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Folic Acid

(B-9, Vitamin B9, Vit. B9, Folic Acid, Folacin, Fala)

This is a vitamin necessary to promote normal red blood cell formation. It is thought to be an important catalyst aiding in the maintenance of the nervous system, the health of the intestinal tract and genitals and related organs, white blood cells, and normal patterns of growth. In 1981, it was conclusively demonstrated that folic acid supplementation could prevent more than half of the cases of spina-bifida and other neural tube defects.

The FDA has finally announced that folic acid is essential to the diet and especially necessary within the diets of pregnant women, now recommending 400 mcg per day to reduce the risk of neural tube deficits and birth disorders. Recently, research has demonstrated that elevated levels of folic acid (800 mcg: twice that of the USRDI's) helps prevent heart attacks by reducing homocysteine levels. However, in yet other studies, lower levels of folic acid (200 mcg - 400mcg daily) along with other B vitamins appear to decrease levels of homocysteine production, and lower levels of these amount do not interfere with homocysteine's natural degradation as some have postulated, since if homocysteine is not immediately converted to methionine or thereafter removed properly from the system, heart attacks become significantly more likely. In any case, low dose Folic Acid (200 mcg - 400 mcg) intake appears to be just as effective than higher dosages (800 mcg).

When used with vitamin B-5 and PABA, vitamin B-9 may help in the delay of hair graying and promote healthy skin (unproven). The rather obtuse idea that Vitamin B9 could mask a vitamin B12 deficiency is now considered a misnomer, as the criticism was originally based on a reference to a study in 1947 before B12 was properly isolated. Folic Acid is not only safe, it is essential for healthy life.

Results of a recent meta-analysis in Oxford, England at the Radcliffe Infirmary demonstrated that Vitamin B12 and Folic Acid (and to lesser extend by Vitamin B6, whose presence is necessary to convert homocysteine to the amino acid L-cysteine) were necessary vitamins involved in the body's cleansing process called methylation, wherein dangerous homocysteine levels are reduced. Lowering homocysteine levels has been shown to reduce the risk of cardiovascular disease, for as much as 30%-40%. Folic acid can be increased to .5 mg up to 5 mg with adequate amounts of B12 (1mg.) for these purposes. (BMJ, 316(7135):894-898, March1998) Folic Acid (Folacin) See B-9, Vitamin-B9