The short summary: Folate is neurotoxic from 300 to 1000 mcg, which is very low and it causes nerve damage and cognitive impairment and has no clearly recognized benefits. And most people already get 500 mcg from food alone, without any supplementation. Some say it helps with anxiety, but so do many other toxic drugs, including fluoride, heroin, alcohol, etc., and that is probably not a very good endorsement of folate, it’s almost damning, and confirming that it’s a neurotoxin.
Conclusion: To avoid excess folate, we avoid multi-vitamin supplements, B Complex Supplements, Prenatal Supplements, and “for women,” “for men,” “for seniors” or “for kids” multi-vitamin supplements, and fortified vitamin-added cereals, and perhaps even flour.
The word folate includes all forms of B9. Folate gets its name from “foliage” or leafy greens. Sounds healthy, but plants are full of toxins. Folate is actually in all foods, you can’t avoid it, and supplementing it makes no sense for the following reasons.
Americans used to get about 150 mcg of folate in their diets, and under such conditions, there was almost no folate deficiency. The American government started supplementing folate into the food supply in flour products, intending to double the population’s folate intake but now most people get 500 mcg of folate, not 300 mcg as intended.
All the forms are neurotoxic at somewhere between 300 mcg to 1000 mcg or 1 mg, which is the smallest limit on nearly any supplement, indicating that folate is very toxic. Folate toxicity shows up as nerve and brain damage from causing B12 deficiency. Most Americans already get 500 mcg, above toxic levels. There are 7 to 15 studies repeatedly showing this toxicity. Many claim folate masks B12 deficiency, others clarify that folate causes B12 deficiency, which leads to nerve damage, and they have known this since 1945. Some claim folate helps to lower copper, too. Well… copper deficiency also leads to nerve damage, so now we have two mechanisms of action for why folate is a nerve toxin.
We don’t need to take folate for two key reasons. 1. Most people already get toxic levels, and 2. there is no deficiency except in starving children in Africa, which is such a clearly bogus claim, that this is actually a good indication that folate is not even a nutrient, but only a toxin.
The claim that we need folate for methylation is untrue, since at least 13 other substances help with methylation, including copper and iodine. There are no folate Facebook groups, no folate testimonials, nothing. Folate used to be claimed to be a cure for anemia. It has been proved useless for this. There have been many health claims made about folate, that it might cure heart disease and many other conditions. And many investigations. It has never delivered on any of them.
Folate is now claimed to have saved 1500 kids from neural tube defects, only reducing numbers by 33%. Meanwhile, there have been 45,000 more developmental delays, cognitive decline, or brain damage cases, further proving that adding folate to the food supply resulted in more cases of nerve toxicity, because it’s a nerve toxin. This is a free world. Take it at your own risk. That anyone would argue in favor of folate, to me, goes to show it is working exactly as intended.
Excess Vitamin A, copper deficiency, and iodine deficiency all cause neural tube defects, and these other problems cannot be fixed by folate supplementation, which explains why folate is so poor at fixing the problem. Copper and iodine also boost methylation.
Most testimonials of folate that are posted at amazon by consumers taking 15,000 mcg of folate claim it fixes depression and/or boosts mood. Many toxic drugs also do this: alcohol, heroin, pain killers, antidepressants based on fluoride which is another nerve toxin. Depression correlates with high intelligence. Ignorance is bliss. Depression is not a health condition, it is an emotion, and often a valid emotion as a result of a fallen world, natural disasters, or from loss, or from oppression by others, or upon consideration of the evil state of mankind. Anger is another perfectly valid emotion that arises from similar things.
Many people, upon realization they have been lied to about vitamins, get both angry, and depressed. That’s normal. Other valid feelings are relief and joy and appreciation upon finding out the truth, because now you have a tool to use to get healthier.
In my conclusion, B9 (folate) all forms of it, is just a toxin, like Vitamin A, B6 and Vitamin D. There are also about 18 other potential B vitamins that were later declared not to be B vitamins at all.
If we look up “B Vitamins” at wikipedia, and see the section of the page of “Related compounds”, we can easily see the history of B vitamins, and how many substances were once identified as B Vitamins, but have been removed from the list of Vitamins.
https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/B_vitamins
We see: B4, B8, B10, B11, B13, B14, B15, B16, B17, B20, Bf, Bm, Bp, Bt, Bv, BW and BX.
Presumably, there were even more!
That is a list of 17 “former B Vitamins”.
That is a full 17 “mistakes” in the process of identifying B vitamins.
There are only 8 B Vitamins recognized today:
B1,2,3,5,6,7,9,12
I identify two of them as toxic, B6 and B9. That leaves the following 6:
B1,2,3,5,7,12.
So, the industry of identifying B Vitamins often gets it flat-out wrong. In fact, if we assume that they are right at the present time, then in the past, they were wrong 17 times, and right only 8 times. That’s like getting it wrong 17 times out of 25 questions or getting it right only 32% of the time.
Or if I’m right, they are wrong 19 times, and only right 6 times. That’s getting it right only 24% of the time.
Both are well below failing grades.
Do you think they finally got it right, simply because the year is now 2023? But they have a history of total failure.
Do you think they finally got it right, because the media has started to use the phrase “the science is settled” over and over again? Of course not.
The history of toxin identification and regulation and banning is also very suspect, and they often get things wrong, very wrong, for long periods of time. Here is a brief list of banned toxins, in historical order:
“The United States banned the use of DDT in 1972.”
https://www.cdc.gov/biomonitoring/DDT_FactSheet.html
Lead-based paints were banned for residential use in 1978.
https://www.cdc.gov/nceh/lead/prevention/sources/paint.htm
“On July 12, 1989, the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency issued a final rule to ban the majority of asbestos products but it was overturned.”
https://www.asbestos.com/mesothelioma-lawyer/legislation/ban/
“Effective January 1, 1996, leaded gasoline was banned by the Clean Air Act for use in new vehicles other than aircraft, racing cars, farm equipment, and marine engines.”
https://www.eia.gov/energyexplained/gasoline/gasoline-and-the-environment-leaded-gasoline.php
Formaldehyde began to be regulated in 2016.
https://www.epa.gov/formaldehyde/formaldehyde-emission-standards-composite-wood-products
The EPA has new rules regarding mercury, as of 2021!
Response to Vacatur of Certain Provisions of the Mercury Inventory Reporting Rule
Posted by the Environmental Protection Agency on Nov 7, 2021
https://www.regulations.gov/document/EPA-HQ-OPPT-2017-0421-0178
And they have still not yet banned fluoride from water…
Severe copper deficiency causes severe nerve damage, in fact, it causes severe spinal lesions that can lead to not being able to walk. Usually, copper deficiency is not diagnosed until it is far too late to fix the problem, which is after a person has been confined to a wheelchair.
Copper has an inverse relationship to toxins. Copper detoxes toxins, and conversely, toxins deplete copper.
Most toxins are also nerve toxins, and they also negatively affect the brain, because the brain is made up of nerves.
Examples: mercury, aluminum, lead, fluoride, arsenic, etc.
Nerve Damage affects from 10% to 40% of the population, or even far more, it’s hard to know.
Prevalence of peripheral neuropathy defined by monofilament insensitivity in middle-aged and older adults in two US cohorts
https://www.nature.com/articles/s41598-021-98565-w
Nerve Damage is often called “peripheral neuropathy”, but that is merely a complex name used to describe damage in the limbs, but the things that cause nerve damage also typically cause damage all over, including the brain.
Nerve Damage has symptoms that involve far more than “tingling” or “pins in needles” in the hands and feet. Organs require proper nerve functioning for their proper function, so nerve damage can look like organ damage or brain damage, too.
Symptoms of nerve damage can range from difficulty thinking, brain fog, loss of IQ, depression, suicidal thoughts, being tired, lack of ability to focus the eyes, lack of ability to digest food, muscle weakness, loss of sensation of body part positioning, stomach pains, loss of sexual functioning, and on and on.
https://www.cdc.gov/diabetes/library/features/diabetes-nerve-damage.html
Folate is a nerve toxin at very low levels.
