Key Information

Your Results: One of your recent blood tests has come back showing you are low in an important vitamin called folate.

Why Watch: This video explains exactly what folate does, why being low might be making you feel tired, and the straightforward plan we have put in place to fix it.

What is Folate (Vitamin B9)?

Folate is essential for making healthy red blood cells.

The "Delivery Service": Think of your red blood cells as your body's delivery service, carrying oxygen everywhere it needs to go.

The Problem: When you are low on folate, your body cannot make enough of these "delivery trucks," and the ones it does make cannot do their job properly. This means less oxygen is carried around your body.

Common Symptoms

This lack of oxygen might be the reason you have been experiencing:

• Feeling tired or weak.
• Headaches.
• Rapid breathing or shortness of breath.
• Indigestion.
• Loss of appetite.
• Problems with memory, understanding and judgment.

(Note: It is also very common to have no symptoms at all.)

Our Plan to Fix It

The good news is that this is a very common deficiency, and fixing it is usually very straightforward.

Part 1: Your Prescription

The Treatment: We have prescribed you a folate supplement called folic acid.
Collection: This prescription has been sent to your nominated pharmacy.
Duration: You need to take these tablets for the next two months to fully replenish your body's stores.

Part 2: Ongoing Maintenance

The Switch: Once you have finished your two-month course of prescribed folic acid, please buy a standard multivitamin from your local pharmacy that contains folic acid to help maintain your levels.

Part 3: Your Diet

Long-term Health: We also want you to increase the amount of folate you get from your food to help keep your levels healthy in the long term.
What to Eat: Excellent, folate-rich additions to your diet include broccoli, brussels sprouts, and leafy green vegetables.

What Happens Next?

By taking your daily tablet and eating some folate-rich foods, your levels will go back to normal. If you have any further questions about your results or your prescription, please do not hesitate to get in touch.

Discuss Your Folate Levels

Further Information

For more details on how being low in folate affects the body, and dietary sources of folate, please visit the NHS website.

• Learn more about being low in folate

Last reviewed: 08 April 2026
Next review due: 08 April 2029