If you’re looking for the perfect gift to give the women in your life this Christmas, consider folic acid.

It empowers women to take control of their reproductive health, enhances beauty, and helps to prevent a variety of diseases as well as stroke.

Folic Acid’s primary job is to reduce the risk of birth defects. The most common of those include spina bifida, anencephaly, congenital heart disease, cleft lip and palate, limb reduction defects, and obstructive uropathies.

There are around 1,500 babies born with spina bifida and 1,200 babies born with anencephaly in the United States each year. Across the world, it is estimated that more than 300,000 babies are born with a neural tube defect.

Just 400 mcg a day of the vitamin B-9 can reduce the risk of these defects by as much as 70-percent.

It is advised that all women planning on becoming pregnant begin taking Folic Acid one to three months before conception. With about 50-percent of all pregnancies in the U.S. being unplanned, the best course of action is to add Folic Acid to your regimen once you reach childbearing age.

The benefits of Folic Acid go beyond reducing the risk of birth defects. In girls as young as 10 years old, Folic Acid can help prevent acne and promote healthy nails and hair.

For teenage girls, Folic Acid benefits skin and can reduce the risk of heart disease, stroke, as well as colon cancer.

For women 40 years and older, it provides all the benefits it does to younger women, plus can help with a variety of blood clotting issues.

This Christmas, consider adding Folic Acid as a stocking stuffer. There’s no better gift to give than the gift of life and health.