Bottom Line Health
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| FOLATE HELPS
A number of studies indicate that low levels of the B vitamin folate are linked to dementia and brain atrophy (shrinkage). The Nun Study indicates that a deficiency may be linked to Alzheimer's as well.
When researchers compared autopsy results with earlier blood samples, they found that nuns who had higher blood levels of folate were less likely to show signs of the brain atrophy associated with Alzheimer's.
Folate (the supplemental form is called folic acid) suppresses the amino acid homocysteine. |
| Fortifying foods with folic acid has been mandated in the US since 1998, in an effort to boost folate intake.
TAKE A MULTIVITAMIN
Other than repeating the message about the importance of folic acid, most public health officials can't figure out what else might persuade women to follow the advice.
Dr. Tsunenobu Tamura, a professor of nutrition science at the University of Alabama at Birmingham, says the focus of the message should be to encourage women to take their vitamins daily, since most contain adequate folate. |
Elaine Magee
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 The 1998 Dietary Reference Intakes recommend the following: FOLIC ACID
/ 400 meg (dietary folate/folic acid equivalents)/day for men ages 19+ / 400 meg (dietary folate equivalents)/day for women ages 19+
VITAMIN B6*
/ 1.3 mg/day for men ages 14-50 / 1.7 mg/day for men ages 51 + people who eat a high-protein diet with 100 grams of protein or more per day.
\ levels. |
Gabriel Cousens, M.D.
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 One of the major symptoms of Bi2 and folic acid deficiency is macrocytic anemia. folate, also called folic acid, is needed to turn the uracil into thymidine, an essential building block of DNA.5 This DNA is needed for production of new red blood cells and for red blood cell division. Bn is involved in the pathway that creates methylcobalamin. This Bi2 also produces a form of folate needed to make DNA. So, if there is no B[2, folate can become depleted and DNA production slows down. |
Bottom Line Health
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| When researchers compared autopsy results with earlier blood samples, they found that nuns who had higher blood levels of folate were less likely to show signs of the brain atrophy associated with Alzheimer's.
Folate (the supplemental form is called folic acid) suppresses the amino acid homocysteine. Excessive homocysteine levels promote the development of atherosclerotic plaques in brain and heart arteries. These plaques increase the risk of stroke and heart attack. Homocysteine is also thought to damage neurons and increase brain atrophy in Alzheimer's patients. |
Dr. Vern Cherewatenko and Paul Perry
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 In combination with folate and vitamins B6 and B12, folate may reduce the risk of heart disease. folate is commonly found in yeast, organ meats, green and leafy vegetables, and some fruits. A lack of folate is linked to birth defects such as spina bifida, leading the U.S. Public Health Service to recommend that women of childbearing age get 400 micrograms of folate.
RDAs: Men—200 micrograms. Women—180 micrograms.
Possible negative effects of higher than recommended intake: Can mask symptoms of vitamin B12 deficiency and pernicious anemia.
Vitamin B12—another cell builder. |
Marshall Editions
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 Supplements that have been shown to help relieve depression include omega-3 oils (eicosapentaenoic acid, EPA, and docosahexaenoic acid, DHA, in a 3:2 ratio) taken at a dose of 4 g daily of EPA and DHA combined, and B-vitamins, particularly inositol, folate, and B12. Take a B-vitamin complex that provides about 1 mg of B12 and folate. SAM-e, a mood brightener, can be taken at 400 mg twice a day to increase the effects of the B-vitamin. Taking the! supplements 5-hydroxytriptophan (5-HTP) at 150 mg daily and St. John's wort at 300 mg three times a day can also be tried. St. |
Andreas Moritz
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 In addition, green beans are packed with vitamin C, riboflavin, potassium, iron, manganese, folate, magnesium, and thiamin. Plus, they are a good source of thiamin, phosphorous, calcium, niacin, vitamin B6, copper, protein and zinc.
For arteriosclerosis, diabetic heart disease (diabetis-caused heart disease), and stroke, few foods compare to green beans in their number of helpful nutrients. Magnesium and potassium work together to help decrease high blood pressure, while folate and vitamin B6 help convert the potentially dangerous protein molecule homocysteine into other, benign molecules. |
Herbert Ross, DC with Keri Brenner, L.Ac.