Only 1 mg of folate per day is enough to cause nerve damage.
Studies:
- Effect of maternal high dosages of folic acid supplements on neurocognitive development in children at 4-5 y of age: the prospective birth cohort Infancia y Medio Ambiente (INMA) study — 2017
https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/28724645/
Pregnant mothers who took over 1 mg folate had kids who suffered more brain damage than mothers who took between 0.499 mg and 0.999 mg. Note, this does not mean the kids whose mothers took smaller doses did not also suffer from brain damage!
- Folate causes irreversible nerve damage and “cognitive symptoms”. 8 studies cited by the NIH (US government):
https://ods.od.nih.gov/factsheets/Folate-HealthProfessional/#h8
“Large amounts of folate can correct the megaloblastic anemia, but not the neurological damage, that can result from vitamin B12 deficiency. Some experts have therefore been concerned that high intakes of folate supplements might “mask” vitamin B12 deficiency until its neurological consequences become irreversible. Questions about this possibility still remain, but the focus of concern has shifted to the potential for large amounts of folate to precipitate or exacerbate the anemia and cognitive symptoms associated with vitamin B12 deficiency [2,84,147-152].”
The next studies are those cited above by the NIH factsheet: [2,84,147-152], and studies cited by those studies.
(2) Institute of Medicine. Food and Nutrition Board. Dietary Reference Intakes: Thiamin, Riboflavin, Niacin, Vitamin B6, Folate, Vitamin B12, Pantothenic Acid, Biotin, and Choline. Washington, DC: National Academy Press; 1998.
(84) Clarke R, Halsey J, Lewington S, et al. Effects of lowering homocysteine levels with B vitamins on cardiovascular disease, cancer, and cause-specific mortality: Meta-analysis of 8 randomized trials involving 37 485 individuals. Arch Intern Med 2010;170:1622-31. [PubMed abstract]
https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/20937919/
“During a median follow-up of 5 years, folic acid allocation had no significant effects… There was no significant effect on the rate ratios (95% confidence intervals) for … all-cause mortality (1.02 [0.97-1.08]) during the whole scheduled treatment period or during the later years of it.”
In other words, folic acid did not help.
(147) Johnson MA. If high folic acid aggravates vitamin B12 deficiency what should be done about it? Nutr Rev 2007;65:451-8. [PubMed abstract]
https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/17972439/
“One recent study indicates that high serum folate levels during vitamin B12 deficiency exacerbate (rather than mask) anemia and worsen cognitive symptoms.”
In other words, folate depletes B12, not masking it. (A nerve toxin, B9, depleting a nerve healing vitamin, B12? Not a surprise.)
(148) A high prevalence of biochemical evidence of vitamin B12 or folate deficiency does not translate into a comparable prevalence of anemia (2008)
https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/18709883/
In other words, folate deficiency does not cause anemia. That theory is debunked.
(149) In vitamin B12 deficiency, higher serum folate is associated with increased total homocysteine and methylmalonic acid concentrations (2007)
https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/18056804/
In other words, folate does not lower homocysteine. That theory is debunked.
(150) Folate-vitamin B-12 interaction in relation to cognitive impairment, anemia, and biochemical indicators of vitamin B-12 deficiency. Am J Clin Nutr 2009;89:702S-6S. PubMed abstract
https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/19141696/
“We subsequently showed increases in circulating homocysteine and MMA concentrations with increasing serum folate…”
Again, folate does not lower homocysteine.
“in vitamin B-12 deficiency, high folate status is associated with impaired activity of the 2 vitamin B-12-dependent enzymes”
Once again, folate depletes B12, causing “cognitive impairment”. Those are two big three syllable words, often used to confuse people and hide information. Folate makes people fools. That’s me doing my job as a writer to clarify. It is not politically correct to use the words “stupid”, “idiot”, “retard” or “dumber”. That’s ok, we don’t have to worry about those people being offended, they tend to not read very far into deep articles.
(151) Cognitive impairment in older Americans in the age of folic acid fortification.
(2007)
https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/17616791/
That study argues against the previous two studies, mainly because they are blood level associations, not causation.
Next:
Folic acid fortification: the good, the bad, and the puzzle of vitamin B-12
https://academic.oup.com/ajcn/article/85/1/3/4649440?login=false
“In 2005, an increased risk of cognitive decline was reported in elderly persons who took folic acid supplements in doses >400 μg/d.” (mcg/day)
“Simply put, if your vitamin B-12 status is good, folate supplementation is good for you!”
(This is a weird confounding variable. It’s like saying a little nerve toxin is no problem if you take a nerve healer like B12.)
Furthermore, if B12 is low, then folate causes cognitive impairment, which would be expected if folate is a neurotoxin.
Even low doses of folate are a problem: “low doses (300–800 μg/d) of folic acid can mask hematologic signs and may aggravate neurologic symptoms (12–14)” (ug is mcg)
Furthermore, as little as 400 mcg folate in total from both food supplemented with folate, and folate from supplements, suppresses the immune system!
(Note, the average American today consumes 500 mcg from fortified food alone!)
Unmetabolized folic acid in plasma is associated with reduced natural killer cell cytotoxicity among postmenopausal women (2006)
https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/16365081/
“Through exposure to food fortification and vitamin supplement use, large populations in the United States and elsewhere have an unprecedented high FA [folic acid] intake. “
“Simply put, is it ethical to save one infant from developing an NTD [neural tube defects] and hopefully provide that child a high-quality life but increase the risk of poorer health in [greater than] 1000 elderly persons?”
To deal with the problem of high folate causing cognitive decline in people with low B12, 4% of the elderly population, there have been calls to introduce mandatory B12 supplementation, in 2004, which never happened:
Recommended levels of folic acid and vitamin B12 fortification. Proceedings of a technical consultation convened by the Food and Nutrition Program of the Pan American Health Organization, the March of Dimes, and the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. January 23–24, 2003. Washington, DC, USA. Nutr Rev 2004; 62: S1–64.
–
Science-based micronutrient fortification: which nutrients, how much, and how to know?
https://academic.oup.com/ajcn/article/82/2/279/4862901?login=false
“at the time the decision was made to mandate the addition of folic acid to enriched flour, no coherent plan to monitor the national and regional effect on neural tube defect births, to document actual changes in folate status, or to assess the possible occurrence of untoward effects on the population”
–
What is the safe upper intake level of folic acid for the nervous system? Implications for folic acid fortification policies (2016)
https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/26862004/
“Between 1945 and 1959 it was convincingly documented that folic acid can precipitate or aggravate the neurological and haematological consequences of vitamin B12 deficiency by increasing the demand for vitamin B12. Since then there has been much misunderstanding of the issues, mainly by advocates of folic acid fortification who have been inclined to minimise or even dismiss the risks by misinterpreting the evidence as only a ‘masking’ of the anaemia of pernicious anaemia. Recent studies in the era of fortification are rediscovering the risks to the nervous system, especially cognitive function, of excess folate in the presence of vitamin B12 deficiency. I have reviewed the Reports of four Expert Advisory Committees in Europe and the USA, which suggest that the safe upper tolerable limit (UL) for folic acid is 1 mg in adults. These reports are unsound and there is already evidence of neurological harm from long-term exposure to doses of folic acid between 0.5 and 1 mg in the presence of vitamin B12 deficiency. There is an urgent need to review the safe UL for folic acid and to consider the addition of vitamin B12 to folic acid fortification policies.”
Note, B9, Folate, is considered toxic by this study, at 0.5 mg, half the level of the NIH, and AT the same level that Americans are getting, on average, 500 mcg.
IN OTHER WORDS, AMERICANS ARE GETTING TOXIC DOSES OF FOLATE, WITHOUT ANY ADDITIONAL SUPPLEMENTATION.
Consider, in light of the statement above, the vast majority of B complex vitamins contain folate in some form, and contain very little B12, because B12 is one of the more expensive B vitamins.
Many other multivitamins also contain folate, and very low B12.
