Folate vs. Folic Acid: Why Active Folate Is Better than Synthetic Folic Acid

In this episode of How Humans Heal, I'm going to be talking about the difference between folate and folic acid, which I believe is important for everyone to understand, but especially for those of you who are testing positive for HPV and at risk of cervical cancer. And the reason I say that is because there's so many research studies connecting the dots between folate deficiency and increased risk of cervical cancer. These studies have been coming out for over two decades and I'll share some in the references. So this is such a well known connection, the deficiency of folate or folic acid and the increased risk of cervical cancer when someone's testing positive for hpv and yet it's not well known, I believe it should be the first thing your doctor tells you about when they tell you that you're testing positive for HPV is to make sure you're getting enough folate. But still, still, unfortunately, it's not well known and not discussed in the doctor's office, which is why I'm so glad that you're finding this video. So let's understand the difference because a lot of times the term folate is used interchangeably with the term folic acid as if they're the same thing, including in the research studies. So in the research studies, oftentimes they will be testing folks folate in the blood and they might be giving folic acid supplements and they're talking about it as if it's the same thing, when actually folate and folic acid are not exactly the same thing. Folate is the form that you find in your food. Yes, we can get folate, which is also known as vitamin B9. We can get it from food sources. In that case, it's in the folate form when it's in the folic acid form. Folic acid is this synthetic sort of human made version of this nutrient. And when we say that, what that means it's in an inactive form. So when you take something that contains folic acid, it actually goes into the body, we swallow it, it gets absorbed into the body and the body has to convert it into folate. So it requires extra steps to get to folate. And so folate is the form that is present in nature and that our bodies can use because it's already in active form. So let's understand this a little bit more. Where can we find folate in our foods? Well, actually, quite a lot of foods contain some folate. And I always encourage you, if you're wondering how much folate is any food, you can just google how much folate in this food? But certainly animal proteins like meat and poultry and even fish, as well as dairy products. And also a lot of different fruits and vegetables have folate, especially vegetables that are green in color, like spinach, broccoli, asparagus, even basil has folate in it. So we can get folate from our diet. However, a lot of times if some it becomes deficient for multiple reasons. One is if someone's following a plant based diet, so maybe they're not getting folate from animal protein sources or fish sources or even eggs. Eggs also contain folate and dairy. So if you're avoiding those foods, you're not going to be getting as much folate. Yes, you can get it from your vegetables, but it's not going to be as much. So it's very common when someone's following a completely plant based diet that they end up deficient in folate. So I want you to make become aware of that and so you really pay attention. And you may require a supplement containing folate in order to get enough if you're following a plant based diet. Also, folate is deficient or depleted by birth control pills. So if you've been taking a birth control pill or even potentially an I, a hormonal iud, it could be causing a depletion in folate as well as other nutrients. And but in this video we're talking about folate. So definitely if you've been on a birth control pill for any period of time, then likely you need more folate. Also, alcohol depletes folate. So if you been drinking alcohol on a regular basis, it's quite likely that you need more folate. Now yes, some of you might be saying, well, I'm taking a multivitamin or I'm taking a B complex and so you might be getting some folate in there. I encourage each and every one of you to go grab your bottle of multivitamin or prenatal or B complex and look right now for the folate in that bottle. And here's exactly where you're going to be able to see what I'm referring to. Where sometimes the words are used interchangeably. What we want to see on your multi or your prenatal or your B complex is we want to see them using the term folate or methyl folate. M E T H Y L Methylfolate is the active form of folate. And sometimes you have to look where it says B9 on the ingredient list. Does it say folate? And then it might be even in parentheses if it says folic acid at any point along the way, you know that it's the inactive form. And while, yes, the research has shown that folic acid has been helpful for preventing cervical cancer, my point is you might as well take the active form, because if the inactive form can prevent cervical cancer, and the active form is going to prevent cervical cancer even better than the inactive form. And in my mind, I'd rather direct you to take the active form of folate because it increases the likelihood, it increases the effectiveness, and you can easily access it. There are many multivitamins, prenatals, and even separate folate supplements and that contain methylfolate or active folate instead of folic acid. So if your practitioner mentioned folic acid to you, I would still say, I think we need to automatically translate that into folate and make sure that your supplements contain folate. If you're