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 Folic acid (folacin, folate)
Folic acid (folacin, folate), also a member of the B vitamin family, is important for red blood cell formation, breakdown and utilization of proteins, and proper cell division. It is also useful for fighting anemia, atherosclerosis, fatigue, immune weakness, infection, and osteoporosis. Food sources: Asparagus, broccoli, lima beans, green peas, sweet potatoes, bean sprouts, whole wheat, cantaloupe, strawberries, brewer's yeast, and leafy green vegetables, such as spinach and kale. |
Dr. Sharon Moalem
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 Dark skin evolved to protect folate, but it didn't evolve with a switch—you can't turn it off when you need to whip up a batch of vitamin D. So that would seem to create a new problem for people with dark skin—even if they lived in a sunny climate—because even though they received plenty of exposure to ultraviolet rays, the skin color that protected their supply of folate would prevent them from stocking up on vitamin D. |
Jack Challem
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 This shouldn't be surprising because folate contributes to the body's production of serotonin. Inadequate intake of folic acid has been found to boost the risk of Alzheimer's disease.
Dosage: Take 400 meg to 5 grams daily. Always take it with vitamin
B12, with the B12 dose being half that of the folic acid. Because folate enhances the effects of antidepressant medications, you will likely need a lower dose of those drugs, which is good.
Randy Finds a Solution for Violent Behavior
Randy had been a problem child. |
Bill Sardi
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 Cancer Medicine, 6th edition, folate Antagonists, BA Kamen, et al, BC Decker, Chp. 49, 2003] This is all part of the nonsensical modern treatment of cancer. Why treat with a drug that doesn't work?
Methotrexate is the other commonly used anti-folate drug. But, it produces serious side effects, such as nausea, loss of appetite, ulcers, and kidney damage. Methotrexate does not solely target tumor cells and produces toxicity to healthy cells as well. |
Thomson Healthcare, Inc.
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 An earlier meta-analysis of published double-blind, randomized, controlled trials (n=7) testing the influence of folate supplementation in RA patients treated with MTX showed an 80% reduction of side effects (mainly gastrointestinal) with folic acid supplementation and no compromise of MTX efficacy. However, high-dose folinic acid was associated with an increase in tender and swollen joints (Ortiz et al 1998).
A more recently published study found that psoriasis patients treated with MTX had a marked deterioration in the disease following folic acid supplementation. |
Jonny Bowden, Ph.D., C.N.S.
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 In fact, one of my favorite folic acid supplements (Super folate Supreme) comes in an eyedropper—one single drop of the fluid gives you 800 meg. I routinely put at least four or five drops (4 mg to 5 mg) in a smoothie or fresh vegetable and fruit juice (the folic acid is tasteless!).
One more thing: Government agencies don't recommend high levels of folic acid supplementation, but the reason has nothing to do with the safety of folic acid. Doses of up to 20 mg (20,000 meg!) have been used safely with humans, plus it's a water-soluble vitamin, which means you'll get rid of any you don't need. |
Abram Hoffer, PhD, MD, FRCP(C) and Dr. Jonathan Prousjy, DPHE, DSC, ND, FRSH
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 Some high-potency multivitamin formulas contain 800 meg of folate. Doses of 5 to 20 mg of folate may be needed to have additional benefits. It is interesting to note that as we age, we have a reduced capacity to absorb the form of folic acid present in foods, known as folylpolyglutamates. This is another reason why optimal supplementation with folic acid each day is warranted, especially as we age.
Another indication we have found is in elderly patients who develop a hand tremor, which makes it difficult for them to write. |
| One third of their depressed patients were folate deficient. The overall outcome of folic acid therapy was impressive. Every one improved to some extent. The best results were obtained at 3 to 6 months. Patients given 10 mg daily responded in 2 to 3 months, but gastrointestinal and neurological symptoms were improved in 5 months on 10 mg weekly. Patients treated with Prozac respond sooner, and they are less likely to have relapses if they have adequate folate levels.
Optimum Dose
A recent study showed that half of the American population does not get enough folic acid. |
Bottom Line Health
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| But when the researchers adjusted the figures to take into account other risk factors—such as multivitamin use, folate intake, red meat consumption and milk and alcohol intake—they found that there was no relationship between dietary fiber intake and colon cancer risk.
PROBLEMS WITH PREVIOUS STUDIES
"In general, most previous studies have been inconsistent," says Yikyung Park, who led the study while at the Harvard School of Public Health and who is now a visiting fellow at the National Cancer Institute.
Dr. John A. |
| Tsunenobu Tamura, a professor of nutrition science at the University of Alabama at Birmingham, says the focus of the message should be to encourage women to take their vitamins daily, since most contain adequate folate.
A recent study, led by Kathleen Yadrick, a professor of nutrition and food systems at the University of Southern Mississippi in Hattiesburg, seems to support Tamura's theory.
Yadrick and her colleagues studied 100 African-American, female college students. |
Thomson Healthcare, Inc.
