Unfortunately not all low-carbers are nutritionally savvy. There are some who still think that low-carb means no fruits or vegetables. There are some who chose not to take supplements (some people have the notion that we should be able to get all our RDA from the food that we eat).
Be that as it may, for folks who are trying to lose a lot of weight or stick at induction level carbohydrates and do not take supplements with folate, I do believe that a shortage of folate could legitimately occur.
When I monitor my food on fitday (and I do about 20-30 net carbs), I am
always consistently low on folate and vitamin C even though I eat a lot of vegetables. It certainly is a legitimate nutritional concern and low folate has specifically been linked to birth defects, so it is no small matter.
We are truly omnivores, meaning that we need both meats and produce in order to have a healthy balance in our diet (I'm sure that vegetarians may differ, but this is my belief) and a non-weight-loss program like maintenance indicates a more realistic balance of fruits, veggies, meats, etc.
I believe that oranges are one of the highest sources of folate, and although they are certainly not forbidden on an Atkins Maintenance diet, for example, that balances a healthy amount of fruits and vegetables with good sources of fats and protein, they are often avoided during more restrictive phases of low-carbing.
In fact, the Atkins website specifically indicates that if you are pregnant or nursing that you should be on maintenance (more than 40 carbs).
I think with 40 net carbs I could probably get in about the necessary folate, but it would have to be with a very high quality of nutrient dense produce.
What they are saying here in this article is that for someone who is following a low-carb diet, if they are getting all their nutrition from their diet alone,
they could be short on folate, and that could lead to birth defects if, for example, they did not know that they were pregnant and they were not otherwise supplementing. Prenatal and even preconception nutrition can certainly affect the risk of birth defects as a lot of basic development may take place with the fetus in the first trimester and often before a woman's pregnancy is confirmed.
This is the key:
Quote:
The problem could largely be avoided if all women of childbearing age took a daily multivitamin that contains folic acid, she added.
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