ever looking for high quality, professional grade supplements with an active form of nutrients, including methylfolate, you can always go to my website to find them, because that's what I do. I work hard each and every day researching supplements and finding the supplement companies and brands that have the highest quality production of the most active ingredients so that you can get the benefit from your supplements. And so you can trust that if you go to drdani.com, you're going to find active folate. Also, what's important to understand about folate is that that process that I mentioned, where as humans we turn folic acid into folate, requires an enzyme called mthfr. And MTHFR has been in the spotlight for a number of years because of studies looking at the genetic production of Mth, that Mthfr enzyme, meaning that 40 to 50% of us, including me as an example, have at least one or two gene variations related to the enzyme mthfr. And when you have that at least one or two gene variations of mthfr, it can potentially decrease your ability to turn folic acid into folate. Even another reason why it's better to choose folate than folic acid, because whether you know you have that gene variation or not, there's a 40 to 50% likelihood that you do. And so better to just choose folate because that is the detour around that gene variation. So this way you can benefit from folate without having to worry about having that gene variation. Okay? So especially anyone listening who, if you know you have a MTHFR gene variation, particularly based on the research, particularly if you have an MTHFR, a 1298 C gene variation, you are at increased risk of cervical cancer and abnormal cells in the cerVix due to HPV. So we want to make sure that you're getting folate. So then the question becomes how much? Right. Okay, yes, we can make sure you have enough in your diet. We can make sure that you have folate in your multivitamin and or your B complex or prenatal vitamin. Right? Those are the beginning steps. However, if you're testing positive for HPV and certainly if you are have found that you have abnormal cells on your cervix, let's say CIN1, C I N2, C I N3, then we need to be thinking about higher doses of folate. In fact, the clinical dosing of folate related to dysplasia or abnormal cells on the cervix tends to be in the dosage range of 5-10mg per day. Now, when you look at your multivitamin, you're going to see that it probably has about 800 micrograms in a daily dose, which is great for daily functioning. And even for the a very minimum for prenatal use of folate would be 800 micrograms. But when you have HPV and you're trying to prevent cervical cancer, think about it. We go instead of 800 micrograms, instead of 1,000 micrograms, we're talking about going to even 5,000 micrograms and in some cases, 10,000 micrograms of folate. Did you recently get an abnormal Pap smear result and test positive for HPV? Then I'm here to help you. I'm Dr. Donni Wilson, naturopathic doctor and midwife, and I specialize in helping women to address abnormal Pap smear results and clear HPV to negative. I would love to invite you to join me for my next free online workshop called Secrets to Clear hpv. In the workshop, you're going to learn all about hpv, what your Pap smear results mean, about the myths that might be working against you, and the first five things that I recommend that you do to help your body clear hpv. You can join this workshop from anywhere online and you can also be anonymous. Just go to hpv.drdonni.com that's-o c T-O-R-O-N-I.com or click the link down below. And I look forward to seeing you there. So this is something you're going to want to do under the guidance of a clinical nutritionist or naturopathic doctor like me. Because I have the training to help you with knowing the right dose and making sure your body's doing okay with that dose. Because the thing is, is that eventually in our bodies, when we take in folate, folate works together with other aspects of our bodies. Folate works in what's called the methylation cycle. And the methylation cycle is where what I call the B vitamin cycle is where all the B vitamins come together. So folate is not working by itself. Folate comes together with B1 and B2 and B3 and B5 and B6 and B12. And they work together to do what's called methylation, which is to make a substance called SAM or S Adenosyl methionine, S A M. And SAM does all, all kinds of good stuff throughout our bodies, including helping to make healthy new cells. This is why folate is so important for preventing cervical cancer, is because the folate helps our body make sam, which helps our body to make healthy new cells, even if the HPV virus is there. The HPV virus is trying to come into the cells and cause abnormal cells, but the folate and SAM are helping to prevent the HPV from causing abnormal cells. The SAM also protects our DNA, it helps with detoxification in the liver, and so much more helps with making neurotransmitters and breaking down neurotransmitters. There's so many roles for SAM in our body. But if you think about it as SAM and the B vitamins help us when we're stressed, right? When we're under stress as humans, which is most of the time, right, We. We all have some degree of stress. So when we're under stress, our bodies burn through even more of our B vitamins and especially folate and especially sam. So I believe this is why part of the reason why when women are under a lot more stress, they become more susceptible to hpv because the stress is causing them to use up their B vitamins and deplete the sam and their cells become vulnerable to the HPV virus. So that's one of the