What are the health benefits of folate?

Vitamin B9, more commonly known as folate or folic acid, is found in a wide range of foods including leafy green vegetables, cereals, meats and fruit.

Folate is one of eight total B vitamins and is needed for the formation of red and white blood cells in the bone marrow, the conversion of carbohydrates into energy and the production of DNA and RNA.

Adequate folate intake is extremely important during periods of rapid growth such as pregnancy, infancy, and adolescence.

This article provides an in-depth look at recommended intake of folate, its possible health benefits, foods high in folate and any potential health risks of consuming folate.

Recommended intake

The Recommended Daily Allowance (RDA) for individuals 14 years and older is 400 micrograms per day.

Folate or folic acid, is found in a wide range of foods including leafy green vegetables, cereals, meats and fruit.

Women, who are pregnant, are recommended to increase folate intake to 600 micrograms per day in order to prevent neural tube defects in the fetus.

Inadequate diets, alcoholism, increased requirements related to growth and intestinal disorders causing malabsorption are the most common causes of folate deficiency.

Folate supplements are available, but it is always best to obtain any vitamin or mineral through food. 

It is not the individual vitamin or mineral alone that make certain foods an important part of our diet, but the synergy of that foods nutrients working together.

It has been proven time and again that isolating certain nutrients in supplement form will not provide the same health benefits as consuming the nutrient from a whole food.

First focus on obtaining your daily folate requirement from foods then use supplements as a backup.

Possible health benefits of consuming folate

Decrease risk of birth defects

Adequate folic acid intake is essential for pregnant women to protect their infants against miscarriage and neural tube defects. Recent research has also shown that a father's folate status before conception may be just as important. In a study from McGill University, paternal folate deficiency in mice was associated with a 30% higher number of various birth defects than in offspring with no paternal folate deficiencies.⁵

Lower risk of depression

Folate may help ward off depression by preventing an excess of homocysteine from forming in the body, which can block blood and other nutrients from reaching the brain. Excess homocysteine interferes with the production of the feel-good hormones serotonin, dopamine, and norepinephrine, which regulate not only mood, but sleep and appetite as well.⁴

Maintaining a healthy heart

Excess homocysteine levels are also a marker for coronary artery disease. People with above-normal levels of homocysteine are 1.7 times more likely to develop heart disease and 2.5 times more likely to suffer a stroke.

Preventing cancer

Low levels of folate intake have been shown to increase the risk of breast cancer in women. Adequate intake of dietary folate (in food) has also shown promise in protecting against colon, stomach, pancreatic and cervical cancers. 

Although the mechanism of protection is currently unknown, researchers believe that folate's protective effects have something to do with its role in DNA and RNA production and the prevention of unwanted mutations. There is no evidence that folate supplementation provides the same anti-cancer benefits.

Foods high in folate

The bioavailability (the body's ability to absorb, use and retain) of folate varies greatly among foods and is difficult to measure. There are 150 different forms of folate and losses of 50-90% can occur during cooking, storing or processing. The best sources of folate are green vegetables, legumes and liver. Folate is also added to some breakfast cereals and other fortified foods.

Asparagus and lentils are packed full of folate and are foods with some of the highest folate content.

• Asparagus, cooked, 1 cup: 243 micrograms
• Beef liver, braised, 3 ounces: 215 micrograms
• Black-eyed peas, boiled, ½ cup: 179 micrograms
• Lentils, boiled, ½ cup: 179 micrograms
• Broccoli, cooked, 1 cup: 168 micrograms
• Beans, white, boiled, ½ cup: 132 micrograms
• Spinach, cooked, ½ cup: 131 micrograms
• Lettuce, romaine, shredded, 1 cup: 64 micrograms
• Avocado, raw, ½ cup: 59 micrograms
• Egg yolk, 1: 27 micrograms
• Banana, 1: 24 micrograms
• Mushrooms, portabella, grilled, 1 cup: 23 micrograms.

Potential health risks of consuming folate

No adverse effects from high oral folate intake have been reported. High levels of intravenous folic acid intake may cause seizure.

Before starting a folate supplement, check with your doctor to make sure that it will not interfere with any medications you are currently taking. Long-term use of folate supplementation may mask an underlying and possibly life-threatening B-12 deficiency.

It is the total diet or overall eating pattern that is most important in disease prevention and achieving good health. 

References:

1.        Vitamin B9 (folic acid), University of Maryland Medical Center, last reviewed 21 June 2013, accessed 30 December 2014.
2.        Mahan, L. Kathleen and Escott-Stump, Sylvia, Krause’s Food & Nutrition Therapy, 12th edition, Saunders Elsevier, St. Louis, MS, Copyright 2008.
3.        Dietary supplement fact sheet: folate, National Institutes of Health, US, Department of Health and Human Services, reviewed 14 December 2012, accessed 30 December 2014.
4.        Depression and diet, Nutrition 411, review date November 2008, accessed 15 January 2014.
5.        You are what your father eats, Today’s Dietitian, accessed 30 December 2014.