Folic Acid

Alternative Names: Folacin or Folate.

Although folic acid is found in vegetables, fruits, grain products, meat and meat alternatives, it is difficult to get the entire amount from food.  Cooking foods at high heat on the stove or in a microwave, or with too much water, will reduce folate content.  Try to eat vegetables lightly steamed or raw.

Source

While we get some folic acid from our intestinal bacteria, most of our daily intake must come from our diet or through supplementation.  It has been estimated that only half of the USRDA, which is 0.4mg (400mcg), is actually consumed in an average American diet.  The best source of folic acid is foliage, the green leafy vegetables. 

Tips for Obtaining and Absorbing Folic Acid:

• Eat good food sources of folic acid every day.  Some good sources are root vegetables, dark-green leafy vegetables (spinach, kale, beet greens, collard greens, chard), beets, asparagus, brussels sprouts, romaine lettuce and broccoli.  Other good sources are red beans, soy, black-eyed peas, cantaloupe, orange juice, peanut butter, oatmeal, other whole grains/whole-grain cereals, wheat germ, brewer's yeast, mushrooms, and liver, kidney and other organ meats.
  
  Starchy vegetables containing some folacin are corn, lima beans, green peas, sweet potatoes, artichokes, okra, and parsnips.  Bean sprouts, such as lentil, mung, and soy, are particularly good, as are wheat germ or flakes and soy flour.  Whole wheat bread, other natural, whole grain baked goods, and milk also have some folic acid.  And many fruits have folic acid, such as oranges, cantaloupe, pineapple, banana, and many berries, including loganberries, boysenberries, and strawberries.
• Eat fresh, raw fruits and vegetables often.  Don't overcook food.  Heat destroys folic acid.
• Take the daily vitamin supplement your doctor suggests or prescribes, which will often be a multivitamin supplement that contains 0.2mg (200mcg) or more of folic acid.  Taking more than 1mg (1000mcg) of folic acid is not recommended unless prescribed by your physician.
• Don't smoke.
• Don't drink alcohol.  It interferes with absorption of folic acid.

Remember that folic acid is available from fresh, unprocessed food, which is why it is so commonly deficient in our culture's processed-food diet.  Luckily, though, it is easily absorbed, used, and stored by our body.  It is also manufactured by our intestinal bacteria, so if colon flora is healthy, we have another good source of folic acid.

Most of the folic acid in foods (with the exception of the folic acid added to enriched flour and breakfast cereals) occurs as folate.  Folate is only about half as available for the body to use as is the folic acid in pills and supplements.

Folic acid is very sensitive and is easily destroyed in a variety of ways, such as by light, heat, any type of cooking, or an acid pH below 4; it can even be lost from foods when they are stored at room temperature for long periods.  The potency of this B-vitamin is diminished during most food processing and food preparation.

In 1998 the government ordered some grain products such as flour, breakfast cereal and pasta to be fortified with folic acid.  Folic acid is best obtained from fresh vegetables, which should be your primary source.  If, for whatever reason, you are unable to obtain folic acid from vegetables and you are a woman who could get pregnant, it would be highly recommended to add folic acid to your supplement program.

The FDA limits the amount that can be purchased over the counter to 400mcg per tablet.  Higher concentrations are available and considered safe by holistic doctors.

Higher amounts, such as 1mg (1,000mcg), 1.5mg, or even 10mg, are available only by prescription because of the concern of masking vitamin B12 deficiency.  Some doctors describe impressive results in many patients, especially the elderly, with injections of 1,000mcg of B12 and 10mg of folic acid.

Function; Why it is Recommended

As an important human vitamin, folic acid is used by the body as a cofactor in many enzymatic reactions.  Folic acid is a molecule made from Glutamic acid (an amino acid), para-amino benzoic acid (PABA) and Pteridine.

Folic acid is critical for neural tube formation during the first weeks of fetal development and is vital in the diet of pregnant women.  It is for this reason that the US government issued a requirement for folic acid fortification in flours and cereals by the year 2000.  Folic Acid is a key component in the enzymatic conversion of homocysteine to methionine.  Homocysteine is now considered an independent risk factor for vascular disease, especially atherosclerosis.  Folic acid supplementation, with B6 and B12, has been shown to reduce homocysteine levels in a number of clinical studies.

Folic acid deficiency can be a result of alcoholism, low dietary intake, or poor absorbtion.  People who are very stressed or fatigued or who have any loss of adrenal gland function may benefit from additional folic acid.  Those who drink alcohol or take high amounts of vitamin C also require more of this vitamin.  Also, epileptics on drug therapy require more folic acid, which may help them by improving mood and mental capacities.  In patients with psoriasis, folate is used rapidly by the skin, thus is needed in increased amounts.  Teenagers on poor diets with no vegetables and the elderly often are helped by folic acid supplementation.

With increased estrogen, as in pregnancy or when taking birth control pills, folic acid supplementation helps prevent deficiency symptoms.  More is also required during lactation, which it also aids.  Folic acid is often used when there are any menstrual problems.  The "restless leg syndrome," which is characterized by creeping, irritating sensations in the legs and occurs most commonly in later pregnancy, is often helped by increasing folic acid, as it may specifically be a deficiency problem.

With both folic acid deficiency anemia and pernicious anemia, folic acid is usually supplemented along with vitamin B12.  The fatigue, easy bruising, and inflammation of the tongue that may go along with anemia are often helped as well.  Treatment of various blood diseases, osteoporosis, and atherosclerosis has been supported with folic acid.  There is some suggestion that it helps in ischemia, with reports of improved blood flow to the eyes and improved vision in those with circulatory deficits.

Instructions

A healthy adult needs at least 400mcg of folic acid every day.  Requirements at least double (800mcg) during pregnancy, and increase by 50% (to 600mcg) when a woman is breastfeeding (lactation).  The average American diet, high in fats, sugar, and white flour, provides about 220mcg of folic acid, approximately the amount needed to maintain tissue stores of the substance for six to nine months before a deficiency develops.  This reveals why disorders involving folic acid deficiency are so common.

Between 180 and 200mcg of folic acid are needed daily to maintain the tissue stores of folate.  During pregnancy, times of stress or illness, or with alcohol use, the demands are increased, and a 200mcg Daily intake is not sufficient for supporting folic acid functions and maintaining tissue stores.  Deficiency symptoms may then occur.

Many doctors now recommend at least 800mcg per day of folic acid via supplements.  The suggested therapeutic dosages for most uses of folic acid or treating deficiency problems is about 1mg twice daily; it may take several months for this vitamin therapy to correct the deficiency and replenish stores of folic acid.  Some studies are researching folic acid doses of 5-15mg, and even up to 60mg daily.

Higher folic acid intake can mask B12 deficiency and reduce zinc absorption, so these should be noted and monitored if high dose (over 2mg/day) folic acid supplementation is continued for long periods.

Side-Effects

There are no specific toxic symptoms from folic acid intake, at least up to 5mg daily.  However, excess folic acid in the face of a B12 deficiency, when B12 is not supplemented and absorbed, may lead to serious consequences.  Folic acid will mask the B12-related anemia and early symptoms of vitamin B12 deficiency by helping the synthesis of DNA and red blood cell production, but folic acid has no effect on the myelin sheath covering the nerves, so nerve damage may occur where folic acid covers up a B12 deficiency.  Higher doses of folate may also depress B12 levels.  In recent research where higher levels (15 mg daily) of folate have been used, some side-effects developed after a month of treatment.  These included gastrointestinal symptoms, insomnia, irritability, and malaise.