Folic acid is very important as it helps our bodies absorb iron and the consultation is whether it should be mandatory to fortify flour with folic acid to help prevent birth defects, so even though I think its a shame we have to fortify our foods if it saves lives and improves lives then think we should follow other countries who have been doing this for 25 years.
Here's a link to an article on the BBC web page, their bread photo looks amazing and I'm envious:
I believe the Food Standards Agency looked at this 1O or so years ago. The problem is that folic acid ingestion can mask the symptoms of pernicious anaemia and potentially make outcomes worse. This is not good with an increasingly older population who are more susceptible to this autoimmune disease. We don’t routinely screen for this so adding it (folic acid) could cause as many problems as not adding it. A real dilemma.
Neural tube defects can be devastating. Having had two friends whose babies were anencephalic and did not survive, I would support the inclusion of folic acid in bread.
You may wish to read - the real cause - of most Neural Tube defects
- the rise in incidence matches .... the rise in use of artificial sweetner Aspartame ... 10% of which is METHANOL (ie METHS yes the purple stuff and the meth in ... crystal meth))
I guess there may be more than one possible cause for the problem. My friends lost their babies some 40 years ago, very little in the way of Coke etc at that time in the U.K. We lived in the country and did wonder if it was related to the use of pesticides.
Hi great sympathy for your friend . Yes methanol in smoking another and will be others - 1st Aspartame Diet Coke Came In 1982 (37yrs Ago). As shown in the chapter of the book - growing trend to present day .... mirrors increasing Aspartame use
Avoiding aspartame is a good idea for everybody, pregnant or not. All the science has shown that taking folic acid can reduce the incidence of neural tube defects, but you need to be careful not to take too much.
1) Dr. Shelese Pratt ND @ Flatirons Naturopathic Clinic
A PHARMACIST OPINION
- My first recommendation is to... stop consuming all foods or supplements
- with folic acid.
Folic acid is a synthetic chemical
- and although it worked well to prevent neural tube defects,
- it has caused...... many other..... health problems.
Folic acid is not methylated... and the process of putting a methyl group onto this molecule ..... takes a tremendous amount of energy ....that could be used for other metabolic processes.
Folic acid also disrupts.... the methylation cycle..... by binding to receptor sites and carrier proteins.....
>>> so that the usable form ....of methylfolate cannot be used. <<<< It’s ok to read it again.
When folic acid binds to the receptor sites .....it also increases the risk of our bodies...... creating auto-antibodies .... to folate. ….Not good.
Since I geek out on this, I started reading the research behind the toxicity of folic acid.
I ended up...... purging thousands of dollars of supplements ….. from my pharmacy.
In good conscience, I could not even give any supplements..... with folic acid away.
I suggest you go to your vitamin cabinet and discard any vitamins with folic acid
Make sure when you buy a product in the future, it is made with folinic acid or 5MTHF. or ‘5-methyl THF’ (or ‘5-MTHF’) Folic acid sounds similar to folinic acid but folinic acid and MTHF means the folate is already methylated when you buy it.
In humans the gut appears to have a very efficient capacity to convert reduced dietary folates to 5-MTHF..... but limited ability ...to reduce folic acid.
As a matter of fact,
folic acid reaches the liver...... in unmetabolized form.
Hepatic biotransformation of folic acid to 5-MTHF is critically regulated by two polymorphic enzymes, the DHFR and the MTHFR. DHFR enzyme appears to have low … and highly variable ....activity.
Chronic liver exposure to folic acid may induce saturation, which would possibly explain reports... of systemic circulation…. of unmetabolized folic acid.
A new study published in 2014 clearly showed that >>> 86% of folic acid … in the hepatic portal vein… is unmetabolized,
- whilst almost all of the natural folate ....was converted correctly
The consumption of highest dosage of ….synthetic folic acid …. results in absorption... of unreduced folic acid, .... which may interfere
with .... folate metabolism >>>> for a period of years
I absolutely do not want to be medicated by food supplementation -it is an infringement of my rights even if it might reduce the risk of neural tube defects.that is the job of the doctor /obstetrician to ensure the woman is getting enough folic acid.
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Veg in cheese sauce made with coconut flour,
Healthy eating with Acid Reflux and IBS.
