Folic acid deficiency is one of the major causes of miscarriage and stillbirth in pregnant women, as well as one of the main causes of lifelong disability in affected children. Therefore, many mothers-to-be spare no effort to take folic acid supplements. However, excessive consumption of folic acid by mothers-to-be may lead to a number of diseases in their offspring. The intake of appropriate doses of folic acid can effectively reduce the risk of offspring suffering from neural tube defects, such as cremasteric cleft, especially during the first 10 weeks of pregnancy. The World Health Organization recommends a daily intake of 0.4 mg of folic acid for healthy pregnant women, while women with a family history of neural tube defects are recommended about 10 times more than healthy pregnant women, i.e., about 5 mg of folic acid daily. However, few studies have looked at safe upper limits of folic acid intake, and some pregnant women increase their folic acid intake unintentionally. In a research paper published in an international journal, researchers from the University of Porto and others found that women who consume too much folic acid during pregnancy may cause their offspring to develop obesity and diabetes later in life. This shows that blind folic acid consumption during pregnancy needs to be avoided. Since the amount of folic acid in each person’s body varies and some mothers-to-be have a higher need for folic acid, the amount of folic acid supplementation should be based on the test results and as prescribed by the doctor. When should I start folic acid supplementation? For women who are preparing for pregnancy, they should start taking folic acid supplements at least three months in advance and keep taking it throughout their pregnancy. For most mothers-to-be, attention to a daily diet with foods high in folic acid is a must. You can eat more oats, egg yolks, broccoli, animal liver, carrots, kiwi, milk and other foods high in folic acid. There are some foods that are also high in vitamin C, etc., which also facilitate the absorption of folic acid. Some people think that medicine is poisonous and should be taken sparingly during pregnancy, so they do not want to supplement folic acid tablets and expect to supplement folic acid through food. This understanding is wrong. Although many fruits and vegetables contain folic acid, folic acid is a type of vitamin that is very easy to lose, and once heated, the loss of folic acid will be accelerated, and even prolonged storage can cause folic acid loss. Therefore, eating a lot of fruits and vegetables every day is actually not enough to supplement folic acid.