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.

In The News: "Second Hand" Obesity

Today's New York Times reports on a new pooled analysis study published in the Journal of the American Medical Association which concluded that "obese women are more likely to have babies with rare but serious birth defects, including spina bifida and other neural tube defects."

Although spina bifida is generally associated with insufficient maternal intake of folic acid, lead study author Dr. Judith Rankin theorizes that in the case of obese women, "insulin resistance and undiagnosed diabetes may be playing a causative role in birth defects... though the precise mechanism is not known."

This new study gives further credence to weight-loss recommendations given to obese women planning to start a family.

You "Ask", I Answer: Homocysteine/Cholesterol

According to a book I read by Dr. Ray Strand, cholesterol is not the only factor causing cardiovascular diseases.

There is something called homocysteine where high levels of it also may cause some damages.

-- Eugene Goh
Via the blog

I'm glad you brought this up.

On the one hand, it is an important factor many people are unaware of, but I have also seen unnecessary panic over it.

High homocysteine levels are indeed one factor that can increase a person’s risk of cardiovascular disease, but it is not as applicable to – or prevalent in -- the general population as high intakes of saturated and trans fat.

Let’s backtrack a little.

Homocysteine is an amino acid produced when methionine -- an essential amino acid largely found in meat, fish, eggs, beans, and seeds – is broken down.

In healthy individuals receiving adequate nutrition, homocysteine is converted back to methionine and all is well.

Certain populations, however, run into some difficulties.

The group in the most danger consists of individuals born with a condition known as homocystinuria, in which the enzyme needed to convert homocysteine back into methionine is missing.

Consequently, homocysteine often accumulates in their systems.

Since vitamin B12 plays a major role in homocysteine-to-methionine conversion, vegans also run the risk of having high homocysteine levels.

Folic acid – another B vitamins -- also plays a crucial role in homocysteine breakdown.

This isn’t quite as troubling since a 1996 law passed in the United States requires folic acid fortification in refined grains, and the vitamin is easily obtainable from fruits, vegetables, whole grains, and legumes.

High homocysteine levels are problematic because they damage the inside of arteries, thereby allowing blood clots to form and LDL to build up as plaque, heightening one’s risk of developing cardiovascular disease.

In conclusion...yet another reason to eat your veggies.

Nutrition History: Healthier Breads

Look at the food label for any grain product (even the most refined of breads) and you’ll always see 4 B-vitamins (thiamin, niacin, riboflavin, folate) and iron listed.

Thiamin(B1), riboflavin (B2), and niacin (B3), are bread's enriched vitamins, while iron is its enriched mineral. Meaning, the flour lost these nutrients while undergoing the milling process, so they are added back in.

The requirement of replenishing these nutrients stems from the Enrichment Act of 1942, an initiative to lower the rates of vitamin and mineral deficiencies at the time.

In February of 1996, the Food & Drug Administration required that folic acid (the bioavailable version of folate, another B vitamin) be added to all grain products,in an effort to lower rates of neural tube defects (research unequivocally demonstrated that babies of women who consumed low levels of folate during the first trimester of pregnancy had a higher risk of being born with neural tube defects.)

Folate is not originally found in the endosperm of grains (which is the only part white bread is made from), so it is put in via fortification (added on), rather than enrichment (added back).

Since folate is a B vitamin (which is water soluble), it is crucial to get the required amount every single day.

Whole grains naturally contain folate, so they do not need extra amounts.

Quick lesson on whole wheat vs. white or regular wheat bread:

• Whole wheat breads use all 3 parts of the wheat shaft: the germ, bran, and endosperm
• Refined wheat breads only use the endosperm (thus completely missing out on nutrients found exclusively in the bran and germ, such as vitamin E and selenium).

Fortunately, the folate initiative has worked! Since the fortification of folate to breads, cereals, and pastas, neural tube defects have decreased by 25 percent in this country.

Why bread products? They are widely consumed by people in the United States, regardless of age, socioeconomic level, or ethnicity.

That being said, commercial breads are not the best sources of folate. Spinach, asparagus, and all sorts of legumes (lentils, chickpeas, black beans, kidney beans, etc.) provide more substantial amounts of this crucial B-vitamin.