Consider what happens when one person takes a multivitamin with folate, and a B complex with folate, on top of a dietary intake of a toxic level of folate.
–
(152) Does high folic acid intake affect unrecognized cobalamin deficiency, and how will we know it if we see it?
https://academic.oup.com/ajcn/article/90/6/1449/4598057?login=false
“A quandary in folate-cobalamin exploration is that observational studies cannot prove mechanisms but trials involving FA [folic acid] are subject to ethical constraints in cobalamin-deficient subjects.”
In other words, they would like to study more about how folate is harmful, but can’t because ethics forbid it. Meanwhile, we are all being dosed!
“Misunderstandings of cobalamin pathophysiology have often posed an additional impediment. Because cobalamin deficiency lacks a diagnostic gold standard (6), surveys court substantial classification errors by using only one biochemical marker.”
In other words, there is no good way to study the issues, due to “ethical” problems and no good way to detect B12 deficiency.
Pregnant moms on 1 mg or more of folate gave birth to dumber kids:
This is right from the government’s fact sheet for professionals on folate.
https://ods.od.nih.gov/factsheets/Folate-HealthProfessional/#h8
“In addition, intakes of 1,000 mcg per day or more of folic acid from supplements during the periconception period have been associated with lower scores on several tests of cognitive development in children at ages 4–5 years than in children of mothers who took 400 mcg to 999 mcg [153].”
The upper limit is thus 1 mg folate for adults.
Recommended intakes are 400 mcg or 0.4 mg.
Average intakes are well over that. “Average daily intakes of folate from food are 602 mcg DFE for males aged 20 and older and 455 mcg DFE for females.”
This is a very narrow range between what people get from food, and the damaging level for supplementation.
People get 500 mcg in food.
Yet 1000 mcg (1 mg) supplementation causes brain damage!
Conclusion? SUPPLEMENTATION WITH tiny amounts of FOLATE IS DAMAGING to the brain and nerves.
One milligram is the lowest level dangerous level of any mineral or supplement.
This indicates a very high toxicity level for the substance!
FURTHER EVIDENCE OF DANGERS;
“Large amounts of folate can correct the megaloblastic anemia, but not the neurological damage, that can result from vitamin B12 deficiency. Some experts have therefore been concerned that high intakes of folate supplements might “mask” vitamin B12 deficiency until its neurological consequences become irreversible. Questions about this possibility still remain, but the focus of concern has shifted to the potential for large amounts of folate to precipitate or exacerbate the anemia and cognitive symptoms associated with vitamin B12 deficiency [2,84,147-152].”
In other words, folate CAUSES anemia.
What else? “These potential negative health consequences [of excess folate] are not well understood and warrant further research [1,9].”
Ah. Unknown dangers of excess folate admitted by the government!
Note: none of this is “confusing”. It’s normal practice from the government. It’s evidence they are lying. We just have to figure out the lies.
Here’s a contradiction: folate supposedly cures anemia? But just above, they admitted folate caused it!
https://www.news-medical.net/health/Folic-Acid-and-Health.aspx
“Signs and symptoms of folate deficiency include symptoms of:
anemia
fatigue
irritability
diarrhea
weight loss
insomnia
depression
nerve damage
tingling and numbness of fingers and toes
tendon hyper-reflexivity
cognitive disturbances
loss of memory
behavioral disorders and psychiatric disorders”
Folate deficiency and excess around a narrow range of below 400 mcg or over 1000 mcg both cause anemia? My B.S. meter is at full alert.
Further reasons to be highly suspect of this information, that folate deficiency causes anemia.
- Folate is never the prescribed medical treatment for anemia. It’s always iron or iron infusions. (They also fail to consider copper.) And if just a bit too much folate causes anemia, then how could they use it as a cure, this makes no sense.
- If everyone had to have their folate within this narrow range, otherwise suffer anemia, everyone would have a home made folate testing kit, and everyone would be testing folate multiple times a day, and everyone would know this information. Therefore, there is likely a lie somewhere.
- Folate deficiency is very rare. So low folate likely does not cause anemia.
- It is not likely that low folate, and high folate, cause the same set of symptoms. One of the lists is inapplicable.
- There are no widespread advocates of taking massive folate doses, likely because it is too toxic at higher levels.
“Doses higher than 1 mg daily may be unsafe. These doses might cause stomach upset, nausea, diarrhea, irritability, confusion, behavior changes, skin reactions, seizures, and other side effects.”
https://www.webmd.com/vitamins/ai/ingredientmono-1017/folic-acid
Seizures used to be a very rare medical condition. They were rare back in 1990 when I was a freshman in college.
Furthermore, confusion and behavior changes indicate nerve damage.
To me, this indicates that folate causes brain damage, and induced copper deficiency, as copper heals the nerves, and is a historic cure for seizures.
“Folate and folic acid are forms of vitamin B9 used for deficiency and to prevent pregnancy complications. Many foods contain folate or have folic acid added.”
Extra warning against eating certain foods to excess:
“Since 1998, folic acid has been added to cold cereals, flour, breads, pasta, bakery items, cookies, and crackers, as required by federal law.”
Big question. Did it work to prevent “pregnancy complications” / aka birth defects? No!
https://www.cdc.gov/mmwr/preview/mmwrhtml/mm5701a2.htm
“The findings in this report indicate that the overall prevalence of major birth defects in metropolitan Atlanta did not change significantly during 1978–2005. This finding suggests that, over time, no changes occurred in major risk factors that affect birth defects overall. This information can be useful in assessing the success of prevention interventions for defects overall.”
Other notes. It was very difficult to find this information. That’s peculiar. The CDC was ordered to track and make available information on birth defects in the 1998 law.
Here, the CDC claims there are 1300 fewer neural tube defects each year. https://www.cdc.gov/ncbddd/folicacid/features/folicacid-prevents-ntds.html
So the CDC contradicts the CDC. Here the CDC contradicts the CDC again:
“About 1 in 6 (17%) children aged 3–17 years were diagnosed with a developmental disability…”
But overall, 1 out of 6 kids have neurodevelopment problems in the usa, and this is constantly increasing. There are about 4 million babies born each year (times 1/6) which means 666,666 kids have neurodevelopmental defects. And folate is a nerve toxin.
1 in 6 is 16%. It’s up nearly 2% in 6 years from 2010 to 2016. 17.8% as of 2015-2017. Newer data is harder to access. 17.8% implies 712,000. An increase of 45,334 kids harmed. But hey, they saved 1300 kids from neural tube defects. Or did they? I actually don’t think so.
If the supplementation program were successful, wouldn’t this be big news easily able to be found in detailed statistics, and not be contradicted by big things like increasing Autism rates, etc.?
And what about the supposed difficulty of keeping folate within that narrow range?
If it didn’t work, shouldn’t the folate supplementation program have been repealed?
What are neural tube defects?
https://www.cdc.gov/ncbddd/birthdefects/facts-about-neural-tube-defects.html
In the fetus, the neural tube becomes the brain and spine. The two most common defects are called “spina bifida” or an open spinal cord, or “anencephaly” or “micro brain”.
I flat out do not trust what they are saying; that brain and nerve problems are caused by low folate.
Why not? Folate causes nerve damage and cognitive impariment. Nerve toxins do not heal the nerves. Just as folate cannot simultaneously cause and cure anemia, folate cannot simultanesously cause and cure nerve problems.
I also recognize this “anencephaly” from a recent news media cycle. These micro brains happened in South America, and were blamed on a “zika virus”. And they still are!
Again, the CDC contradicts the CDC. Now, instead of calling it “anencephaly”, they call it “microcephaly”. And instead of “low folate”, as the cause, a virus is “the cause”, and there is no mention of folate.
https://www.cdc.gov/zika/healtheffects/birth_defects.html
In contrast, the WHO blames toxins as one of “the causes”.
https://www.who.int/news-room/fact-sheets/detail/microcephaly
“Causes of microcephaly
There are many potential causes of microcephaly, but often the cause remains unknown. The most common causes include: …
exposure to toxic chemicals: maternal exposure to heavy metals like arsenic and mercury, alcohol, radiation, and smoking;”
On this page, the CDC mentions toxic chemicals can cause microcephaly, and there is utterly no mention of folate.
https://www.cdc.gov/ncbddd/birthdefects/microcephaly.html
Finally, some have pointed out the microcephaly cases in Brazil in 2017 were due to a mosquito spray, pyriproxyfen, that stunted growth of mosquitos as a means to kill them.
