The perfect food to fuel your body is just a shopping trip away. It's sweet, crisp, and full of important nutrients. Can you guess what it is?

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For the moms-to-be out there who are trying to include more folic acid in their diet, the March of Dimes recently created a seal to help finding foods rich in this B vitamin that much easier to spot.

Breads, flours, cereals and other foods must contain at least ten percent of the recommended daily intake of folic acid in order to be given the official Folic Acid for a Healthy Pregnancy seal. The seal itself is quite easy to notice; it's purple and white color scheme make it very different from the labels found on most food packaging.

In addition to helping to ensure a healthy pregnancy, consuming the recommended amount of folic acid can also help ward off stroke, heart attack, anemia, and certain types of cancers.

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We all know that pregnant women need folic acid. But did you know that moms-to-be need to start getting folic acid at least a full year before getting pregnant?

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Good nutrition is so important for pregnant women and women who are planning to get pregnant. Different nutrients stimulate your baby's development and help ensure good health. Choosing nutritious foods and including a lot of fruits and vegetables is a good way to get an assortment of vitamins and minerals. But there are a few nutrients moms-to-be must take extra measures to include in their diet:

• Folic acid
• Calcium
• Omega-3 (DHA and EPA)
• Vitamin D
  

You can get all of these nutrients from food and other natural sources. Prenatal vitamins also supply many of these nutrients, but you should check with your OB/GYN before taking any supplements. See the gallery for more sources of each nutrient. And Happy Mother's Day!

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Women who are trying to conceive or who have become pregnant are urged to take their prenatal vitamins, which are high in folic acid. Folic acid (or folate), when taken before and during pregnancy, has been shown to reduce the risk of neural tube defects in newborns.

A recent study suggests that it might not be a bad idea for dads-to-be to get a little extra folate in their diet as well. When researchers studied sperm samples from 89 healthy men, they found that men who had diets rich in folate or who took folic acid were less likely to have sperm with a chromosomal abnormality called aneuploidy. Though the defect was rare in general, it was up to 30% less common in men who had high levels of folate in their diet.

More studies need to be done to find out exactly what this finding means. In the mean time, if you'd like to increase the folate in your diet, it can be found in leafy greens, enriched grains, as well as beans, peas, and fruits.

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While you should always strive for a healthful, balanced diet in order to give your body the nutrients it needs, it's even more important when you're trying to get (or are) pregnant. Prenatal supplements can give your body the extra nutrients it needs.

Prenatal vitamins contain essential nutrients for pregnancy, including folic acid. Folic acid is necessary for your baby's neural tube development and can help with nausea during the first trimester. (Typically nicknamed "morning sickness" though most of my friends who have gone through a pregnancy swear it's not limited to morning!) Some women experience added nausea if there supplement contains iron. Ask your doctor for advice. You can find more tips about prenatal vitamins here.

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A new federal report out this week indicated that more U.S. women are taking folic acid supplements to ensure they get the recommended daily dosage of the B vitamin. The problem is that the rate is still to low. More women need to ensure they're getting the daily folic acid their bodies need, even with consumption rates having increased recently.

Compared to a 28 percent consumption rate measure in 1995, 40 percent of women in the age range of 18 to 45 who were surveyed indicated that they were taking folic acid daily. From the age range of 18 to 24, the consumption rate was worse, with only 30 percent of women taking the recommended daily dosage.

That's disturbing since that age group has the highest rate of unintended pregnancies. Folic acid is a primary component in a healthy pregnancy, so increasing the consumption rate in that age range needs major attention. Where should the work begin? Thoughts?

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For everyone who's been popping vitamins to keep them healthy and strong, Reader's Digest recently published 'The Vitamin Hoax - What Not to Take' in their November 2007 issue.

To my friends (myself included), who have been popping pills like Vitamin A and E everyday by only following a beauty columnist's advice on how to make your skin glow (yes, I'm trying to get rid of wrinkles), the Reader's Digest article claims that studies show:

• Taking antioxidant vitamins increases a person's risk of dying by 16%.
• High doses of Vitamin E taken over 10 years slightly elevated cancer risk in smokers.
• Too much Vitamin A increases the risk of liver and lung cancer.

There's so much more to quote in the recent issue, and that doesn't mean I agree or disagree with the article. I just want to share it with you. Everyone should take the time to read it and decide for themselves about what it says because what we learn about vitamins and supplements seems to change daily.

If you are wondering, yes, I take vitamins (as do my children), and will continue to do so -- but that said -- people should stop depending on supplements and instead get their vitamins from a balanced diet consisting of real food (rather than processed). The problem: Only 3 percent of us actually eat that well, so it's much easier said than done ... and supplements can be a good option if you're not getting what you need from your diet.

Here is the list of 10 Vitamins that Reader's Digest suggests that we do not need to take and their reasons why:

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The B vitamin family is a large one. If they owned an actual home, they would probably have to a housekeeper named Alice. But, not only are the B vitamins many in number, they are also extremely important to a healthy diet. This is especially true of folate, number 9 in the B vitamin family.

A recent study on the effects of low folate levels revealed a link to higher rates of depression in both men and women. Although this correlation had been previously observed, the association was not considered conclusive until now.

The new research on the folate/depression link was based on a meta-analysis of 11 studies involving a total of 15,315 participants, 1,769 of whom were diagnosed with clinical depression. The numbers revealed that low folate levels were associated with a 42-percent greater risk of depression.

Care to read more on the study? Here's the press release from the University of York.

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How much do you know about B vitamins? Most people know that they're important, and maybe that they can help boost your mood, but they do so much more than that. B vitamins have been linked with lower blood pressure, weight loss, reduced migraines, and prevention of birth defects (to name just a few). Basically, B vitamins are necessary for life.

Take this quiz to see what you know about B vitamins, and what you don't. I learned a lot actually. Experts recommend getting the majority of your B's through a healthy diet, but supplements can also be effective as long as you take a B complex and not just individual B vitamin supplements (unless of course your doctor says differently).

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Well, let me elaborate; this is my favorite lentil salad recipe right now. It is my prerogative to change my mind when I find a new lentil salad recipe I love. But my husband and I call this one the "greater than the sum of its parts" lentil salad, because it is so simple to make, but something about the way all of the flavors blend together is so perfect.

Oh, lentils are a great source of vegan protein, are packed with folate and minerals and are rich in fiber.

The Ingredients
2 cups lentils
1 carrot
6 cloves (sometimes I skip the carrot and clove part)
1 tsp salt
1 tsp oregano
1 clove garlic, minced
1 bay leaf
1/2 cup red wine or balsamic vinegar (I always use balsamic)
1/4 cup olive oil
2 cups cherry tomatoes, halved
1/2 cup slivered almonds, toasted (optional)
1/4 cup chopped parsley
1/2 cup feta cheese, crumbled
1/3 cup sliced scallions

Continue to the link to the recipe for instructions.

Lately, we have been serving this with grilled chicken kabobs, Greek style, and grilled mushrooms, onions and peppers (all colors). It makes a yummy meal!

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In a study recently published out of the Netherlands, folic acid appeared to slow age-related hearing loss. Although previous research linked low folic acid levels to bad hearing, this is the first data to suggest that folic acid supplements can actually slow the onset of hearing loss as people get older.

The only real downside to this study is that because it was done in the Netherlands, when laws prevented folate fortified foods, the patients followed started out with folic acid levels at only half of the average U.S. citizen. So more research will need to be done to see if the results hold true under different circumstances, and that (I'm sure) will take awhile.

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