Tag Archive for: vitamin B9

Should I Use Folate or Folic Acid?

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In the past few years, there has been a trend toward using folate, the natural form of vitamin B9, versus using folic acid, the synthetic form. Many times I’ve answered the question “Which form is better? I’ve heard…” I said on Tuesday that the study on folic acid, blood lead levels, and autism had a lesson. That lesson is this:

Folic acid from enriched foods or supplements is equivalent to folate from foods or supplements.

The body efficiently converts folic acid to folate, and from that point, there’s no difference in the benefits to the mothers or their babies. Even in women who have the MTHFR mutations, folic acid is still beneficial.

This won’t close the door on people who insist that folate is the better choice, but we know their assertions aren’t based on research. Every study on the impact of folate/folic acid on pregnant women and their offspring used folic acid. That’s the form that was put into grain-based foods beginning in 1998 with the objective of reducing birth defects; the reduction in birth defects has been estimated at 70%. Further research has demonstrated benefits to the children of mothers who supplemented with folic acid, such as reductions in allergies, asthma, and ADHD.

The Bottom Line

The results from the study on the benefits to the offspring of women who may have been unintentionally exposed to lead is that folic acid intake is directly related to prevention of harms to their babies. It also illustrated that megadosing is not required. The lesson is that folic acid, whether added to grain products or in supplements, is an effective form of B9 to accomplish that goal.

What are you prepared to do today?

        Dr. Chet

Reference: https://doi.org/10.1289/EHP14479

Folic Acid, Lead, and Autism

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Every once in a while, a research study provides an important lesson as well as some interesting findings. Let’s begin with the study.

During 2008 through 2011, researchers selected almost 1,900 pregnant women as subjects from 10 cities across Canada for the study. The overall goal was to identify environmental impacts on the mothers and children; this is an ongoing study. In this case, researchers looked at children who were diagnosed with autism, based on standard diagnostic criteria. Understand that autism is on a spectrum, and they used behaviors associated with autism when the children were three or four years old. They also tested maternal lead levels, folate levels, and folic acid intake in early pregnancy.

Researchers found there was an inverse relationship between blood lead levels and folic acid intake—as folic acid intake increased, the blood levels of lead decreased. The autism scores were also lower in the children of mothers who had sufficient folic acid intake, verified by their blood folate levels; 400 mcg intake was sufficient, and taking more folic acid didn’t provide additional benefit.

What does it mean? No one has to megadose folic acid to benefit their unborn children in response to environmental toxins. And even if pregnancy isn’t part of your future, the folic acid had a protective effect; if you suspect you have lead pipes, additional folic acid is a good idea.

What was the lesson? I’ll let you know on Saturday.

What are you prepared to do today?

        Dr. Chet

Reference: https://doi.org/10.1289/EHP14479