Synthetic Folic Acid May Cause Cancer
Folic acid has been added to our white flour, wheat flour and other grain products for about 10 years to offset the poor diets of potential mothers as it was proven last decade that low folate levels at conception can cause neural tube defects (NTDs). Certainly it has been shown to be very beneficial as folate supplementation has considerably reduced the number of NTDs. However, as with just about anything in life there are always two sides to the coins. Where there is yin there is yang. And timing is everthing. It seems that taking folate early in life may prevent cancer, but taking it later in life after there has been cell damage may futher accentuate damage and cause cancer.
A friend just asked me “are these vitamins good?”. I looked at the label and they had 1000mcg of folic acid. That is 2.5 times the RDA and probably a lot more than we need. If taken by an older person it may cause more problems than solve.
Getting folate from food is the best way to get it which is from leafy greens (think foliage…i.e. folate), especially romaine lettuce. Other great sources of folate include spinach, asparagus, turnip greens, mustard greens, calf’s liver, parsley, collard greens, broccoli, cauliflower, beets, and lentils.
The entire article about synthetic folate and cancer is below…
Folic acid linked to increased cancer rate
Vitamin added to flours, pastas and breakfast cereals
Washington, D.C. – November 01, 2007 – Two recent commentaries appearing
in the November issue of Nutrition Reviews find that the introduction of
flour fortified with folic acid into common foods was followed by an
increase in colon cancer diagnoses in the U.S. and Canada. The two new
review articles address these recent findings and provide an overview of
the existing evidence on folic acid fortification and the associated
policy issues.
For nearly a decade, folic acid, a chemical form of a common B vitamin
(folate), has been added to wheat flour and other grain products in the
U.S. and Canada. This public health measure was enacted after evidence
was discovered linking folic acid with a reduced rate of a specific
birth defect that affected the development of the spinal cord and
central nervous system. During the same period, however, rates of
colorectal cancer in the U.S. inexplicably began rising, even as regular
colonoscopy check-ups became more common. In Canada, where folic acid
supplementation was introduced a bit later, the same trend has been
observed.
Dr. Solomons, author of one of the review commentaries, “Food
Fortification with Folic Acid: Has the Other Shoe Dropped”” advises that
a careful reconsideration of the fortification program is needed. “One
size of dietary folic acid exposure does not fit all. It can be
beneficial to some and detrimental to others at the same time,” comments
Solomons.
Since the risk-benefit value of fortification varies according to age,
Solomons suggests a reevaluation of the manner in which folic acid to
prevent birth defects is delivered to the public. Among other things,
targeting women of reproductive age while reducing folic acid levels in
foods for which fortification is optional (such as ready-to-eat cereals
and commercial drinks), would be worthy of consideration, in the opinion
of Solomons.
As a result of noted birth defect reduction, 42 countries have
implemented some form of mandatory folic acid fortification. The two
commentaries stress the need to carefully consider and balance the risks
and benefits associated with introducing such a program.
“Folic acid supplementation wields a double-edged sword,” remarks Dr.
Young-In Kim, author of “Folic Acid Fortification and
Supplementation—Good for Some but Not So Good for Others,” the other
commentary review published in the November issue. According to Kim, “It
may be beneficial or harmful, depending on the timing of intervention.”
Exposure to high intakes of folic acid in early life and young adulthood
may provide life-long protection from the tendency for cancer formation
in different organs, such as the large intestines, whereas such
exposures later in life, when cell damage has occurred, can spur on the
advance of the tumor.
In Health,
George Mandler
Licensed Acupuncturist, Nutritionist, Herbalist
Acupuncture, Nutrition & Herbal Medicine
November 18th, 2007 at 9:15 pm
Studies about folic acid supplements in colon cancer have yielded conflicting results. Nurses heart study showed it is helpful. Cole and colleagues have documented quite the opposite. Similarly, data suggests folic acid may lower risk of colon cancer in UC patients
Of course, folic acid is beneficial during pregnancy and recently has been shown to reduce incidence of strokes.
As someone said, folic acid may not be “one size fits all”, and folic acid supplements should only be undertaken in consultaion with the physician.
November 18th, 2007 at 9:49 pm
Hello Doc,
Thank you for replying. Yep the data most certainly is conflicting. Remember all those Vitamin E studies that were conflicting until we realized they were poor studies because you need to give Vitamin E, not to mention the fact that there are 8 molecules of E….anyway I digress. I do believe when we see conflicting studies it is because we are only touching part of the elephant. We don’t know the whole picture. And thinking of whole my recommendation would be to get folate from whole foods or at least supplements derived from whole foods. I do not believe that synthetic supplements should be used long term. Short term fine, but long term use I think we are being guinea pigs. There are many co-factors that go along with vitamins that we don’t get from a synthetic supplement. I also wonder if these large non-physiological bolus of synthetics can throw the body out of balance. I’m sure it does, as we’ve seen it with too much Riboflavin causing cataracts, Zinc causing high cholestrol (b/c of copper competition) etc.
Folic acid has its place no doubt. It has unequivocally reduced NTDs. But that is because the Mom to be has a lousy diet to begin with! Definitely not one size fits all which is the beauty of a system such as Chinese Medicine that can differentiate based on patterns rather than named diseases.
I would also add that very few MDs know about supplements, let alone nutrition. I work with many MDs so I know they received about 6 hours of nutrition in school. There are more that are becoming aware because of the work of Jeff Bland PhD and the Institute for Functional Medicine.
In Health,
George Mandler