Health Benefits of Iron and Folic Acid Supplementation

Dear Colleagues,

Folic acid and iron are essential nutrients that are critical for many biological processes. Folic acid (FA) has been used for the prevention and treatment of macrocytic or megaloblastic anaemia. Recently, new potential functions were described, being the prevention of congenital malformations such as neural tube defects, the most demonstrated. Other new functions are regulation of homocysteine concentrations (a cardiovascular risk factor), the prevention or promotion of colorectal cancer depending on timeframe and the maintenance or improvement of cognitive function in seniors. Also, important to mention, is its role in immune function and more recently on osteoporosis prevention and hearing loss. On the other hand, iron is an essential nutrient of public health relevance required for many metabolic processes in the human body across the life and special physiological periods (e.g. pregnancy). In addition, iron deficiency is the most common and widespread nutritional disorder in the world. However, despite the well-recognized health benefits for both nutrients, there is still controversy about potential adverse consequences due to supplementation or the optimal dose to be used.

This Special Issue of Nutrients is therefore intended to highlight some of the recent dietary and nutrition studies utilizing experimental models or humans studies with these micronutrients, and highlight research investigating the various mechanisms by which folic acid and iron supplementation influence human health across the lifespan. Therefore, this issue welcomes the submission of manuscripts either describing original research or reviewing the scientific literature on this topic.

Prof. Dr. Teresa Partearroyo
Prof. Dr. Gregorio Varela-Moreira
Guest Editors

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