A Possible Link Between Pyriproxyfen and Microcephaly
https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC5760164/
“Moreover, tests of pyriproxyfen by the manufacturer, Sumitomo, widely quoted as giving no evidence for developmental toxicity, actually found some evidence for such an effect, including low brain mass and arhinencephaly—incomplete formation of the anterior cerebral hemispheres—in exposed rat pups. Finally, the pyriproxyfen use in Brazil is unprecedented—it has never before been applied to a water supply on such a scale.”
Meanwhile, the CDC says zika is transmitted through mosquitos. Isn’t that convenient?
Does the establishment even care about birth defects, or is this a false cause to promote folate?
Vitamin A is known to cause birth defects. Why isn’t this promoted everywhere?
Instead, the prenatal vitamins are loaded with Vitamin A.
Copper Deficiency is known to cause birth defects. Why isn’t this promoted everywhere?
Effect of copper deficiency on prenatal development and pregnancy outcome
https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/9587143/
“Copper deficiency during embryonic and fetal development can result in numerous gross structural and biochemical abnormalities.”
Zinc deficiency also causes birth defects.
Zinc and reproduction: effects of zinc deficiency on prenatal and early postnatal development
https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/20803691/
“Forty-four years ago, zinc deficiency in mammals was shown to be teratogenic.”
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Category:Teratogens A teratogen is something that is known to cause birth defects. This is a list of 47 of them. Why isn’t this list of teratogens promoted everywhere?
Why does the USA have the highest rate of birth defects in the entire world, by far?
Why has the folic acid supplementation program since 1998 not made any progress in the overall rate of birth defects, and why have birth defects continued to go up?
Does folate even detox things that cause birth defects? How could it, if it itself is toxic at very low doses at 1 mg?
Copper and Iodine detox many things, and they are not toxic until we get to very high doses, such as 10,000 mg to 20,000 mg of each.
Here is yet another contradiction.
Folate is supposed to protect against Autism. Really? When there are so many other causes. Sounds like folate is a wonder drug. But this is only in a meta study of 12 studies across 4000 children total, when prior studies did not show this. That’s peculiar and contradictory. It also contradicts the fact that the US began widespread folate supplementation in 1998, and had increasing autism rates in society since that time.
“The association between maternal use of folic acid supplements during pregnancy and risk of autism spectrum disorders in children: a meta-analysis”
https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC5625821/
In my prior research, things that cause autism include mercury, aluminum, fluoride, lead, iodine deficiency, copper deficiency, ultrasound radiation, and other toxins.
Back to the dangers of folate:
https://www.healthline.com/nutrition/folic-acid-side-effects
- Folate can mask B12 deficiency, and cause nerve damage. Or “folate can… cause nerve damage”. Again, deficiency and excess both cause nerve damage? B.S. alert!
- Folate causes age related mental decline. IE. more nerve damage.
- Slowed brain development in children. IE. more nerve damage. And too much folate causes insulin resistence. (bad, like diabetes) Same study quoted by NIH factsheets, above.
High folate intake linked with nerve-damage risk in older adults with common gene variant
https://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2016/10/161012141654.htm
When considering any subject, it is important to examine contradictions. Contradictions often reveal fraud, hypocrisy, or lies. Here is one.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Folate#Safety
A. “The risk of toxicity from folic acid is low because folate is a water-soluble vitamin and is regularly removed from the body through urine.”
vs.
B. “The EFSA reviewed the safety question and agreed with United States that the UL be set at 1,000 μg.[96]”
How is this possible? Risk of toxicity is low because it’s water soluble, yet the upper limit is a very tiny 1000 ug (mcg), or 1 mg, the smallest upper limit for any vitamin?
That is a glaring contradiction.
Here is another problem. The 1 mg upper limit is not the limit at which there are no problems, like the 10 mg limit for copper. The 1 mg limit causes problems, well below (300-500 mcg), at, and above that limit.
Long-term use of folic acid dietary supplements in excess of 1,000 μg/day has been linked to an increase in prostate cancer risk.[13]
That’s three different problems now with folate above that very tiny 1 mg:
- Pregnant mom’s kids were dumber,
- Increased insulin resistence.
- Increased prostate cancer.
When I discover facts, I like to think about those facts. When I think about facts, I start asking myself questions about those facts. Here are two.
- Why is the government both warning about folate, and also adding folate to the food supply?
- Where are all the independent bloggers and health advocates who should be warning about the dangers of folate?
You can guess the answers to these questions as well as I can.
I think corruption answers them both.
So, trying to search for “folate dangers”, brings up another article. It’s a “mainstream” source.
Why does the Mayo Clinic say “folate is safe”, but can lead to irreversible neurological defects in the same article?
https://www.mayoclinic.org/drugs-supplements-folate/art-20364625
“Our take
Green light: Generally safe
Generally safe”
“Safety and side effects
When used orally at appropriate doses, folic acid is likely safe.”
“A high folate intake [above a tiny 1 mg, which they do not state?!] can mask vitamin B-12 deficiency until its neurological effects become irreversible.”
Irreversible neurological damage from undefined excessive folate? Why not define the risk? Seems that would be important! Have we not already seen the risk is above 1 mg? Why omit that?
Where are all the warnings on any multi nutrient supplement to avoid double stacking?
Let’s say a pregnant mom takes a prenatal with 800 mcg folate. Or even 1200 mg.
Then takes a standard B complex with 500 mcg folate.
Then takes a multi mineral supplement with 400 mcg folate.
Shouldn’t each manufacturer warn to not take another multi vitamin with more folate in it, if the risk is at a mere 1 mg? There are no warnings.
Here is a prenatal with 864 mcg folate: No warnings.
https://www.amazon.com/Daily-Prenatal-Multi-Vitamin-Bisglycinate/dp/B076QP45LF/ref=sr_1_1_sspa?crid=2TIG9OVPT9YKX&keywords=prenatal+vitamin+with+high+folate&qid=1665584995&qu=eyJxc2MiOiIyLjE3IiwicXNhIjoiMC4wMCIsInFzcCI6IjAuMDAifQ%3D%3D&sprefix=prenatal+vitamin+with+high+folate%2Caps%2C223&sr=8-1-spons&psc=1
Here is a B complex with 800 mcg folate: No warnings.
https://www.amazon.com/Integrative-Therapeutics-B-Complex-Bitartrate-Production/dp/B00CFD0TC4/ref=sr_1_1_sspa?crid=JPAQO6ZGTW93&keywords=B100+folate&qid=1665585085&qu=eyJxc2MiOiIyLjA5IiwicXNhIjoiMC4wMCIsInFzcCI6IjAuMDAifQ%3D%3D&sprefix=b100+folate%2Caps%2C105&sr=8-1-spons&psc=1
Standard Centrum, 400 mcg folic acid: No warnings.
https://www.amazon.com/Centrum-Multivitamin-Multimineral-Antioxidants-Ingredients/dp/B09BVYY7XR/ref=sr_1_5?crid=Q6Q4NEAEYY7D&keywords=centrum&qid=1665585229&qu=eyJxc2MiOiI1LjYwIiwicXNhIjoiNS4yOCIsInFzcCI6IjUuMTAifQ%3D%3D&sprefix=centrum%2Caps%2C332&sr=8-5
A person could easily end up taking 1600 mcg folate.
And how much more folate are people getting from the food folate supplementation program?
They thought it might increase folate by 215 to 240 mcg.
https://academic.oup.com/ajcn/article/77/1/221/4689656
“Conclusions: Typical intakes of folic acid from fortified foods are more than twice the level originally predicted.”
