folic acid and B vitamins - more evidence to support us lifestyle food cultists

[Tc]

http://www.forbes.com/forbeslife/health/feeds/hscout/2007/01/-
19/hscout601131.html

Folic Acid Boosts Cognition in Older Adults
01.19.07, 12:00 AM ET

FRIDAY, Jan. 19 (HealthDay News) -- Dutch researchers have
added another chapter to the continuing debate over whether
folic acid supplements can sharpen the aging mind. Their
conclusion: The nutrient does improve cognitive function in
older adults. Previous studies on the subject have been split,
although most have suggested that folic acid supplementation
in people with high levels of the amino acid homocysteine in
the blood helps with cognitive function. Higher homocysteine
levels are associated with an increased risk for
cardiovascular disease and stroke and possibly also
Alzheimer's disease.

The new study, published in the Jan. 20 issue of The Lancet,
adds to the growing impression that adding folic acid can help
brain functioning, at least in certain groups of people.

"We can certainly take away that folate is going to be
beneficial for cognitive improvement when you have high
homocysteine levels," said Maria Carrillo, director of medical
and scientific relations at the Alzheimer's Association.

"This underscores the importance of B vitamins," added Richard
Finnell, Regents Professor in the Center for Environmental and
Genetic Medicine at Texas A&M's Health Science Center
Institute of Biosciences and Technology at Houston. "They do
more than protect babies against birth defects."

Folic acid, or folate, is a B vitamin probably best
known for its role in helping to prevent neural-tube
defects in newborns.

But folic acid also has several other functions: It helps the
body digest and utilize proteins and to synthesize new
proteins when they are needed; it's essential for the
production of red blood cells and the synthesis of DNA; it
helps with tissue growth and cell function; it helps to
increase appetite when needed; and it stimulates the formation
of digestive acids.

Food sources of folate include beans and legumes; citrus
fruits and juices; wheat bran and other whole grains; dark,
green leafy vegetables; poultry; pork; shellfish and liver,
according to the National Institutes of Health.

Cognitive function, especially areas such as information
processing speed and memory, decline with age. These cognitive
changes have been linked to a risk of dementia.

For this study, first reported at the Alzheimer's
Association's 2005 prevention conference, researchers randomly
assigned 818 older adults in Holland, aged 50 to 70 years old,
to receive 800 micrograms of folic acid supplementation daily
or a placebo for three years.

All participants had low folate levels, as evidenced by
elevated homocysteine concentrations.

Adults who received the folic acid supplementation had
improved cognitive functioning, especially in the areas of
memory and information processing speed. What's more, folate
concentration increased 576 percent in those getting the
supplements, and homocysteine levels fell 26 percent.

"Folate can help people with high homocysteine levels,"
Carrillo confirmed. "This is in line with what we have been
thinking."

The same Dutch researchers, reporting in the Jan. 2 issue of
the Annals of Internal Medicine, found that people who took a
folic acid supplement had less decline in hearing
low-frequency sounds over time, compared with people who
didn't take the supplement.

More information

The National Institute on Aging has more on aging and dietary
supplements, including vitamins and minerals.

*************

Real nutrition leads to real health.

TC

[Dz]

TC <tunderbar@hotmail.com> wrote:
> http://www.forbes.com/forbeslife/health/feeds/hscout/2007/0-
> 1/19/hscout601131.html
...
> Folic Acid Boosts Cognition in Older Adults Adults who
> received the folic acid supplementation had improved
> cognitive functioning, especially in the areas of memory and
> information processing speed. What's more, folate
> concentration increased 576 percent in those getting the
> supplements, and homocysteine levels fell 26 percent.
...
> *************
> Real nutrition leads to real health.

Folic acid used for supplementation is synthetic and not the
same chemically as the natural form of folate. I suppose there
would be a lot of "processing" and purification involved in
the making of that chemical. That doesn't really bother me,
but how is it "real" food?

[Tc]

DZ wrote:
> TC <tunderbar@hotmail.com> wrote:
> > http://www.forbes.com/forbeslife/health/feeds/hscout/2007-
> > /01/19/hscout601131.html
> ...
> > Folic Acid Boosts Cognition in Older Adults Adults who
> > received the folic acid supplementation had improved
> > cognitive functioning, especially in the areas of memory
> > and information processing speed. What's more, folate
> > concentration increased 576 percent in those getting the
> > supplements, and homocysteine levels fell 26 percent.
> ...
> > *************
> > Real nutrition leads to real health.
>
> Folic acid used for supplementation is synthetic and not the
> same chemically as the natural form of folate. I suppose
> there would be a lot of "processing" and purification
> involved in the making of that chemical. That doesn't really
> bother me, but how is it "real" food?

I agree. If fake manufactured processed folate shows such
great results, imagine what will happen when they get enough
folate-containing real foods in their diets.

My point is that we can't deny the importance of real
nutrients to our health. By real nutrients, I mean those
vitamins and minerals that have been shown scientifically to
be essential to our survival and our thriving physically.

And the converse is that we have to understand how detrimental
to our health these fake manufactured overly processed
nutrient-deficient foods are.

