Editor’s Note: Cara has done extensive research on how nutrition relates to disability, has used the GAPS diet protocols successfully with her own family, and strives to break down healthy habits into easy-to-accomplish changes for the average busy family. She uncovered the overlooked difference between folic acid and natural folate while doing research on the MTHFR gene mutation, and is alarmed that this isn’t more widely discussed especially in prenatal consultations.
Today she shares how 20-40% of our population does not produce enough of the enzyme needed to break down the synthetic folic acid found in supplements and fortified foods like boxed breakfast cereal and how its presence in the modern diet is likely contributing to many of our modern diseases. Just about every pregnant woman is told to supplement with synthetic folic acid rather than the natural form folate. This is alarming and is impacting the health of the generation of children being born right now.
I would encourage you to read and consider this information very carefully!
….
As a mom of a child who has struggled with disability (see our story about GAPS and Autism here), I’ve made it a priority to be proactive when it comes to my children’s health, and I have seen their health blossom because of it. I carefully research nutrition in pregnancy, make it a priority to avoid genetically modified foods and the dirty dozen, insist that my children take cod liver oil, and even start my babies on liver as a first food.
One little nutrient slipped by me until recently, though, and I’m kicking myself now.
Folate
That nutrient was folate. Folate, vitamin B9, is a water-soluble vitamin used in just about every process in the body. It breaks down, builds, and uses proteins. It’s used in red blood cell production, DNA synthesis, and many more functions. Lack of it in pregnancy leads to neural tube defects including spina bifida and anencephaly. Lack of it in childhood and adulthood leads to growth problems, neurological problems, anemia, low white blood cell count, and more. (source)
Folate is naturally found in high amounts in leafy greens, seaweed, sunflower seeds, chicken liver, calf liver, leeks, and peppers. (source)
See, I thought I was safe because, in addition to eating food daily that contained natural folate, as listed above, I also was taking a prenatal vitamin to make sure I wasn’t missing any. But I was wrong.
But I’m taking Folic acid, so I don’t have to worry about this, right?
Folic acid is the synthetic version of folate. It is true that most of the medical community uses the terms folate and folic acid interchangeably, but they enter the metabolic cycle in different ways, and natural folate is easier for the body to access than the cheap synthetic version folic acid (source).
When people have the MTHFR gene mutation, they do not turn folic acid into folate. In addition, the folic acid plugs the receptor sites in cells with an unusable form for these people. With the unusable folic acid in the receptor sites, the body is prevented from being able to use the folate that they do consume through natural food.
What is MTHFR?
MTHFR (yes, I hear a curse word every time I read that too) is a gene mutation that is relatively common (source) and is common among people on the autistic spectrum (source). When people have this gene mutation, they do not produce the amount of the enzyme dihydrofolate reductase needed to adequately convert folic acid into the form of folate that can enter the main folate metabolic cycle.
Why is Folic acid bad?
So many people are taught that taking an excess of water-soluble vitamins isn’t a bad thing. This is because it will just be excreted in the urine if not needed. This is not the case with folic acid. If a person cannot process folic acid into usable folate, the folic acid ends up in the bloodstream where it hogs the receptor sites on cells where folate is needed (source).
When unusable folic acid is taking up the receptor sites where real folate is needed, a folate deficiency occurs and the following can happen:
- Neural tube defects
- Recurrent miscarriage
- Midline defects including tongue-tie
- Neurological problems
- Anxiety (many people don’t realize they have anxiety until starting folate and having it go way down)
- Growth problems
- Thyroid problems
- Anemia
- And more
In addition, this excess folic acid has been linked to:
Where is Folic acid found? How can I avoid it?
Good news! Since folic acid is synthetic and made in a lab, it is never found in natural, whole foods. The foods that are fortified are:
- processed cereals
- commercial flour
- other grain-based processed foods
- supplements including multivitamins
- prenatals
So if we are eating all homemade foods, only use home ground flour and oats that are not fortified, we can avoid it by also avoiding supplements that contain it.
