Folate (NLOSS)

Patient Information Factsheet

North London Obesity Surgery Service (NLOSS)

What does folate do?

• Folate (folic acid, B9) is one of the B-complex vitamins.
• It is important for your brain and your mental health.
• Folate helps your body make DNA (Deoxyribonucleic Acid) the code that carries all the genetic instructions for your body.
• It also helps make RNA (Ribonucleic Acid) which helps carry out the instructions from your DNA. RNA makes proteins and helps your cells work properly.
• This means folate is important for making new cells.
• It is very important during pregnancy, infancy, adolescence, and any time you need to grow new tissue (such as after an injury or surgery).
• Folate also works with B12 to make red blood cells.
• It plays a role in maintaining the health of the cardiovascular system (your heart and blood vessels working together), nervous system, and digestive system.

What happens if my folate is low/if I do not get enough folate?

• If you do not have enough B12 you may notice that you feel tired and weak.
• You may experience dizziness, heart palpitations (rapid heartbeats) and feel short of breath.
• Other common symptoms are poor appetite, sore or swollen tongue, and diarrhoea.
• If you do not get enough folate, serious problems can happen. These include nerve damage, memory loss, heart disease, and sometimes certain cancers.
• If you are a woman with folate deficiency and you become pregnant, you risk having a miscarriage or having a baby with serious birth defects.
• Not having enough folate can cause a type of anaemia. This makes your blood cells larger than normal.

What are other symptoms?

• Memory loss/changes
• Gum disease, mouth ulcers
• Burning sensation around the mouth
• Irritability (easily annoyed or upset) and depression
• Psychosis (a serious mental health condition where a person has trouble knowing what is real and what is not)
• Muscle weakness, difficulty walking
• Ankle swelling
• Changes in vision.

Where can I get folate?

• The biggest source of folate in the British diet is in fortified foods such as cereals and bread.
• Fortified foods are foods that have extra vitamins or minerals added to them.
• Natural sources of folate include oranges or orange juice, green vegetables, peanuts, peas, sprouts, liver and soybeans.
• Folate is also found in dietary supplements such as multivitamins, B-complex vitamins and alone in tablets or capsules.
• If your folate is low, your Doctor may ask you to take a folate supplement.
• They will also ask you to eat foods that have more folate.

Other important things

• If you have had weight-loss surgery, you might not eat many foods that have extra folate added.
• For this reason, it is very important that you have another source such as a multivitamin with folate in it.
• If you are a woman, it is recommended to have a healthy folate level for a full year before becoming pregnant.
• If you are thinking about becoming pregnant, you should discuss having a folate level test with your Doctor.
• If you have low folate levels, The Doctor will give you care instructions as well as appointments for follow ups and tests. You must follow any care they recommend and attend these appointments.

Contact our service

Should you need more information, please contact our Specialist Bariatric Dietitians on 0207 288 5989, Monday to Friday, 8am to 4pm.