Real nutrition equals real health.

TC

[Jim Chinni]

DZ <sc13nc3d@gmail.com> wrote in part:

>David Harmon <source@netcom.com> wrote:
>> DZ wrote:
>>> Folic acid used for supplementation is synthetic and not
>>> the same chemically as the natural form of folate.
>>
>> What's the difference?
>
>Folate in food is predominantly a mixture of 2 forms -
>5-methyl-H4 folate and 10-formyl-H4 folate (http://www.pu-
>bmedcentral.nih.gov/articlerender.fcgi?tool=pubmed&pubmed-
>id=405403)
>
>The synthetic one is "PGA", pteroylmonoglutamic acid. It has
>higher bio-availability and is converted to the 5-methyl-H4
>form by the body, but the reaction is saturated at doses
>higher than 400 mcg (http://pmid.us/15738964) so it's
>probably better to take it in divided doses.

I'm not aware that PGA has markedly lower conversion with
doses above 400
mmg. The abstract of the cited document looks like an opinion
piece rather than a lab study. If you have the full text,
can you quote the paragraph or so dealing with limits on
folic acid conversion?

I would greatly appreciate it if you could clarify this!
--
Jim Chinnis Warrenton, Virginia, USA jchinnis@alum.mit.edu

[Jim Chinni]

DZ <sc13nc3d@gmail.com> wrote in part:

>Jim Chinnis <jchinnis@alum.mit.edu> wrote:
>> DZ <sc13nc3d@gmail.com> wrote in part:
>>>David Harmon <source@netcom.com> wrote:
>>>> DZ wrote:
>>>>> Folic acid used for supplementation is synthetic and not
>>>>> the same chemically as the natural form of folate.
>>>>
>>>> What's the difference?
>>>
>>>Folate in food is predominantly a mixture of 2 forms -
>>>5-methyl-H4 folate and 10-formyl-H4 folate (http://www.pub-
>>>medcentral.nih.gov/articlerender.fcgi?tool=pubmed&pubmedid-
>>>=405403)
>>>
>>>The synthetic one is "PGA", pteroylmonoglutamic acid. It
>>>has higher bio-availability and is converted to the
>>>5-methyl-H4 form by the body, but the reaction is saturated
>>>at doses higher than 400 mcg (http://pmid.us/15738964) so
>>>it's probably better to take it in divided doses.
>>
>> I'm not aware that PGA has markedly lower conversion with
>> doses above 400
>> mmg. The abstract of the cited document looks like an
>> opinion piece rather than a lab study. If you have the
>> full text, can you quote the paragraph or so dealing
>> with limits on folic acid conversion?
>>
>> I would greatly appreciate it if you could clarify this!
>
>I quoted that excerpt once before, so I'll just post a groups
>link to Michael's reply that also conatained the abstracts of
>the quoted studies - http://groups.google.com/group/sci.life-
>-extension/msg/5ea918023595f373
>
>HTH

Thank you. More after I've done some thinking and reading.
--
Jim Chinnis Warrenton, Virginia, USA jchinnis@alum.mit.edu

[Jim Chinni]

DZ <sc13nc3d@gmail.com> wrote in part:

>Jim Chinnis <jchinnis@alum.mit.edu> wrote:
>> DZ <sc13nc3d@gmail.com> wrote in part:
>>>David Harmon <source@netcom.com> wrote:
>>>> DZ wrote:
>>>>> Folic acid used for supplementation is synthetic and not
>>>>> the same chemically as the natural form of folate.
>>>>
>>>> What's the difference?
>>>
>>>Folate in food is predominantly a mixture of 2 forms -
>>>5-methyl-H4 folate and 10-formyl-H4 folate (http://www.pub-
>>>medcentral.nih.gov/articlerender.fcgi?tool=pubmed&pubmedid-
>>>=405403)
>>>
>>>The synthetic one is "PGA", pteroylmonoglutamic acid. It
>>>has higher bio-availability and is converted to the
>>>5-methyl-H4 form by the body, but the reaction is saturated
>>>at doses higher than 400 mcg (http://pmid.us/15738964) so
>>>it's probably better to take it in divided doses.
>>
>> I'm not aware that PGA has markedly lower conversion with
>> doses above 400
>> mmg. The abstract of the cited document looks like an
>> opinion piece rather than a lab study. If you have the
>> full text, can you quote the paragraph or so dealing
>> with limits on folic acid conversion?
>>
>> I would greatly appreciate it if you could clarify this!
>
>I quoted that excerpt once before, so I'll just post a groups
>link to Michael's reply that also conatained the abstracts of
>the quoted studies - http://groups.google.com/group/sci.life-
>-extension/msg/5ea918023595f373
>
>HTH

This is interesting. I haven't read all the material, but if
conversion is lmited above 400 mmg, all the studies that show
no cardiac benefit of folic acid supplementation (above 400
mmg) may be failing to find a benefit because of the reduced
conversion. Further, I gather that a divided dosing schedule
might change that.

