If you've been looking at supplements for fertility, you've likely come across recommendations for folic acid. One of the B-vitamins, folate (or folic acid, as it's known in supplement form) is needed for the development of red blood cells and DNA production. Folate also plays an important role in cell division. Low folate blood levels are associated with a form of anemia.

Folic acid is clearly an essential nutrient in the body. But can folic acid help you conceive? Should men also be taking folic acid? Should you take a supplement, or can you get what you need from diet alone?

Folic Acid Benefits for Men

Folic acid can help with erectile dysfunction1 and it could potentially boost sperm count. Studies have been mixed on how well folic acid improves semen, but there's no harm in trying. Folic acid is worth a shot if you are trying to boost your fertility.

Folic Acid and Male Fertility

The need for folic acid or folate in women of childbearing age is well-known. (More on female fertility and folate below.) But could folic acid improve male fertility? Before we get an embryo, we need an egg and a sperm.

The process from germline stem cell to sperm cell takes about 60 days. Folate is an essential nutrient when it comes to cell division and DNA synthesis

Folate levels measured in semen have been associated with sperm count and health. One study found that low folate levels in semen were associated with poor sperm DNA stability. From this, we may learn that folate plays an important role in sperm health.

Folic Acid and Female Fertility

Women who don't get enough folic acid in their diet are at a higher risk of having a baby with a neural tube defect. When we consider how a baby begins—a single cell that divides and divides—it makes sense that folic acid could help ensure the cell division, and therefore fetal development goes well.

Neural tube defects, which occur in about 3,000 pregnancies per year in the United States, include spina bifida, anencephaly, and encephalocele. At best, these birth defects can lead to lifelong disability, and at worst, they can lead to early death.

While folic acid can't eliminate these birth defects, folic acid supplementation started before conception and continued through early pregnancy has been found to cut the occurrence of these birth defects by up to 60 percent. (More on supplementation below.) Other possible benefits of folic acid supplementation include:

  • A lower the risk of congenital heart defects
  • A lower risk of preterm birth and a lower risk of low-birth-weight babies
  • Increased progesterone levels and a lower risk of irregular ovulation

There are many good reasons for women trying to conceive to be sure they get enough folate.