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| Alpert JE, Fava M: Nutrition and depression: the role of folate. Nutr Rev; 55(5): 145-149. 1997
American Academy of Pediatrics (AAP): AAP Committee on Genetics: folic acid for the prevention of neural tube defects. Pediatrics; 92(3):493-494. 1993
Anon: Lowering blood homocysteine with folic acid based supplements: meta-analysis of randomized trials. Homocysteine Lowering Trialists' Collaboration. BMJ; 316(7135):894-898. 1998
Anon: Use of folic acid for prevention of spina bifida and other neural tube defects: 1983-1991. MMWR; 4O(30):513-516. 1991
Anon: Vitamin supplements. |
Jonny Bowden, Ph.D., C.N.S.
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| That's because folic acid (also known as folacin, folate, or even vitamin B9) is necessary for the constant, faultless replication of our DNA, the body's genetic blueprint. It also is needed for the building blocks of RNA, which is important for protein synthesis in every cell. |
Mike Adams, the Health Ranger
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 Folinic acid is a folate coenzyme. Coenzymes are the way these things are used in the body.
The body has to do more work to get the benefit if you are taking something that is not a coenzyme vitamin, typically most of the stuff found in the vitamins out there. For example, the body cannot use pyridoxine hydrochloride (synthetic vitamin B6). It has to grab an ATP and be phosphorylated before becoming a coenzyme that can be used. I went into supplement design because my wife was chemically sensitive. |
Thomson Healthcare, Inc.
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| Epidemiological studies have suggested a relationship between low folate status and colorectal cancer (Glynn et al, 1994). Folic acid supplementation had a nonsignificant but dose-response effect on protecting ulcerative colitis patients against colonic neoplasia. Use of higher doses (1,000 meg daily) of folic acid was associated with greater risk reduction (46%, nonsignificant) (Lashner et al 1997). |
Gary Null, Ph.D.
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 When combined with vitamin B12, folate has been shown to reduce cellular atypia squamous metaplasia in heavy smokers over a period of one year.
Other studies indicate supplemental folate may be helpful in the treatment of various behavioral disorders associated with aging. folate levels in the brain are believed to decrease with time, leading researchers to suggest that folate therapy could reverse symptoms related to declining cognitive performance and mood status. |
Thomson Healthcare, Inc.
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| Clinical Management: Folic acid should not be used as a folate supplement during pyrimethamine therapy as it is ineffective in preventing megaloblastic anemia. Leucovorin (folinic acid) may be added to pyrimethamine therapy to prevent hematologic toxicity without affecting pyrimethamine efficacy. However, the use of leucovorin may worsen leukemia.
MINOR RISKS
Sulfasalazine: Concurrent use may decrease the absorption of folic acid. Clinical Management: Monitor patient for signs of deficiency. |
| Epidemiological studies have suggested a relationship between low folate status and cancer of the lung (Glynn et al 1994). One study found that folic acid (10 mg) with vitamin B12 (500 meg) reduced evidence of atypical bronchial squamous metaplasia in smokers. However, the authors cautioned that the spontaneous variation in sputum cytology results along with other limitations of this study temper the significance of these findings (Heimberger et al 1988). |
| Prior to its institution, the plan to fortify cereal-grain products with 140 meg of folate per 100 grams was projected to reduce the U.S. population risk of coronary artery disease by 5% (Tucker et al 1996), presumably by lowering blood homocysteine levels (Boers 1998).
Since hyperhomocysteinemia is an independent risk factor for CVD, it was believed that reducing plasma homocysteine levels with folic acid could reduce atherosclerosis progression and the risk of cardiovascular events. Unfortunately, current findings from clinical studies do not support this idea. |
Jack Challem
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| Because folate enhances the effects of antidepressant medications, you will likely need a lower dose of those drugs, which is good.
Randy Finds a Solution for Violent Behavior
Randy had been a problem child. When he was three years old, he was stepping on insects and at age four killed the family's pet cat. He expressed absolutely no remorse to his parents (whom he threatened to kill), and psychological therapy failed to improve his behavior. By age fourteen, after being arrested for fighting, he was incarcerated in a residential facility for violent juveniles. |
Bill Sardi
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| Folic acid enters cells through the folate receptor. By coupling anti-cancer drugs with folic acid, the drugs can enter cells more readily. Since cancer cells have a voracious appetite for folic acid, 500,000 times greater than healthy cells, this kind of treatment becomes more targeted than standard chemotherapy. [Reuters, Sept. 14, 2000]
Methotrexate
Methotrexate is a folic-acid blocking drug used to treat cancer. Folic acid is required for DNA repair. |
Dr. Steve Blake
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 Many vegetables provide abundant calcium along with high levels of vitamins A, C, K and folate; please refer to Graph 9-1. Whole sesame seeds are one of the richest sources of calcium and also provide much-needed vitamin E and selenium. Nuts, seeds, and legumes are healthy sources of calcium. Tofu is often set with calcium and can be a very high source of dietary calcium. |
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