Folate deficiency

[emilycatherine95]

i’ve recently been told i have low folate levels, i’ve been taking folic acid for a week now and i’m just feeling worse, feeling sick, light headed, exhausted, my tounge hurts, my whole body aches, I’m getting awful headaches... any advice because I feel like it’s getting worse but do I just need to wait longer for the folic acid to take effect in only on the over the counter amount so the bare minimum, thanks

[BadHare]

Eat more fruit & veg for folate & other micronutrients. Just one small orange has a quarter of our RDA, plus vitamin C. There are lists of high folate plants online do you can choose which you prefer. Or, but a supplement containing folate rather than folic acid. There are B complex available with this in.

[Justiina]

I upped my food folate and top it up with a bit folic acid. I have started to feel relatively good.

I eat loads of chickpeas ,broccoli, cauliflower, rucola and some spinach. I drink pure orange juice which has a lot of folate and kiwi fruit is good source too and it supports digestion.

[wedgewood in reply to Justiina]

Fresh oranges 100 times better for you than the juice . They’ve not been processed and have many more micro nutrients than the juice . I know it’s not so convenient, but oranges are still in season and delicious now ( NOT issued by the orange marketing board !) You have a really good diet 👍

[Justiina in reply to wedgewood]

Yeah I usually juice oranges as I hate the membrane 😄 I only buy orange juice if it has pulp in it or juiced in the grocery store. But yes I agree it's best to eat them unless you know how the juice is made.

When most people seem to hoard canned food and toilet paper I have filled my freezer with frozen veggies and eat fresh veggies as most don't buy them now so plenty of fresh veggies to choose!

Fortunately I like vegetables and was super easy to start eating more vegetables and definitely have benefited of it big time, my gut is enjoying this and B12 injection works better now.

[Btab]

Some people cannot process folic acid . I even get hives from folic acid). Try natural folate in foods as others have suggested or I have found “Quatrefolic”works well for me. I take it in a B complex that contains the coenzyme forms.

[fbirder in reply to Btab]

Everybody can 'process' folic acid.

It is converted to dihydrofolate by the enzyme dihydrofolate reductase. This enzyme is required to produce tetrahydrofolate. If it didn't work in somebody then that person would be incapable of making DNA.

[Ashweb901 in reply to fbirder]

Fbirder: Despite eating a metric ass ton of enriched grains, I still have to take methylfolate to get my folate higher than single digits.

[Btab in reply to fbirder]

? This enzyme can be defective and or inefficient and can cause deficiency

[fbirder in reply to Btab]

No it can't.

DHFR is an important part of the folate cycle. If it was defective then the body would be unable to convert dihydrofolate to tetrahydrofolate - which would make it unable to form DNA.

The enzyme you are thinking of is not DHFR but methylenetetrahydrofolate reductase (MTHFR). This enzyme isn't involved in the processing of folic acid. It convertes methylenetetrahydrofolate to methyltetrahydrofolate. In about 10% of the population the enzyme runs at about 30% efficiency.

That can mean a deficiency in methyltetrahydrofolate (aka methylfolate) if you take folic acid. Or if your take folinic acid. It also causes problems with folate in food, because most of that is tetrahydrofolate, which also needs to be 'processed' to make methylfolate.

For most of those 10% the body just makes more MTHFR. For a very few methylfolate supplements might help.

[deniseinmilden in reply to fbirder]

In theory yes, folic acid should be fine for everyone, as should 12 weekly B12 injections.

In practice this is not the case. Even you have found benefit from methylfolate and more frequent B12 injections!

[fbirder in reply to deniseinmilden]

Yes, some people might benefit from taking methylfolate. That's not because they cannot 'process' folic acid.

[deniseinmilden in reply to fbirder]

As I've said before, I have a friend who has an NHS medical consultant's diagnosis that she can't and is very ill if she takes in even small amounts of B9. Her diet and life is a nightmare.

Not everyone understands that you are being scientifically specific - some people are new to this group - and your emphatic approach can seem quite abrupt and off-putting to people who need treatment and are not able to find the right words or are feeling anxious and sensitive.

As you have your treatment and are therefore in a better position, maybe you could try to be more understanding and gentler in your wording of your replies? I'm sure you are only responding because you are trying to help - and with kinder words you would be more beneficial.

Nobody's knowledge and understanding is perfect and it is good for all of us to be mindful of this.

Kind regards, Denise

[Ashweb901]

Fbirder: Despite eating a metric ass ton of enriched grains, I still have to take methylfolate to get my folate higher than single digits.

[fbirder in reply to Ashweb901]

That's almost certainly because your body cannot absorb natural folate.

Folate in foods comes attached to multiple molecules of glutamate. These all have to be removed by pancreatic proteases before the folate can be absorbed. Many people, especially later in life, find this difficult.

Synthetic folate doesn't come with all those glutamates, so can be absorbed more easily.

You'd probably find that folic acid raises your levels just as well as synthetic methylfolate.

[Ashweb901 in reply to fbirder]

I live in the USA where our bread, flour, cereals and pasta are enriched with folic acid.

[SoMuchBetter]

synthetic folic acid in enriched foods impedes folate metabolism. Mthfrsupport.com.au suggests abstinence before supplementing withmethyl folate or folinic acid.