So, Americans are getting an additional 430 to 480 mcg folate from the food supplementation programs.
And they admit they don’t know what this is doing to us.
“The effect of this much higher level of fortification must be carefully assessed, especially before calls for higher levels of fortification are considered.”
Does Mercola warn about folate over 1 mg? No. He sells 5 mg folate capsules!
Does the Health Ranger warn us about folate? No. He sells a B Complex with a standard amount of folate 400 mcg.
Continuing to search for “folate dangers” brings up “folate deficiency dangers”. That’s peculiar. Are we not living in the information age where things are easier to find, not harder?
Where is the wikipedia page on folate toxicity?
https://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?go=Go&search=folate+toxicity&title=Special%3ASearch&ns0=1
The page “Folate toxicity” does not exist.
The page “B9 toxicity” does not exist.
The page “B9 syndrome” does not exist.
These pages exist:
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hypervitaminosis_A
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Vitamin_D_toxicity
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Iron_poisoning
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hypermagnesemia
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Manganism
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hypercalcaemia
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Megavitamin-B6_syndrome
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Zinc_toxicity
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Niacin_(nutrient)#Toxicity
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Copper_toxicity
That’s a little crazy for the following reasons. As we have seen from several sources already, folate causes dumb kids. Folate causes prostate cancer. Folate causes anemia. Folate causes several forms of neurodegeneration. And all of this at just above 1 mg, which is the smallest toxic dose of any supplement.
Considering folate dangers, folate toxicity, folate excess, etc. It causes several different kinds of brain and nerve damage. Why would nutrients do that? It might not even be a nutrient.
What are the elements that make something a vitamin?
- It is essential, meaning that only it will do something.
- Without it, deficiency diseases set in.
Are these true with folate?
Let’s investigate folate deficiency.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Folate_deficiency
The claims do not match the source.
Claims: “Loss of appetite and weight loss can occur. Additional signs are weakness, sore tongue, headaches, heart palpitations, irritability, and behavioral disorders.[3] In adults, anemia (macrocytic, megaloblastic anemia) can be a sign of advanced folate deficiency.”
Source of that [3] above: https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC1296488/pdf/jrsocmed00028-0018.pdf
“Folate is an important cofactor in DNA synthesis, and deficiency can lead to megaloblastic anaemia, neurological disorders3, birth defects 4, occlusive vascular disease5 and an increased risk of colonic polyposis 6.”
Ok, wiki is just a bad source today. That happens. Next.
https://ods.od.nih.gov/factsheets/Folate-HealthProfessional/#h5
“Folate Deficiency
Isolated folate deficiency is uncommon; folate deficiency usually coexists with other nutrient deficiencies.”
Ok. So, Folate Deficiency is uncommon, and it happens with other nutritional deficiencies. That seems to indicate that it would be difficult to know what folate deficiency actually does.
And I agree. 80% to 99.9% of the population is copper deficient. And iodine deficient. How would they discern the difference between folate deficiency and copper deficiency? Or iodine deficiency? They might not be able to.
They then list anemia. Right. That’s Copper deficiency.
Next, “mouth ulcers”. Also copper deficiency.
Next source of folate deficiency:
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Folate#History
First, folate deficiency was anemia, in the 1920s.
Then, folate was used to try to treat childhood leukemia in 1948. (Obviously unsuccessfully).
In 1960, researchers linked folate deficiency to risk of neural tube defects.
It seems we have a “shifting sands” type of information on what folate actually does.
Folic Acid is also used for this idea of “under methylation”, an idea that is linked to CIA disinformation agents, and LSD pushers: Pfeiffer, Hoffer, schizophrenia, and Pyrrole Disorder.
Link removed due to: Website blocked due to phishing
Website blocked: custommedicine.com.au
Malwarebytes Browser Guard blocked this website because it may contain malware activity.
https://custom medicine.com.au /health-articles/histapenia-over-methylation/
This non-sourced, confused, and contradictory rant is so bad, I feel I should hardly spend time refuting it, but it seems I already did.
I guess my best refutation is that I don’t have to understand crazy in order to refute it, and run from it. It’s not my job to explain crazy. That’s why we call it crazy and just move on.
These days, people are taking the “methyl folate” form as safer than folic acid, for the methyl donor, for methylation, for detox support and for people with the MTHFR mutation, which is perhaps 50% of the nation.
https://www.healthline.com/health/mthfr-gene
“MTHFR stands for methylenetetrahydrofolate reductase. It’s getting attention due to a genetic mutation that may lead to high levels of homocysteine in the blood and low levels of folate and other vitamins.
Its main function is to provide your body with instructions in creating the MTHFR protein, which helps your body produce folate. This B vitamin is necessary to create DNA.”
Screech, halt, full stop, playback.
“which helps your body produce folate”
The entire point of folate being a vitamin was that our bodies could not make it. So, now this is not true. So it’s not a vitamin at all!
And what about folate and homocysteine? Folate is supposed to help lower it.
https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC7497502/
“Daily supplementation with 0.5–5.0 mg of folic acid typically lowers plasma Hcy levels by approximately 25%.”
And yet, high homocystein is found with high folate!
https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/19141696/
“We subsequently showed increases in circulating homocysteine and MMA concentrations with increasing serum folate among NHANES participants…”
A. This is a contradiction.
B. It could be revealing a lie somewhere.
C. It seems like a distraction from the facts.
D. High homocystein levels are not even a symptom, they are a test result.
E. The theory does not match reality. The reality is that folate is a nerve toxin. But this MTHFR/homocysteine theory proposes that folate is a detoxer. It makes no sense.
And lowering homocysteine does nothing.
Homocysteine and MTHFR Mutations
https://www.ahajournals.org/doi/10.1161/01.CIR.0000165142.37711.E7
“Having elevated homocysteine levels indicates an increased risk of CAD and blood clots in the arteries and veins. You can lower elevated levels by taking folic acid, vitamin B6, and vitamin B12 or a combination of the 3. However, recent studies indicate that lowering an elevated homocysteine level does not decrease the risk of atherosclerosis and blood clots.”
In other words, folate being used for MTHFR and detox and, etc., is nothing but one big “nothing burger” / “wild goose chase”.
In the alternative health world, MTHFR mutations are claimed to be a possible cause for Autism, and thus, folate is part of a cure.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Methylenetetrahydrofolate_reductase#Alternative_medicine
This also makes no sense to me. Folate causes nerve damage. It would seem more of a classic disinformation campaign to get nerve-damaged people to take something that will make them worse.
Like injecting cortisol into arthritic joints. Or giving people with anemia ever larger injections of iron that blocks copper which is needed for making red blood cells and curing anemia. Or giving cancer-causing radiation to people with cancer.
Finally, what really lowers homocysteine? Copper! “Copper supplementation of men decreases plasma homocysteine [12],”
“Copper deficiency, heart disease and homocysteine thiolactone” https://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/10.1111/joim.13076
So you can see the insanity. Folate prescribed to lower homocysteine, when folate actually raises it, and copper, which lowers homocysteine and detoxes people, and cures heart disease, is ignored.
“Folate masking B12 deficiency causing nerve damage?”
When you read up enough on a subject, you see these repeated phrases over and over again in many articles. This is one of them. Where does this idea come from? What does it mean? Regardless of that, I detect 3 big lies within this one simple statement. Here it is, again, from the NIH professional fact sheet.
“Some experts have therefore been concerned that high intakes of folate supplements might “mask” vitamin B12 deficiency until its neurological consequences become irreversible.”
Lie #1. There are already many sources that show that high intakes of folate cause nerve damage. But it’s really actually very low intakes of folate that cause nerve damage, because it’s considered high if it’s over that very low level of 1 mg.
Lie #2. Anything that is causing nerve damage has to be depleting the things that help prevent nerve damage, such as B12. Therefore, B9 is not “masking” B12 deficiency, it’s CAUSING B12 deficiency.
