Folic Acid and Dementia: The rates of dementia and Alzheimer’s disease are rapidly rising in the United States. Surprisingly, the experts are not stopping to ask why. I’ve got a hint for them…it’s in the food!
The United States Department of Agriculture (USDA) has been making deals with the food and drug industries for dec
ades at the expense of consumers (both animal and human). We’re literally dying for their deals. In this case, they said they were doing it to help us.
In the late-1990s, the USDA authorized folic acid fortification in our food supply. Folic acid is a synthetic version of folate. They did it for the purpose of reducing neural tube defects during pregnancy. Today it is in nearly all processed grains, pre-prepared pastas, cereals, breads, cookies, crackers, as well as many drinks and even vitamins. I dare you, go check your pantry and see if I’m wrong.
While it did reduce rates of neural tube defects, it also had many unwanted side effects: our brain health chief among them.
The USDA, many medical doctors and even vitamin companies defend their belief that folic acid is the same as folate. Their mistake has been made at great cost. Bear with me while I dig into a little biochemistry to explain.
The terms (chemical compounds) being debated:
- Folic Acid (a synthetic derivative, made by man)
- Dihydrofolate [DHF] (the source of folate found in food)
- Tetrahydrofolate [THF]
- 5-10-MethyleneTHF
- L-Methyl Folate [5-MTHF]
These compounds are all called folate and NONE are identical to the others. All go through conversions in our body in order to be used. And what are they used for? Only some of the MOST important chemical reactions in our body, called methylation.
Methylation is involved in such activities as making it possible to remove heavy metals from our body, regulation of gene expression, regulation of protein function, and RNA processing. Which means…we become toxic and get mutated genes if it isn’t working properly.
If our body can break down each of these chemical compounds, what’s the big deal? Breaking down folic Acid in order to make Dihydrofolate takes an enzyme and a whole lot of work. The enzyme needed, DHFR, is the same that would break down Dihydrofolate to Tetrahydrofolate, a process which is much “cleaner” in the body. But, there happens to be a gene mutation that is present in as much as 50% of the population that makes these chemical conversions much slower (MTHFR). So slow, that folic acid can get backed up…waiting in a line if you will.
The real issue is what folic acid does to our blood brain barrier. L-Methyl Folate [5-MTHF] is needed in the brain, but folic acid has the ability to block the folate receptors (FRa) on the blood brain barrier. With folic acid blocking the receptors, 5-MTHF can’t get in, which results in:
- Elevated homocysteine in the brain, and
- Insufficient BH4 (Tetrahydrobiopterin), a cofactor essential for the neurotransmitters and hormones dopamine, norepinepherine, serotonin and acetyl-choline.
Folic acid consumption can lead directly to depression, oxidative stress, brain atrophy and vascular disease. I think it’s time for the USDA to reconsider its policies and for doctors, vitamin companies and food suppliers to think a little bit harder about their “recommendations” for our continued use of folic acid.
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Perfect reason to stop eating processed foods.
many additional benefits besides dementia as we generally consume way too many carb calories
I agree that it is a great reason to avoid processed foods. But carbohydrates are found in all plant-based foods and are essential for our well-being. We need to distinguish “processed carbohydrates” from “whole, plant-based carbohydrates.” Many people have swung too far the other direction in recent years (very low-carb on paleo diets) and are creating stress on their adrenals. Plant-based starchy carbohydrates such as sweet potatoes, butternut squash, spaghetti squash, organic corn and even quinoa (technically a grain) can be consumed even by paleo folks and help make sure we get enough “whole, plant-based carbohydrates” to keep our bodies healthy. Thanks for your thoughts!!
Keep this going please, great job!