Using products that contain synthetic folic acid (SFA)?  Worried about this?  There’s so much misinformation, fearmongering and hysteria out there I’m not surprised!  I’ve been bombarded this year by really experienced & cluey practitioners who have been losing their confidence around using folate, treating methylation issues etc. and it is incredibly frustrating and disheartening to see.

My big message is be mindful whose messages you’re listening to!! 

Seriously though…if you’re being told by someone that SFA is toxic for everyone and they just happen to sell a range of products specialising in other forms of folate and methylation education galore…ask yourself is this unbiased reliable information?  Equally, when you have companies telling you not to worry about SFA at all, that it’s perfectly safe in all doses for all clients and they happen to have a lot of products on the market that contain SFA, ask yourself the very same question! 

 Let’s face it the truth is probably somewhere in between. 🙂

There is oodles of research out there investigating this very issue & the findings are mixed. Key areas of concern are pregnancy, lactation, mental health, cancer and MTHFR mutations. While the hundreds (if not thousands) of studies might be a bit much for you to plough through in your spare time, you can follow two basic principles for now:

  • Keep an eye on the total amount of SFA your patients are consuming across their supplements & for most individuals try to keep that < 500 µg/d
  • For those patients who are taking SFA containing supplements, make them aware of how SFA might also be getting into their diet through fortified commercial foods and encourage them to reduce their exposure…that should be easy enough because chances are you don’t want them over-eating those foods anyway!

If you need a quick overview of the risks of SFA because you’re working with pregnancy, breastfeeding mums, mental health etc, then you might want to listen to Rachel’s latest Update in Under 30 audio:  UMFA: absolute must knows, which is a great summary of the evidence to date.

 If you need to have a full understanding of this issue because you’re doing gene profiling and or are generally feeling like a rabbit in the headlights around working with methylation in your clinic…then consider purchasing Rachel’s 1.5hr Folate Debate webinar which goes through folate metabolism and the strengths & weaknesses of each supplemental folate form, from the ground up!

The Update in Under 30 audios which are recorded each month are now available via a 12 month subscription.  These Mp3 soundbytes are less than 30 minutes & recorded by Rachel on juicy clinically relevant topics.  At under $14 per month, they’re  a great way to stay up to date & earn CPE points on some of the most essential issues without leaving your desk!