Lie #3. There are lies of omission. What are they not saying? There are many things that we know improve the nerves, copper being key to nerve health, and also iodine. It’s even “mainstream” knowledge among basic copper research, that low copper causes nerve damage. And oddly, the NIH does not mention either “nerves” nor “neuropathy” at all in their article on copper.
Why are they not more truthfully saying that folate lowers B12, copper, and iodine, thus causing nerve damage?
In fact, in the discussion of what folate does, they talk not only how both low and high folate cause nerve damage, but also both low and high folate causes anemia. Well copper is key to curing both nerve damage and anemia, yet there is never any mention of copper in the discussion of folate. Why not?
Copper is so good at curing anemia, that copper causes EXCESS red blood cells, and better functioning red blood cells, longer lasting red blood cells, and better shaped red blood cells, and copper even mobilizes iron to help make red blood cells. If copper can do that, entirely on its own, what need is there for folate to fix anemia? In fact, the body can make folate. Bacteria can even make folate. Maybe people can’t make folate in copper deficiency? With copper, there is more ATP. More energy. With more energy the body has the energy it needs to make things. It could be that there is simply no folate deficiency when copper levels are fixed, we simply do not know, because the state of science on these subjects is so filled with lies.
But the lack of discussion of how copper cures both nerves and anemia, and other people parroting their talking points, is a tremendous lie of omission in the official folate discussions.
Further research:
Is High Folic Acid Intake a Risk Factor for Autism?—A Review
https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC5704156/
Abstract
Folate is required for metabolic processes and neural development. Insuring its adequate levels for pregnant women through supplementation of grain-based foods with synthetic folic acid (FA) in order to prevent neural tube defects has been an ongoing public health initiative. However, because women are advised to take multivitamins containing FA before and throughout pregnancy, the supplementation together with natural dietary folates has led to a demographic with high and rising serum levels of unmetabolized FA. This raises concerns about the detrimental effects of high serum synthetic FA, including a rise in risk for autism spectrum disorder (ASD). Some recent studies have reported a protective effect of FA fortification against ASD, but others have concluded there is an increased risk for ASD and other negative neurocognitive development outcomes. These issues are accompanied by further health questions concerning high, unmetabolized FA levels in serum. In this review, we outline the reasons excess FA supplementation is a concern and review the history and effects of supplementation. We then examine the effects of FA on neuronal development from tissue culture experiments, review recent advances in understanding of metabolic functional blocks in causing ASD and treatment for these with alternative forms such as folinic acid, and finally summarize the conflicting epidemiological findings regarding ASD. Based on the evidence evaluated, we conclude that caution regarding over supplementing is warranted.
In other words, yes, multiple studies indicate that folate in foods and supplements is contributing to Autism.
And folate makes your kids fat and dumb, too!
“This raises concerns about detrimental effects of high serum synthetic FA [30]. These include effects on the enzyme dihydrofolate reductase [23], regulation of folate uptake in renal and intestinal epithelia [31], reduced cytotoxicity of natural killer T cells in postmenopausal women [27], disregulation of gene expression in lymphoblastoid cells [32], and cytotoxicity to neural tissues and mental health (reviewed in [33,34]). In addition, evidence shows that high FA intake is associated with an increase in incidence of twin births, body fat mass and insulin resistance in offspring, increased risk of colorectal cancer, and other adverse outcomes (reviewed in [20]).”
This continues from the same study, and is super important:
https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC5704156/
- Metabolic Abnormalities and Autoantibodies in Autism
“A large number of recent studies of ASD and other psychiatric disorders have revealed associations with metabolic abnormalities related to folate metabolism. These associations have been categorized into five groups: immune disregulation, inflammation, oxidative stress, mitochondrial dysfunction and environmental toxicant exposures (reviewed in [50,51]).”
My comments: These 5 groups are all symptoms of copper deficiency!
immune disregulation, –copper increases white blood cells and kills all kinds of germs!!!!!
inflammation, –copper is anti-inflammatory!!!!!
oxidative stress, –copper makes many antioxidant enzymes!!!!!
mitochondrial dysfunction –copper makes ATP in the mitochondria!!!!!
environmental toxicant exposures –copper and zinc detox nearly everything!!!!!
The article has an excellent conclusion:
“The tolerable safe upper limit of FA has been suggested to be 1000 mcg (μg) per day. Prenatal vitamins typically contain 1000 mcg. To put this in perspective, a bowl of breakfast cereal alone may have 400 mcg of supplemented folic acid.”
From 1988 to 1994, the number of people with “excess folate” in the blood increased from 7% to 43% of the population.
In other words, the US national folic acid food/flour supplementation program is literally poisoning everyone with folic acid, who is following their recommendations to also take prenatals containing folic acid, and eating any fortified breakfast cereal.
In fact breakfast cereal is fortified twice, as the grains themselves are first fortified before they are sold, and then additional fortification is added after the fortified flour is turned into breakfast cereal, and the total fortification listed on the box might be less than the actual contents.
The B Vitamin Complex industry has also failed to adjust to these increases in folate in the food supply (as of 1998), and has also failed to adjust to the recent increasing evidence of harm above 1000 mcg, or the 1 mg level. (as of 2017).
There have been some attempts to adjust, as the vitamin industry has shifted away from folic acid, and towards methyl folate, or even towards folinic acid. But neither of those adjustments compensates for copper deficiency or B12 deficiency.
A horrible article on what folate does:
What folate is supposed to do: (this list below, is from the link above) (all of these seem to be lies to me, as I will discuss below)
“Boosts Mood – An active source of methyl groups, methylfolate promotes brain health and improves mood. Studies show that correcting methyl deficiency can help boost mood and brain health.”
“Recycles Homocysteine – A byproduct of amino acid and methylfolate, an excess of homocysteine in the blood can turn toxic. Methylfolate helps get rid of the toxin by recycling homocysteine to methionine.”
“Supports Brain Health – Unlike other folates, methylfolate is capable of crossing the blood barrier which helps the synthesis of the neurotransmitters dopamine, norepinephrine, and serotonin, all linked to mood regulation. Methylfolate deficiency can lead to depression.”
“Supports Overall Health – Methylfolate plays a significant role throughout life right from birth. It helps in fertilization of the human egg and the development of the heart, brain, liver, and other organs. MTHFR genes and methylfolate plays a significant role in the development, repair, and utilization of DNA. This, in turn, helps support your body’s immune function, energy production, and detoxification. The nerve cells require methyl for regulation of mood and sleep. Methylfolate is essential for your overall wellbeing.”
“Red Blood Cell Production – Methylfolate helps your body produce red blood cells. Its deficiency can lead to anemia and birth defects during pregnancy.”
Mood? By being a methyl donor? No. B12 is a methyl donor, so methly folate is not essential for that.
Recycles homocysteine? No, there are conflicting studies on that.
Supports brain health through making neurotransmitters? No, copper makes all of those three.
Supports Overall Health? How can a powerful nerve toxin help detox? And no, copper and zinc do that.
Red blood cell production? Nope. Copper does that.
And none of the information had any sources.
And this article starts off with one big lie:
“Nutritional supplements are increasingly gaining importance in today’s society. This is because processed foods have largely replaced real foods, depriving our bodies of essential vitamins, and methylfolate is one of them.”
No, modern foods are loaded with folate since 1998’s folate fortification program, adding a whopping 400 mcg of folate to the average person’s diet.
The article also lists side effects of methylfolate, but never lists nerve or brain damage, which are the big and obvious recognized problems. I, therefore, have to conclude that the entire article is purposeful misinformation / disinformation / lies.
Chris Masterjohn has an excellent article.
Your “MTHFR” Is Just a Riboflavin Deficiency
https://chrismasterjohnphd.com/blog/2019/02/26/mthfr-just-riboflavin-deficiency/
“Think how different this is than trying to make up for low MTHFR activity by taking extra methylfolate. One methylfolate molecule goes into your body, stays inside your cells for 200 days, and every day has 18,000 methyl groups added to it using MTHFR. If you have a 75% decrease in that, you’re losing 13,500 of those recycling events. You can’t take 13,500 times the normal dose of methylfolate. I have no idea what it would do but I know it’s not safe. Methylfolate is one of the primary normal food forms of folate, and I think it’s great. You need to get enough folate, so getting normal, reasonable doses of methylfolate into your diet makes complete sense. But adding more to make up for low MTHFR activity is ludicrous.”