But wait! My doctor says Folic acid is important to take
Doctors often use the terms ‘folic acid’ and ‘folate’ interchangeably. As discussed above, they are not interchangeable, just as margarine and butter are not interchangeable when studying the effect of saturated fat on heart disease.
If your doctor is open to it, I recommend starting a dialogue about the research you have been doing on how folic acid is not as easily absorbed by many people, and that you are switching to folate or discontinuing additional folic acid supplementation.
Who knows, maybe your doctor will be inspired to research and will change the standard recommendation.
In any case, it is very unlikely that your doctor will prefer you to take folic acid over folate, it is much more common that he or she will just insist that there is no difference.
What can I do?
I did these simple steps for my family upon reading about MTHFR and folate.
- Toss any fortified food in your house. Now!
- Toss any supplement containing folic acid.
- If you feel that you need to supplement with folate, choose a supplement with real folate or methyl folate (I take this one and I give my kids this one – I see lowered anxiety in myself with it, as well as increase in focus and energy, it’s too soon for me to be able to tell if it’s helping the kids yet).
- Diligently watch labels of all supplements for folic acid and avoid.
- Consider getting tested for MTHFR gene mutation so that you know how toxic folic acid really is for you.
- Learn more about supplementing with bio-available folate (you can learn more here). Some people who have been consuming folic acid need to replenish their stores.
I actually would get sick every time that I took my prenatals and for all 3 of my pregnancies had to stop taking them, to me they made “morning sickness” seem like a cake walk. I HAD to eat as healthy as I could. So glad my body wisdom (as we call it in our house) knew those prenatals were no good for me! Just wished I didn’t try taking them inthe beginning for each pregnancy 🙁
Seeking Health actually has a prenatal that doesn’t contain synthetic folic acid and has methylated B12.
That is what I plan to take next pregnancy since hubby is homozygous MTHFR. Unfortunately I didn’t know that for my last pregnancies and took a regular prenatal. None of my kids have been tested, but at least one shows the signs so they all take methylfolate and we avoid processed foods. Live and learn!
Seeking Health is the brand my pregnant wife is taking now.
Avoiding processed foods is another good idea.
Blessings,
Eric Potter MD
Sanctuary Medical Care and Consulting
Wholistic healthcare for the glory of God (Col. 3:23)
None of this post is meant to be medical advice. Consult your medical provider for advice.
Been looking into the supplements you suggested, Cara. Any reason why you chose the ones with B-12 for your kiddos? I want to try some folate supplements with my kiddo (likely ASD), but am scared to up his energy levels with the high B-12, as his energy levels are adequate, 😉 I see just plain folate supplements by the same company, without the B-12. Is there some kind of synergistic property I’m not realizing, and need to take into consideration?
I believe if they’re low on B12, they can’t use the folate as well.
Apologies for being plain here, but this is a classic example of the downside of the internet. For readers of the article- please be aware that folic acid supplements reduce the risk of neural tube defects such as cerebral palsy. Please seek information from people who have actually done research, not well meaning people who have done a lot of reading.
She did not recommend not taking anything at all. Methylfolate is a more bioavailable version of folic acid. There are also whole food vitamins. I personally take Thorne Research Medipro Multi. It’s nearly identical to their Basic Prenatal formula, but can be purchased in higher counts. There is also Emerald Labs.
CP is not a neural tube defect …
Beware people who comment without reading the article or, apparently, understanding it. FOLATE is the nutrient in question, which we all need (aka B9). FOLIC ACID is a synthetic form of it, which is not well metabolized by a certain percentage of the population. You are not discouraged from taking FOLATE through, ideally, real, whole food or good quality supplements. You are advised of the possibility that taking FOLIC ACID instead of FOLATE may put you at risk for certain health problems.
Got it?
