Health & Happiness’s Spring 2013 article on Why Folate Matters, by Dr. Jessica Nagelkirk, is likely to provoke your interest in discovering how to make your diet folate-rich. The following chart is from the Natural Institutes of Health’s Office of Dietary Supplements.
| Food | mcg DFE per serving | Percent DV* |
|---|---|---|
| Beef liver, braised, 3 ounces | 215 | 54 |
| Spinach, boiled, ½ cup | 131 | 33 |
| Black-eyed peas (cowpeas), boiled, ½ cup | 105 | 26 |
| Breakfast cereals, fortified with 25% of the DV† | 100 | 25 |
| Rice, white, medium-grain, cooked, ½ cup† | 90 | 23 |
| Asparagus, boiled, 4 spears | 89 | 22 |
| Spaghetti, cooked, enriched, ½ cup† | 83 | 21 |
| Brussels sprouts, frozen, boiled, ½ cup | 78 | 20 |
| Lettuce, romaine, shredded, 1 cup | 64 | 16 |
| Avocado, raw, sliced, ½ cup | 59 | 15 |
| Spinach, raw, 1 cup | 58 | 15 |
| Broccoli, chopped, frozen, cooked, ½ cup | 52 | 13 |
| Green peas, frozen, boiled, ½ cup | 47 | 12 |
| Kidney beans, canned, ½ cup | 46 | 12 |
| Bread, white, 1 slice† | 43 | 11 |
| Peanuts, dry roasted, 1 ounce | 41 | 10 |
| Wheat germ, 2 tablespoons | 40 | 10 |
| Tomato juice, canned, ¾ cup | 36 | 9 |
| Crab, Dungeness, 3 ounces | 36 | 9 |
| Orange juice, ¾ cup | 35 | 9 |
| Turnip greens, frozen, boiled, ½ cup | 32 | 8 |
| Orange, fresh, 1 small | 29 | 7 |
| Papaya, raw, cubed, ½ cup | 27 | 7 |
| Banana, 1 medium | 24 | 6 |
| Yeast, baker’s, ¼ teaspoon | 23 | 6 |
| Egg, whole, hard-boiled, 1 large | 22 | 6 |
| Vegetarian baked beans, canned, ½ cup | 15 | 4 |
| Cantaloupe, raw, 1 wedge | 14 | 4 |
| Fish, halibut, cooked, 3 ounces | 12 | 3 |
| Milk, 1% fat, 1 cup | 12 | 3 |
| Ground beef, 85% lean, cooked, 3 ounces | 7 | 2 |
| Chicken breast, roasted, ½ breast | 3 | 1 |
* DV = Daily Value. The FDA developed DVs to help consumers compare the nutrient contents of products within the context of a total diet. The DV for folate is 400 mcg for adults and children aged 4 and older. However, the FDA does not require food labels to list folate content unless a food has been fortified with this nutrient. Foods providing 20% or more of the DV are considered to be high sources of a nutrient.
† Fortified with folic acid as part of the folate fortification program.
The U.S. Department of Agriculture’s Nutrient Database Web site [7] lists the nutrient content of many foods and provides a comprehensive list of foods containing folate/folic acid.
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