Be sure you are getting enough folate(B9) to avoid a vitamin B9 deficiency.
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Take folate instead of folic acid: here’s why?
Vitamin B9 deficiencies are common and can cause many major health problems.
In today’s article I am going to talk about the importance of vitamin B9 and why you should take it. There are couple of different versions. One is L-methylfolate and the other is folic acid. Most doctors recommend methylfolate instead of folic acid because it’s the natural version, whereas folic acid is synthetic.
Importance Of Vitamin B9
Vitamin B9 is very important in many chemical reactions in the body, especially in turning genes on and turning them off as well as DNA repair. So if you are deficient of B9 you can have a lot of body issues. You could end up with a lot of body issues if you have a B9 deficiency.
And vitamin B9 is a very common deficiency simply because the enzyme that helps convert folate or folic acid to the active form of B9 which is methylfolate uses this enzyme which is commonly mutated.
So there are different types of mutations or alterations in different groups of people and some mutations create no problem other is create huge problems with the absorption of folate.
In fact, thirty to fifty percent of the population has some form of these mutations in MTHFR gene. And out of this population, you have various degrees of absorptions. Some people can absorb more than the others. The point is that a lot of people are deficient in the active form of B9. Not having this vitamin work in the body can lead to a lot of issues.
B9 Deficiency Can Cause The Following:
- High homocysteine, increasing your risk of stroke, heart attack or hearing loss and many other symptoms
- Increased risk of cancer
- Increased risk of heart disease
- Infertility
- Migraines
- headaches
- Depression
- Can’t detox/inability to detoxify
- Problems with neurotransmitters
Not Taking The Natural Version Of The Vitamin B9 (Methylfolate) VS Taking The Synthetic Version
So you have one problem of not getting enough of that nutrient but the other problem is getting too much of the synthetic version. If you have a problem with MTHFR gene and you are taking or being exposed to the synthetic form of B9 (folic acid) you are going to have a lot of additional problems.
So then the question is how might you be beginning folic acid?
Well one is the fortified a lot of the grains with folic acid another common exposure would be the vitamins that you are taking. If you are buying your vitamins from the drug store or even a helpful store in their synthetic, make sure it doesn’t have the folic acid version.
You can get natural folate from dark leafy greens vegetables. Also you can get them from organ meats but very few people consume them like, beef liver. Let alone consume enough vegetables. So from a diet standpoint a lot of people are deficient in the nutrient folate.
Conclusion
If you want to know whether you have trouble with the MTHFR gene or not take the test related to the methylfolate. If you have a problem, then you want to take the version of B9 called methylfolate. It’s easy to find. You can go to the health store or order online. But I would also recommend taking at the same time a high quality vitamin B12, called methylcobalamin and not the synthetic version which is cyanocobalamin, you can get the methyl version. Avoid the synthetic variety.