Folate test

A B vitamin your body needs to make new cells.

€13.66. You pay at the desk, not online.

Folate test: what it is for

Folate is a B vitamin, B9. You find it in leafy greens, legumes and citrus fruit. Folic acid is the form used in supplements. Your body needs it to make red blood cells and build new cells. The test measures how much folate is in your blood.

When it is done

Doctors usually order folate together with vitamin B12. They do so when a blood count shows anaemia with large red cells, if you eat few vegetables, drink a lot of alcohol, have a condition that reduces absorption, such as coeliac disease, or take medicines that lower it.

It is not a routine test for people who feel well. Blood folate changes within days with what you eat, so a single result says little about your store. And a shortage that matters usually already shows on a blood count.

How the folate test is done

It is a blood test, done at a Bianalisi lab without a prescription. You can add other tests to the same draw.

Questions about the folate test.

Do I need to fast for a folate test? Usually yes, because a recent meal or supplement raises it. You can drink water.

How much does the folate test cost? €13.66, from Bianalisi’s private list for Lombardy. You pay at the desk on the day of the draw, not online.

Do I need a prescription for the folate test? No. You book it here without a prescription and pay at the Bianalisi desk.

When do results arrive? Within 10 working days, in the Rosa app, with each value next to the lab’s interval. The report a doctor approves is in the Rosa membership.