National Council on Folic Acid in order to increasing awareness of the importance of doing just that.

Why ALL Women Need Folic Acid

If you’re not thinking of getting pregnant right now, you might think, “Why do I need folic acid?”  This vitamin plays a crucial role in cell formation and growth, so is important for all women, whether or not they want to get pregnant.  As the above video makes clear, taking a daily multi-vitamin with folic acid:

• Is good for your hair, skin and nails;
• May help to lower your risk for certain cancers;
• Can help your body deal with stress.

Check out “Be Beautiful” and “Be Healthy” on our website for more info.

Go Folic! NFAAW Events

Almost 2/3 of women Go Folic! (a project of the San Francisco Department of Public Health’s Maternal, Child and Adolescent Health Section) is using the week to  celebrating with the following:

• A Multi-Vitamin Give-Away designed to get San Francisco women into the habit of “Going Folic.”  Clients at the Department’s youth clinics, and women registering for San Francisco’s health care access program, Healthy SF, will receive a FREE bottle (3 months supply) of multi-vitamins with 100% of the RDA for folic acid.
• San Francisco women, ages 14-44, can also pick up a free bottle of Go Folic! Multi-Vitamins by coming by the project office.
• A daily blog highlighting pertinent topics throughout the week;
• We will also feature other organizations’ NWAAF activities on our Facebook page and Twitter feed.

Tune in tomorrow to learn how to get the most from your Go Folic! Multis.