Folate

Folate is a B vitamin, also called Bg or folacin. The man-made folic acid is a diet supplement which the body converts to folate.

Folate is essential for the body to make DNA and RNA, and use the amino acids needed for cell division. So this particular chemical is truly essential for life.

Folate is got by eating leafy green vegetables, legumes and organ meats.^[1] When cooking, the advice is to use steaming or a microwave oven. This keeps more folate in the cooked foods.^[2][3][4]

1. ↑ Centeno Tablante, Elizabeth; Pachón, Helena; Guetterman, Heather M; Finkelstein, Julia L (1 July 2019). "Fortification of wheat and maize flour with folic acid for population health outcomes". Cochrane Database of Systematic Reviews. 2019 (7): CD012150. doi:10.1002/14651858.CD012150.pub2. PMC 6599881. PMID 31257574.
2. ↑ Nutrient Data Laboratory (2007). "USDA Table of Nutrient Retention Factors, Release 6" (PDF). USDA.
3. ↑ O’connor, Anahad (2006-10-17). "The Claim: Microwave Ovens Kill Nutrients in Food". The New York Times. ISSN 0362-4331. Retrieved 2017-07-10. spinach retained nearly all its folate when cooked in a microwave, but lost about 77 percent when cooked on a stove
4. ↑ McKillop DJ, Pentieva K, Daly D, McPartlin JM, Hughes J, Strain JJ, Scott JM, McNulty H (2002). "The effect of different cooking methods on folate retention in various foods that are amongst the major contributors to folate intake in the UK diet". The British Journal of Nutrition. 88 (6): 681–688. doi:10.1079/bjn2002733. PMID 12493090.