This content was created by Erica Hoke. This content was uploaded by Erica Hoke. This is a YouTube video titled "Folate versus Folic Acid, How to Choose (Supplements for Fertility Series, #3)" published January 20, 2022. It is a single-speaker, informational monologue in which infertility and empowerment coach Erica Hoke explains differences between folate and folic acid (emphasizing methylfolate vs synthetic folic acid), discusses relevance for MTHFR status, outlines benefits for pregnancy (neural tube defect prevention, red blood cell production, DNA repair, cell detox), gives a recommended dose (stated as 800–1,000 mg of methylfolate), notes dietary sources (lentils, spinach, broccoli), and briefly promotes her Decoding Supplements course and her posting schedule (Mon/Wed/Fri at noon EST).
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Today, I'm really excited to bring this topic to you because it's a question that I get asked a lot about when it's— when it concerns supplements. Folate versus folic acid, like, what's the deal? Which one is right? How much should I take? Why do I even need it? So these kind of questions happen all the time in my world, and I'm here to demystify them. For you in 3 easy points that I put below this video in case you don't want to watch. So if you, uh, if you don't know me, I'm Erica Hoke. I'm an infertility coach and empowerment coach, and I kind of a no-fluff kind of person, direct and to the point, and really want to help you move the needle on your infertility journey, whatever that may be. And today, that thing is folate versus folic acid. So if you caught my video last week on how to pick a prenatal and what label reading and things like that, you will know, you would know that anything that ends in -ate, folate, indicates a synthetic vitamin, a synthetic supplement. So why, why do we care about that? Why Um, why is that good and useful information? The reason that that is good and useful information is because synthetics, um, can put a lot of burden on your liver and kidneys, which, um, are governors or filters for your hormones, producers for your hormones, and things like that. So we don't want to burden our liver and kidneys, um, any more than we have to, right? We want to support them. So that they're able to do the jobs that they're meant to do, especially, especially if your status for MTHFR is unknown. So if you know that you have MTHFR, it's super, super important for you to avoid synthetic vitamins. If you're unsure, it's still important. You might wanna think about getting that checked out as part of your infertility checklist. So we go into way more detail. I go into way more detail with that in my Decoding Supplements course that I put together. It's just like a little mini course so that you can understand label reading. And we talk about in depth the things that we're talking about here. So what does folate and folic acid do in your body? So full, full methylfolate is what you're looking for. Folic acid is the synthetic form of methylfolate. And what it does is it, it prevents birth defects. So the big push for folic acid/methylfolate is to prevent neural tube defects. So that happens very early on in the building of a baby. So you want to go ahead and make sure that you're taking that ahead of time. It also helps repair and regenerate red blood cells and produce red blood cells. So as your pregnancy progresses and is supporting that pregnancy, you're generating more red blood cells. That's what I'm trying to say. It also repairs DNA and it also aids in cell detox, which we talk about tons. So antioxidants and cell detox is super important to your reproductive health. So it helps with that. So it's good to keep those on board ahead of time and not just wait until you get pregnant. So you can consult your doctor about this, but the recommended dose is 800 to 1,000 milligrams, and that is methylfolate, not folic acid. Folic acid is the synthetic. I think I might have misspoke earlier in this video, but it's methylfolate. Not folic acid. And you can get that from, um, naturally occurring from lentils, spinach, and broccoli, but it would take a whole lot to get your recommended daily dose. And I love broccoli, but I might not want to eat it every day. So those are the reasons and the whys behind folic acid versus folate. So Health and blessings to you guys. I'm here Monday, Wednesday, and Friday at noon Eastern Standard Time. Bye-bye.
