Folic acid

[Shezaad]

I am confused as I think I've read conflicting advice about supplementing b12 & b9. Should I not take folic acid with b12? Thanks.

[Sewnsew]

Hi, Vitamin B9 is folic acid, same thing😀

[Shezaad in reply to Sewnsew]

Hi, yes I know. I need to know if I should be taking it with b12 as I've read conflicting advice!

[Shezaad in reply to Shezaad]

I read a post earlier by seaside audience where she said take a b supplement with methyl folate not folic acid. That's why I'm confused!😳

[Shezaad in reply to Shezaad]

Seaside audience!?!? I meant seaside audience!!!!

[humanbean in reply to Shezaad]

SeasideSusie

Shezaad, I think your autocorrect has gone a bit wrong.

[Shezaad in reply to Shezaad]

No I meant seaside susie! Blooming predictive texting!😳

[greygoose]

If you're taking B12 supplements, you should also be taking a B complex, which will contain B9, and all the other Bs. They all work together, so need to be kept balanced.

[SeasideSusie Remembering]

Folic acid is the synthetic form and needs to be converted to folate and, of course, is only one of the B vitamins.

You should take a B Complex when taking B12 to balance ALL the B vitamins. A good B Complex will contain methylfolate. If you see 5-methyltetrahydrofolate (or 5-MTHF for short) in the B Complex ingredients it is the active form of folate.

[Shezaad in reply to SeasideSusie]

O, so I've got a bottle of 400 of folic acid & a bottle of b vits with no mention of b9 or folic or methyl. That' why I bought the b9. So both bottles are rubbish then? 😩

[humanbean in reply to Shezaad]

What brand or product is it that you've got? It would be rare for a B Complex not to have some form of folic acid/folate/vitamin B9 in it.

[Shezaad in reply to humanbean]

Whoops sorry!! It's life plan & it has 100 of folic acid!

[Shezaad in reply to Shezaad]

But I must have read that you need 400 to help b12.

[humanbean in reply to Shezaad]

Which one - there's loads of them!

lifeplan.co.uk/search?type=...

[Shezaad in reply to humanbean]

B complex timed release 30 tabs. They do have 100 of folic acid in them. I didn't read it properly!

[humanbean in reply to Shezaad]

Okay, I've just looked back at your previous post where you gave results for B vitamins :

VITAMIN B12 193 (/L 140.00 -724.00)

Folate (SERUM) 19.98 ug/L (2.91 -50.0025 )

Your folate level is not bad, actually. It is often recommended that we get folate levels up to mid-range, which for the test you had is about 26 or so.

You don't need to take more than 400 mcg of folate/folic acid per day and raising level isn't urgent since your level is not too bad.

Your vitamin B12 would be too low by the standards of many on here, but the real experts are the Pernicious Anaemia Society forum on HealthUnlocked. You can find them here :

healthunlocked.com/pasoc

They may tell you that the supplements you've bought are okay. But check with them first. But when you are running out of what you've bought, ask on here for suggestions and recommendations of what to buy next.

[Shezaad in reply to humanbean]

I will, thankyou for allyour help. 😀

[humanbean]

It is considered to be a good idea to start supplementing B12 a few days before starting to supplement folate.

[Shezaad in reply to humanbean]

Omg! What is folate??

[humanbean in reply to Shezaad]

As SeasideSusie said above :

Folic acid is the synthetic form and needs to be converted to folate and, of course, is only one of the B vitamins.

The conversion of folic acid to folate is done in the body, but if we take folate directly then no conversion is required. Some people can't do the conversion very well.

[Shezaad in reply to humanbean]

Ok, that makes sense now! Thanks for your patience! 👍🏻

[Shezaad in reply to humanbean]

Thankyou, you've been a great help.

[kstain]

Hello Shezaad,

May I add to SeasideSusie's info about folate in supplemental form, how it works in the body vs folic acid. Also a little info about obtaining this vitamin from food vs supplemental form. If interested, the article can be found through the link below and should be quite helpful when sorting out supplement questions regarding the use of folic acid and or folate.

drfuhrman.com/learn/eat-to-...

[Shezaad in reply to kstain]

O gosh! Just when you think you know what to do you find out you don't!! Thank you for the info.

[JustHealth]

I'd recommend you have a DNA test, 23andMe is a good one. You'll then need a professional to interpret it for you. The 23andMe test will tell you if you can or cannot methylate folic acid. I believe that two thirds of women cannot methylate folic acid. If you have the 23andMe test and get it interpreted then you get individual supplementation that will targeted to your exact requirements.

We've just gone through this process ourselves and it's highly beneficial. We're now 10 weeks pregnant. My partner cannot methylate folic acid and also has one mutated gene which means she is a 'non-secreter' that has impacted on her advice for supplementation

I have a couple of practitioners that I can recommend to you if you want to know more

Good luck

J

[Shezaad in reply to JustHealth]

Thank you. I'm b12 deficient & was advised to take all the other b's with it, which I've been told to start a few days after b12, so I don't even know yet if there is a problem with b9.

[Shezaad in reply to Shezaad]

By the way well done on the pregnancy, you must be thrilled and so relieved. Good luck. 😀