Those studies you cited don’t actually say what you claim they say. They are random studied, and one even admitted that Folic Acid was merely one factor. You need more than one study to make something quotable.
Which study in particular are you referring to? I linked to quite a few. I’ll agree that they’re not perfect, sometimes we have to go with ‘not perfect’ – for me this was enough evidence to try a different form of folate for my family, but of course everyone has to make their own choices.
I enjoy your newsletters and appreciate the information. Certainly you must be studying active research done on this. Can you quote some of your sources at the end of your newsletters in the future? I’m shocked that our food source in USA is allowed to contain so many untested substances, and the stubbornness of America to test and verify the safety of these additives before putting them in food! This situation is getting alarming as I learned today how much of our food supply includes questionable additions like synthetic vitamins, GMO’s, etc. The situation is getting worse! Many people that read your newsletters would agree but, I believe most of us are powerless to get the system to change as it seems only politicians and big corporations have the power to do whatever they want. We can’t all grow our own food!
Hello,
Why do you give your children 1000 mcg and you take 800 mcg (methylfolate). Just curious. Thanks for sharing!
I take 4 and I only give them one 🙂 I slowly increased the dose until I saw results, and I do a trial every 2-3 days with all of us of nothing to make sure we’re not getting too much. Ideally, without the folic acid causing problems, eventually we’ll be able to just get what we need from food.
What do you mean by “trial run”? How do know when to stop increasing? I went to a homeopathic dr once and she had me on 8,000mcg of activated folate. She said I was very deficient, but I always wondered if I was taking too much.
I usually only use supplements if I can see a difference. If I don’t see a difference on the days we skip b12/folate, then I’ll try going two days without it. If I notice symptoms coming back (hyperactivity, lack of focus, low energy, etc) then I’ll only skip one day. It’s kind of complicated to explain, but I err on the side using the least effective dose.
We have been using nutritional yeast for years because it is high in folate….hoping this is still a good thing.
Thank you for writing about the dangers of folic acid. I have been studying Ben Lynch’s work and also Amy Yasko’s work for about 18 months, and addressing my methylation genetics with active B vitamins cured my chronic fatigue.
The supplements you take have a lot of methyl B12 in them and that is often not well tolerated. Many people do better on HydroxyB12. Please look into Amy Yasko’s simplified protocol at http://www.scribd.com/doc/132017201/Dr-Amy-s-Simplified-Road-Map-to-Health#force_seo
for more information.
It is probably no coincidence that since docs have been pushing folic acid on pregnant women in the 80’s that is about the time Autism spiked along with ADHD and food allergies and learning disorders and so on. I wish I knew then what I know now. I can only move forward and help my kids help their kids. One could get tested for mthfr (I did and have to worst of the possible mutations) but truth is everyone, not just those with the defect, should avoid folic acid.
Thank you for this informative post Cara! When I was pregnant, I was vigilant to avoid any sources of synthetic vitamins in either fortified foods or supplements including prenatals. I never took a prenatal vitamin, ever, with any of my pregnancies. I didn’t have this information to go on, just my intuition that this was not a good thing for myself or my baby. As more information like this comes to light that synthetic vitamins are not even close to the real thing and can actually be harmful to health, I am so glad I trusted my gut and threw those scripts for prenatals in the trash where they belonged and followed a Traditional Diet instead which is loaded with natural folate.
Thanks for posting it Sarah, I mistakenly thought that folate and folic acid were the same thing, ug. I know that the WAPF says no prenatals, and they were right again! I would have been better off.
Thanks for raising parents’ awareness on this issue.
Blessings,
Eric Potter MD
Sanctuary Medical Care and Consulting
Wholistic healthcare for the glory of God (Col. 3:23)
None of this post is meant to be medical advice. Consult your medical provider for advice.
I wish i could understand why it is ok to not take a prenatal during pregnancy? I took a herbal prenatal suring my last pregnancy and it really helps. I feel it is important to cover all my bases just in case my diet isn’t very good, although i try to eat well.