A new research study links folic acid and B12 consumption with autism, but women are often told to take folic acid when they are thinking of becoming pregnant and daily while pregnant. What’s up with the conflicting news? The researchers warned that the study should not discourage women from taking the nutrient.

Several news outlets are releasing responses to that report. Here is a recent LA Times piece debunking some of the findings and shared reasons why to not take it to heart.

The research was conducted by a team from Johns Hopkins University. They analyzed data from 1,391 mothers and their children who participated in theBoston Birth Cohort, a project aimed at understanding the roots of developmental diseases. Volunteer pairs were recruited when the children were born and then tracked for up to 15 years.

All of the mothers took surveys about their use of prenatal vitamins and other supplements throughout their pregnancies. The women also gave blood samples within three days of giving birth, allowing researchers to measure levels of prenatal vitamins in their systems at the end of their pregnancies.

Medical records showed that 107 of the 1,391 children were diagnosed with an autism spectrum disorder. But the risk of a diagnosis was not spread evenly among all mother-child pairs.

For instance, mothers who said they took prenatal multivitamins three to five times per week were much less likely to be told that their child was on the autism spectrum compared with mothers who didn’t take the vitamins. Those who used them in the first trimester were 67% less likely to have a child with autism; those who used in them in the second trimester were 62% less likely to get that diagnosis; and those who used them in the third trimester were 57% less likely to wind up with an affected child, the researchers reported.

Read the rest HERE!