reasons. There's many other reasons why stress makes us susceptible to hpv, but this is one that's really important and one that you can start doing something about right away today. So I encourage all of you to first of all, take a multivitamin if you're not already taking a multivitamin, and make sure it's a multivitamin that contains vitamin methylfolate. And then it should have at least usually 800 to 1000 micrograms in a daily dose. And then usually we will also add an additional methylfolate at 5-10mg, depending on your case and your body. How do we know? Right. And this is the thing, is most practitioners are not measuring folate. And to make things matters worse is when. When your practitioner orders folate in a serum blood test, right. If you look at your blood results and it says folate, most times it shows high, especially if you're taking a multivitamin, because it's measuring the folate in your blood. So the test is not very accurate because it's going to just measure what you've already been taking in. And that's not really what we want to know. We want to know how is the folate doing in your cells? Right? How is your body taking in the folate and using it to protect you from this virus? Another issue with that blood test is when they measure folate in the blood, even though it says folate, they're actually measuring folate and folic acid. So it's not just measuring your folate levels, it's measuring folate and folic acid. And so it's like a combination of the two. And so again, it's not the best test. I don't even order a folate in the blood because it's. There's so many confounding factors. It doesn't really give us adequate information. And oftentimes it will show elevated, even if the person still needs more folate. So it's important that we test it a different way. We need to measure what's called homocysteine. H O M O, C Y S T E I, N E. And this is a test that can be done at regular labs, blood tests. I've seen it done by patients all around the world. So I know that different labs around the world can do this as a regular blood draw. But most practitioners don't know to order it. So you have to ask, you have to say, I want to know my homocysteine level. It should be optimally at about a 7. Let's say between 6 and 7, 6 and 8 is optimal. That means your B vitamins, including the folate, are being used optimally to make SAM and be used in your cells to protect you from HPV. So if your homocysteine's at about a 7, perfect. You're at a good dose. Now, if you have abnormal cells on the cervix, we might still give a little bit higher dose until those abnormal cells resolve. And then when the abnormal cells are gone. We'll bring you back down to a maintenance dose of methylfolate to help protect you going forward.

If your homocysteine is too high above, let's say 8 or too low below a 6, then we're going to need to take more action. We're going to need to help figure out why is that happening. It's sometimes it might just be that you need more folate, but there's other factors involved. It could mean that you also need either more or less B12. It might be that you need. You may have toxicity happening in your body, inflammation that could be disrupting your body's ability to use folate in an efficient way. So we need to investigate further and this is something that I teach in a course that I created, which is an MTHFR and folate related program. I can put a link down below and you can find it on my website. So if this is something you want to learn more about, if you know you have MTHFR or you want, if your homocysteine is, is not at a seven and you need more help with it, then just know that I can help you with that. Either one on one or in one of my online programs. I can help you to get your homocysteine to optimal because it's so essential for protecting you from HPV and cervical cancer at the same time. At the same time. This is the cool part. At the same time of optimizing your homocysteine and folate doses, we're going to be optimizing your fertility, preventing miscarriages, preventing health issues for your future baby. If you're planning on having a pregnancy or can also be preventing everything from heart disease, diabetes, dementia and other types of cancer at the same time. So this is really essential. That's why B vitamins are so important and yet there's so much confusion. But now that you've listened to this video, I'm thinking that now you're going to be like, okay, right? The summary is take folate, not folic acid. No matter what your gene status or whether you know your genes or not, just choose folate, folic acid. I actually believe that all multivitamins and B complexes should contain folate non folic acid. So take the extra steps to identify and take one that has the active form of folate so you can get the most benefit. And when you get your blood work, make sure to check homocysteine, not folate, and turn to find out if you're at a good dose and if you have HPV and abnormal cells, you may actually need a higher dose of folate for a period of time to help your body protect you from hpv. Get your body to make healthy cells in your cervix using all this super duper active folate and at the same time really pay attention to your diet and notice how much folate am I getting? Of course, amongst all of your other nutrients, pay particular attention to make sure you're getting adequate folate to help keep your cells healthy. Thanks again for joining me today at How Humans Heal. And be sure to subscribe and send a send me a note to let me know how you what you learned from this episode. I'll see you soon.

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