How To Get Folate

• Include folate-rich foods (for example, dark green leafy vegetables, legumes such as dried beans and peas, and orange juice) as part of a healthy, balanced diet. It's a great way to help you get the folate you need every day.
• Include fortified grain products in your diet, like enriched cereals, breads and pastas.
• Take a multivitamin with 400 micrograms of folic acid every day. (Check the label to be sure.)

Tips for Adding More Folate to Your Diet

Here are some easy and tasty ways that you can get more folate in your diet.

• Add some strawberries to your breakfast cereal.
• Have a glass of 100% orange juice as part of a healthy breakfast every morning.
• Mix up a great tasting dip and cut up raw veggies like broccoli and cauliflower or use cherry tomatoes and mini carrots for dipping.
• Choose darker green lettuce and greens, like romaine, green leaf, or raw spinach for salads or sandwiches.
• Have peanuts for a snack. (Do NOT eat peanuts if you are allergic to them.)
• Blend up a healthy smoothie.
• Combine a higher fiber cereal with folic acid, peanuts, and dried fruit such as raisins or banana chips to make a tasty trail mix. (Do NOT eat peanuts if you are allergic to them.)

Eating at Fast-Food Restaurants

• Try a burrito or taco filled with beans instead of beef or chicken.
• Add some guacamole to your taco or burrito - the avocados have folate!
• Try a salad or the salad bar. Choose a salad with lettuce that is darker green in color, like romaine lettuce, green leaf, or even raw spinach.
• Top your salad with healthy, folate-rich foods such as orange sections, chick peas (also called garbanzo beans), broccoli, and peanuts. (Do NOT eat peanuts if you are allergic to them.)
• Try an orange juice as a beverage instead of soda.
• Substitute a fresh fruit cup for French fries.