But he makes some bad reasoning here. If one has a 75% decrease in methyl recycling, you don’t need 13,500 times more, you would only need 4 times more. 25% x 4 = 100%.
His main point is that people with MTHFR really need more B2. Like 5 mg. That’s a small amount. We take 400 mg of B2, which has no upper limit.
“Taking riboflavin [5 mg B2] to support the enzyme is high-impact. Loading up on methylfolate is not.”
And I really think MTHFR is really just a copper deficiency. Or rather, low copper and low B2.
50% of people are said to have MTHFR gene defects. Well, 80% of people get 2/3rds of the RDA for copper, or LESS! And 15% of people barely get 3 mg of copper, most of which is in the form of a multivitamin that contains iron, zinc, and folate that all likely block that copper, so they are effectively getting even less copper. So that 80%, plus 15%, mean 95% or more of people are all likely copper deficient.
See also:
https://revealingfraud.com/2022/08/health/copper-fixes-broken-genes/
Here is another main point. If methylfolate is both being methylated and unmethylated up to 18,000 times in a day, then there can really be no differentiation between methylfolate and folic acid. Because they just get converted back and forth in the body into one another up to 18,000 times. So one cannot be more poisonous or less poisonous than the other, as they are essentially the same thing.
This fact makes mincemeat of statements such as the following:
“Your body must convert folic acid to the metabolically active form of folate, L-methylfolate, before your body can use it. Most naturally occurring food sources of folate are already in this active form.”
https://rootfunctionalmedicine.com/folic-acid-vs-folate-whats-the-difference
That statement implies that this is a “one and done” conversion process, converting something bad into something good. That’s not how it works. It’s going back and forth, up to 18,000 times in a day.
The other reason why this is a rather silly debate, over which form is better, is that we have no choice over what is being put into flour. It’s the folic acid form. And we all get about 500 mcg of that supposedly “bad” form daily, and even 400 mcg can be toxic.
It is therefore more important to try to lower overall folate intake, rather than supplement it.
Getting back to folate and anemia. Folate is said to fix the size of red blood cells. Well. Copper also does that, and more. Copper fixes 4 things: better sized blood cells, more blood cells, longer lasting blood cells, better functioning blood cells.
And copper is rarely used to heal anything by either the mainstream medical establishment, or the alternative medical establishment.
Why use toxic folate, that’s toxic at 1 mg, instead of copper, which is toxic at 20,000 mg?
Copper is far safer, and more effective.
So if and when you hear that folate help solved the anemia / or B12 problem, it’s likely because they never tried copper.
Folate is often said to be required for “methylation”. This is not true. Other substances can fill this role, such as B2, B12, sulfur, and even iodine.
“Methylation
Main article: Methylation
Demethylation (the transfer of the methyl group to another compound) is a common process, and reagents that undergo this reaction are called methylating agents. Common methylating agents are dimethyl sulfate, methyl iodide, and methyl triflate. Methanogenesis, the source of natural gas, arises via a demethylation reaction.[4] Together with ubiquitin and phosphorylation, methylation is a major biochemical process for modifying protein function.[5]”
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Methyl_group#Methylation
“What nutrients are needed for methylation?
Methylation is greatly dependent on the presence of certain nutrients that act as co-factors to keep the process moving smoothly. These methylation nutrients include choline, betaine, methionine, folate, vitamins B12 and B6, as well as certain minerals like magnesium, zinc and sulfur.Sep 15, 2020″
In other words, folate is not exclusively required for methylation. Above are listed 9 nutrients, and copper and iodine are not listed, which makes 11.
Many of the forms of Vitamin E are also methylated. 12 nutrients.
https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Vitamin_E
Counteraction of Oxidative Stress by Vitamin E Affects Epigenetic Regulation by Increasing Global Methylation and Gene Expression of MLH1 and DNMT1 Dose Dependently in Caco-2 Cells
https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC5944233/
Again, folate seems unnecessary for methylation. In the 6500-word article above, there is not a single mention of folate or folic acid.
Trimethylglycine. 13 methylation nutrients.
High Folate B9 studies?
https://jnnp.bmj.com/content/72/5/567.full
“A placebo controlled trial in depression utilising 15 mg daily of folic acid for 4 months showed improvement in mood and neuropsychological function.32”
I note they did not test for cognitive functioning, only mood.
Another bias: They are testing folate along with other nerve toxins like fluoride, (fluoxetine, sold under the trade names: Prozac, Sarafem, Adofen):
“Similarly, the addition of 500 μg of folic acid to fluoxitine for 10 weeks significantly improved antidepressant response, mainly in women.34 In a double blind placebo controlled trial, Godfrey et al35 utilised 15 mg of methyl folate in addition to standard psychotropic medication and reported significant and increasing clinical and social recovery of folate deficient depressed and schizophrenic groups over 6 months.”
50 mg was tested:
“Methyl folate (50 mg) was as effective as a standard antidepressant drug trazodone (100 mg daily) in elderly depressed patients with mild to moderate dementia.36”
However these two tests were tested in those who were already suffering loss of cognitive function, and they did not test cognitive function, only mood.
So, none of those tests are valid, none of them conclude that high doses of folate do not cause loss of cognitive function.
In fact, fluoride, a known nerve toxin is used in many forms of medications used for mood disorders, and loss of cognitive function of fluoride as a nerve toxin is similarly ignored.
Intelligence does correlate with depression. Taking nerve toxins that lower intelligence should therefore boost mood.
What is the phrase? “Dumb and happy”. Or “Ignorance is bliss”.
I’m serious about this. Lifting depression is not enough to qualify a substance as a nutrient rather than a toxin.
There are jokes about this, because it’s so true. Alcohol is a toxin, and it lifts depression. Here is a humorous video showing that Tequila is a great antidepressant medication:
Folate is listed as a co-factor for B12 in a Facebook B12 group: “Vitamin B12 Wake Up”
There are problems with their approach. They lack scientific backing for the safety of folate. They quoted the study above, that listed using 15 mg of folate to cure mood, where cognitive functioning was not tested. Taking a nerve toxin and a nerve healer that is depleted by the toxin, does not mean the toxin is not toxic. Nor does it make the toxin a vital or essential vitamin.
The B12 group is all about healing from nerves and anemia. Copper is excellent for this. They mention copper in their “co-nutrients” guide with one word, in one sentence: “Other notable trace minerals include zinc, copper, chromium, selenium, and iodine.”
Dr. Ben Lynch appears to be an expert on MTHFR. The B12 group that advocates folate, above, refuses to allow posts that mention either Dr. Ben Lynch or MTHFR. That’s peculiar. I obviously had to look him up. He owns “MTHFR.NET”
This is one big confusing mess. While the theory is that the methylated form of folate should be better for people with MTHFR, even he admits that did not work!
“Before, I used to just give people methylfolate if they were found to have the MTHFR mutation.
If they had homozygous MTHFR C677T, I gave them more methylfolate than if they were heterozygous MTHFR A1298C.
Boy did that fail.”
https://mthfr.net/preventing-methylfolate-side-effects/2014/11/26/
In his “basic-protocol”, the first link above, he now suggests up to two months of preparation with electrolytes and multivitamins prior to starting methyfolate!
Sometimes, he recommends methyfolate, other times, not. Suggesting people go back and forth.
My overall gut feeling is that this guy is a charlatan. It has the feel of palm reading and crystal ball gazing. Misdirection. The MTHFR mutation seems like palm reading. There is no solid research proving it matters much. And if it does, there is no solid research that methylfolate is the answer. And his advice is contradicted by much of the research. And he mixes in a lot of so-so general advice that is not entirely bad.
There are no mechanisms of action that show that methylfolate, or any form of folate, assists or works as a detoxing agent. How can it, if it’s toxic?
