March 31, 2009

You Ask, I Answer: Folate vs. Folic Acid

What is the difference between folate and folic acid?

Are they two different minerals?

-- (Name withheld)

Bridgeport, CT


Actually, they are the same vitamin!

Folate is a B vitamin (known in a small handful of scientific circles as "Vitamin B9") found primarily in beans, legumes, green vegetables, fruits, and, if organ meats are your "thing", beef liver.

Folic acid, meanwhile, is the the synthetic version of folate (i.e.: the type available in supplements).

In what I consider an odd turn of events, our bodies absorb folic acid more efficiently than folate.

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