2.11b Folic Acid - Why I take a Mega Dose

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2.11b: Folic Acid or Folate aka vitamin B9 (Update 27 Nov.z 2021)

Contents in a descending order

Connection with vitamin B12

Folate plays an important role in pregnancy

Coronary Artery Heart Disease

Schizophrenia and cerebrofolic acid transport deficiency (CFTD)

Folate and the aging male

Folic goes with foliage; it comes from leafy vegetable. It is destroyed by canning, degraded by cooking. Drinking alcohol harms folate's absorption from intestine. In U.S.A., folic acid supplement is added to flour, rice, pasta, cornmeal, bread and other cereal grains as 140 microgram per 100 gram of food product. This is to protect pregnant women from having babies with defects.

  

Connection with vitamin B12: Taking folate and not having enough B₁₂ may provoke or worsen brain or spinal cord dysfunction caused by B₁₂ deficiency while at same time making its diagnosis difficult. So if you take folate pills or B₁₂ for either of the deficiencies, take both at same time. And if you are planning to take folic acid or B12 supplement, be sure your doctor checks both your vitamin B12 and folate blood tests. Folate or B12 deficiencies cause separate types of anemia; both types show large-size red blood cells and treatment requires high doses of both vitamins in both types.

   Folate plays an important role in pregnancy and in fetal development. Its deficiency, especially when caused by the folic acid-antagonist Methotrexate (used in cancer treatments), causes abortion. Adequate intake of folate from just before and at start of pregnancy is a must in preventing neural defect fetal malformation.

   Strong sunlight leads to 50% loss of folate in the blood after 1 hour, explaining the low folate in light-skin person exposed long-term to strong sunlight or tanning ray UV. It explains the high rate of neural defect malformation of infants born in areas (Like Australia and New Zealand) of high sunlight UV exposure and also it should serve as warning against sun-worship and use of tanning salon.

   The internet website www.cc.nih.gov/ccc/supplements gives the latest folate daily dose for pregnant or possibly pregnant person to prevent neural tube defect in newborn. 

Coronary Artery Heart Disease: Folate is an important co-factor enzyme for inter-conversion of the sulfur amino acids methionine and cysteine, and its deficiency causes high blood homocysteine. Not infrequently in apparently normal persons one finds hyper-homocysteinemia, which may worsen coronary heart disease.

Schizophrenia and cerebrofolic acid transport deficiency (CFTD) a rare genetic condition presents in children with normal blood folate test but who develop autism or childhood schizophrenia and can be treated with folinic acid, because the Folinic Acid passes through the blood brain barrier and converts to folate in the brain, correcting the deficiency.

Folate and the aging male  At age 76, I developed a folate deficiency from drinking daily wine over several years. Blood tests showed it was combined with borderline vitamin B12 deficiency. My red blood cells were too large, and the RBC percentage in blood became too low - a macrocytic anemia. I started taking 10 mg folic acid with meals, along with 500 microgram vitamin B12. My anemia went away and as a good side affect I noted my blood Testosterone, which was too low then, even for my old age, increased five-fold and my sexual penis erections improved. Very high blood test levels (5x to 10x normal) in myself have shown no bad effect after years.

       Chapter 11 Continues Next Section. To read now, click 2.11c B3 Niacin and Pantothenic Acid