And even if a person has a genetic defect in processing toxins, why would they need toxic folate? It makes no sense.
The bad, refuted theory is that people with certain MTHFR gene variants don’t process folate well, don’t methylate as well, and then build up homocysteine, which then causes problems, and supposedly methylfolate is the fix.
Actual science continues to report that lowering homocysteine with B6, B9, and B12, does nothing.
Homocysteine‐lowering interventions for preventing cardiovascular events
https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC6483699/
“We found no evidence that homocysteine‐lowering interventions, in the form of supplements of vitamins B6, B9 or B12 given alone or in combination, at any dosage compared with placebo, or standard care, prevented heart attack or reduced death rates in participants at risk of, or living with cardiovascular disease.”
Links for further research, but I’m about done here.
https://www.nature.com/articles/s41598-019-54070-9
https://ods.od.nih.gov/factsheets/Folate-HealthProfessional/#en147
https://b12oils.com/research.htm
https://b12oils.com/methylation.htm
Over methylation
Under methylation
The above article includes copper and magnesium
https://www.parsleyhealth.com/blog/mthfr-mutation/
https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC4898281/
Molybdenum
https://www.healthline.com/nutrition/molybdenum
Is overmethylation simply folate toxicity, because folate is a nerve toxin. Note in the lists of overmethylation all the mood, brain, nerve problems.
So, folate deficiency causes what? large red blood cells? Copper deficiency causes that too. So what if it’s just copper deficiency? What else?
I find it rather amazing that potassium and B12 both do so many things similar to copper. Potassium does help us absorb more copper, so in that sense, it is a way to increase copper! So, of course potassium would do what copper does!
Even magnesium does many things copper does. And copper increases magnesium!
For further research:
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Folate
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Folate_deficiency
https://ods.od.nih.gov/factsheets/Folate-HealthProfessional/
— “Folate Intakes and Status
According to data from the 2013–2014 National Health and Nutrition Examination Survey (NHANES), most people in the United States consume adequate amounts of folate.”
https://ods.od.nih.gov/factsheets/Folate-HealthProfessional/#h8
https://ods.od.nih.gov/factsheets/Folate-Consumer/
https://ods.od.nih.gov/factsheets/Folate-Consumer/#h8
https://www.hsph.harvard.edu/nutritionsource/folic-acid/
toxicity section. High B9 is associated with nerve damage.
https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/2667316/ — it may cause neurological injury when given to patients with undiagnosed pernicious anemia.
Neural tube defects and folate: case far from closed
https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC2970514/
“However, the mechanism underlying the beneficial effects of folic acid is far from clear. Biochemical, genetic and epidemiological observations have led to the development of the methylation hypothesis, which suggests that folic acid prevents neural tube defects by stimulating cellular methylation reactions.”
I note that we can get methyl donors from sources other than B9, such as B12. Copper also increases methylation. So does exercise. Copper also reduces birth defects. Maybe it’s not “folate deficiency”, maybe it’s copper deficiency? Maybe folate masks both B12 deficiency and copper deficiency?
High folate foods:
https://www.healthline.com/nutrition/foods-high-in-folate-folic-acid
More info:
https://education.seekinghealth.com/folic-acid-side-effects/
I just realized that some lies about folate as a nutrient come from the same source, Carl Pfeiffer!?!
http://www.doctoryourself.com/biblio_pfeiffer_ed.html
Pfeiffer CC, Braverman ER. Folic acid and vitamin B12 therapy for the low-histamine high-copper biotype of schizophrenia. Monograph. :483-7. (No known electronic link)
Pfeiffer, C.C. and Braverman, E.R. (1979) Folic acid and vitamin B12 therapy for the low histamine, high copper biotype of schizophrenia. In Botez, M., and Reynold, H., Folic Acid in Neurology, Psychiatry and Internal Medicine, New York: Raven Press. (No known electronic link)
Further Analysis:
- Folate’s only claim to be a nutrient has been reduced to the claim of “lowering neural tube defects”. But those people who have fortified our food supply with folate, have not warned about Excessive Vitamin A, or low copper, or low iodine, as additional causes of neural tube defects. I suspect this entire claim to be a lie, since it contains 3 lies of omission, as I just mentioned.
- Some have already complained why would I agree with the government on folate, but not agree with the government on copper? This is not how analysis works. In certain cases, the government is pushing toxins and downplaying their dangers (folate, B6, Vitamin A, Vitamin D), and in the other case, the government is warning about nutrients as being excessively toxic at low levels, despite lack of evidence. (copper and iodine).
Also, when the government cites a study warning that 1 mg of Folate from all sources is more toxic than less folate, I believe them.
When the government says that there is no evidence that copper over 10 mg is toxic, and that no such studies have been done, and that such studies should be done, I believe them.
In each case, I’m really defaulting on believing the details of the arguments that refute the overall narrative that does not fit with the details. In each case, I’m the one doing the homework, and deeper investigation into what is really the truth behind the summary of what is being said.
- Compare toxicity levels.
A. Why is folate being pushed when it’s admittedly toxic at 1 mg? Why is copper being slandered, even when it’s clearly safe up to 10 mg and beyond? The numbers don’t match. The numbers reveal which is the toxin, and which is not the toxin. Clearly, folate is far more toxic than copper, based on the amounts that cause danger and problems. If there was consistency and logic of thought being applied to these issues, then copper should be the first line of defense against “neural tube defects” and not folate. The research is quite abundant that copper heals the nerves with over 20 mechanisms of action in 20 different ways.
B. B6 is toxic at from 10 to 100 mg. Folate is toxic at from 0.3 mg to 1 mg. Which is the more potent toxin? The one with the lower upper limits. This is very very low for an upper limit, in fact, it’s the lowest of all!
C. Compare upper limits to other B vitamins. Vitamins B1,2,3,5,7,12 all have no upper limits established. What does that say? Basically, they are admitting which ones are toxic, and which ones are not. We should pay attention. I did.
D. Compare to other toxins. Most people drink 1.9 liters of water a day, about half a gallon. Fluoride is added to water to get to 0.7 mg per liter. So most people are getting more fluoride than the toxic level of folate. Or, said another way, folate is more toxic than fluoride!
- Look at the reasonableness, or lack thereof, of the overall arguments in favor of folate. They say it’s safe if you take it with the “co-nutrient” B12. Well, why don’t they say it’s safe with the co-nutrients, B12, copper, and iodine, all three of which are good for healing the nerves? These are lies by omission. Also, pairing a toxin, with a nutrient or nutrients, does not mean the toxin suddenly becomes a nutrient. Does fluoride suddenly become a nutrient when we take boron, copper and iodine? Of course not. Does mercury suddenly become a nutrient when we take enough copper, zinc, and selenium to help detox mercury? of course not. So the arguments in favor of folate being safe if you take it with B12 are bogus, as nutrients do not turn toxic substances into nutrients.
- The potential counterargument to point number 4, above: “Yes, but Jason you recommend many co-nutrients for copper and iodine, are you not being hypocritical and inconsistent?” No, for quite a few reasons. Copper does not suddenly become toxic without co-nutrients, and neither does iodine. There are numerous enzymes that need copper to function and these enzymes have been identified with certain functions that function better with copper supplementation. The studies on copper have left a consistent trail of healing many conditions. In contrast, the many studies trying to prove up functions of folate have left behind a consistent trail of no positive effects, and have revealed a consistent trail of lies of functionality where none have been found.
- Look at the admissions of people pushing folate, both the NIH, and the one popular folate advocate. They both admit folate causes harm! We should listen to those advocates of folate, and wisely avoid it.
- The only testimonials I can find from people who like folate all admit to having various forms of brain damage. The type of tesimonials that they give appear to be similar to junkies. One lady said folate gives her “relief”. I had to reply, “From what?” She replied, “anxiety”. Again, all toxins and drugs appear to provide relief from anxiety, as they shut down thinking capacity, as that is what they all do. These kinds of testimonials argue that folate is a nerve toxin, in line with all the studies and admissions. We should believe this consistent trail of evidence.
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