Of course, the cognitive benefits shown might be due to the
unconverted synthetic form in the blood... ;-)
--
Jim Chinnis Warrenton, Virginia, USA jchinnis@alum.mit.edu

[Matti Nark]

On Mon, 22 Jan 2007 15:45:19 GMT, Jim Chinnis
<jchinnis@alum.mit.edu> wrote:

>DZ <sc13nc3d@gmail.com> wrote in part:
>
>>Jim Chinnis <jchinnis@alum.mit.edu> wrote:
>>> DZ <sc13nc3d@gmail.com> wrote in part:
>>>>David Harmon <source@netcom.com> wrote:
>>>>> DZ wrote:
>>>>>> Folic acid used for supplementation is synthetic and
>>>>>> not the same chemically as the natural form of folate.
>>>>>
>>>>> What's the difference?
>>>>
>>>>Folate in food is predominantly a mixture of 2 forms -
>>>>5-methyl-H4 folate and 10-formyl-H4 folate (http://www.pu-
>>>>bmedcentral.nih.gov/articlerender.fcgi?tool=pubmed&pubmed-
>>>>id=405403)
>>>>
>>>>The synthetic one is "PGA", pteroylmonoglutamic acid. It
>>>>has higher bio-availability and is converted to the
>>>>5-methyl-H4 form by the body, but the reaction is
>>>>saturated at doses higher than 400 mcg
>>>>(http://pmid.us/15738964) so it's probably better to take
>>>>it in divided doses.
>>>
>>> I'm not aware that PGA has markedly lower conversion with
>>> doses above 400
>>> mmg. The abstract of the cited document looks like an
>>> opinion piece rather than a lab study. If you have
>>> the full text, can you quote the paragraph or so
>>> dealing with limits on folic acid conversion?
>>>
>>> I would greatly appreciate it if you could clarify this!
>>
>>I quoted that excerpt once before, so I'll just post a
>>groups link to Michael's reply that also conatained the
>>abstracts of the quoted studies - http://groups.google.com/-
>>group/sci.life-extension/msg/5ea918023595f373
>>
>>HTH
>
>This is interesting. I haven't read all the material, but if
>conversion is lmited above 400 mmg, all the studies that show
>no cardiac benefit of folic acid supplementation (above 400
>mmg) may be failing to find a benefit because of the reduced
>conversion. Further, I gather that a divided dosing schedule
>might change that.

According to the article

"What are the benefits of taking the "fancy" form of folic
acid, 5-methyl tetrahydrofolate, and how would I know if it is
better for me if I decide to try it?" <http://www.austinchron-
icle.com/gyrobase/Issue/column?oid=oid%3A269705>

mutations have been found at two locations on the gene needed
to convert folic acid into 5-MTHF and that roughly a quarter
of the population has one or both of the mutations. The
conversion of folic acid to 5-MTHF still takes place in these
people but even more slowly than normal, and there is a
tendency for homocysteine to become elevated.

Using 5-methyltetrahydrofolate in supplementation instead of
folic acid would overcome the conversion problem:

I don't know about the availabily of 5-methyltetrahydrofolate.
It is probably available somewhere, but is not ubiquitous as
the regular folic acid. Does anyoone know where to get it?
About the first link my quick web search returned was
<http://www.fallonpharmacy.com/prod_details.php?pid=2490>, but
that is mixture, and the amount of 5-MTHF is not given.

Here's another search result, seems to be mainly informative,
but badly formatted :-):

L-5-Methyl Tetrahydrofolate <http://nwclinic.com/L5.html>

--
Matti Narkia

[William Wa]

In article <lfo9r2d5n96v67ktgkrulf5oseclrpghh8@4ax.com>, Matti
Narkia <mna@mbnet.fi> wrote:

> I don't know about the availabily of
> 5-methyltetrahydrofolate. It is probably available
> somewhere, but is not ubiquitous as the regular folic acid.
> Does anyoone know where to get it? About the first link my
> quick web search returned was
> <http://www.fallonpharmacy.com/prod_details.php?pid=2490>,
> but that is mixture, and the amount of 5-MTHF is not given.

https://www.vitaminshoppe.com/search/en/query.jsp?q=+5-methyl-
tetrahydrofo late&x=53&y=10&intsource=main

or

http://preview.tinyurl.com/yorfqj

Seems to be a few different manufacturers.

Bill

--

S Jersey USA Zone 5 Shade http://www.ocutech.com/ High tech
Vison aid This article is posted under fair use rules in
accordance with Title 17 U.S.C. Section 107, and is strictly
for the educational and informative purposes. This material is
distributed without profit.

[Rarmant]

On Mon, 22 Jan 2007 18:37:15 +0200, Matti Narkia
<mna@mbnet.fi> wrote:

>I don't know about the availabily of
>5-methyltetrahydrofolate. It is probably available somewhere,
>but is not ubiquitous as the regular folic acid. Does anyoone
>know where to get it?

http://www.metafolin.com/

Source Naturals Metafolin
http://www.amazon.com/Source-Naturals-Metafolin/dp/B0006O2FO4

You might look into folinic acid. http://www.iherb.com/store/-
ProductDetails.aspx?c=Herbs&pid=SNS-02028