The difference between folic acid and folate is critical; here’s why!

This blog post is an edited excerpt from another website. It was so succinct in the importance of methylfolate (vs folic acid) that I am borrowing it with permission from www.functionalnutritionanswers.com

What does folate do in the body?

• Critical for DNA and amino acid synthesis.
• Key methyl donor, involved in methylation throughout the body.
• Methylation is needed for making neurotransmitters (mood/brain chemicals), detoxing, and hundreds of other extremely important processes.
• Helps prevent neural tube defects during pregnancy.
• Important for red blood cell synthesis (deficiency = enlarged RBCs).

What is the difference between folate, folic acid, and L-methylfolate?

• Folic acid is the synthetic, oxidized, most stable form of the vitamin, but it is NOT naturally found in food. It is most often used in supplements and fortified or enriched foods.
  However, folic acid cannot be used directly by the body.
  It needs to be converted first to 5-MTHF, which is a 4-step process that requires proper functioning of the DHFR and MTHFR enzymes.
  Up to 58% of the population has MTHFR mutations which reduce their ability to convert synthetic folic acid to 5-MTHF. This can lead to a build-up of unmetabolized folic acid circulating through the bloodstream. This may be a bad thing, but it has not been thoroughly studied. Possible adverse effects include impaired cognition, reduced immunity, and increased growth of pre-existing cancers.
• Folate is the term for the naturally occurring forms of the vitamin found in food. Some of these forms must also be converted to 5-MTHF by the MTHFR enzyme, but some are already in the methylated usable forms.
• L-methylfolate is 5-MTHF, a methylated form of folate. This is the active form that can be quickly utilized by the body, even if someone has the MTHFR mutation. It is available as a supplement.
• Folinic acid is also sometimes used as a supplement since it doesn’t require the DHFR enzyme for conversion to the active form 5-MTHF (but it does still require the MTHFR enzyme). It is also found naturally in some foods.

Supplements you buy in the store (Target, Vitamin Shoppe) are going to have folic acid. This is NOT what you want. You want professional grade supplements with methylfolate.