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Dr. Bob is Robert Hsiung, MD,
bob@dr-bob.orgShown: posts 1 to 9 of 9. This is the beginning of the thread.
Posted by Abby Cunningham on January 29, 2008, at 9:51:24
Folic acid: too much of a good thing?
A study done by Joel Mason, MD, Tufts University has found that folic acid in high amounts may be contributing to the increase in colon cancer in this country. He advises stick to 400 mcgs. (recommended per day) for anyone over 40 or with family history of colon cancer (I have family history).
# Folic acid is a man-made product that needs to be broken down through a lengthy 4-step process. Folate that comes from your diet (e.g. green vegetables) needs to undergo a 3-step transformation. Deplin® is able to be used immediately upon absorption.
# One Deplin® 7.5mg tablet is bioequivalent to taking fifty-three 1,000 mcg folic acid tablets every day. Yikes! If this is correct I would be inviting colon cancer. Here is a link to the journal article:
Posted by Phillipa on January 29, 2008, at 10:34:51
In reply to Why I would not consider taking Deplin, posted by Abby Cunningham on January 29, 2008, at 9:51:24
Seems some info is finally coming out about Deplin and folic acid other than in pregnancy. Phillipa
Posted by Racer on January 29, 2008, at 10:43:03
In reply to Why I would not consider taking Deplin, posted by Abby Cunningham on January 29, 2008, at 9:51:24
> # One Deplin® 7.5mg tablet is bioequivalent to taking fifty-three 1,000 mcg folic acid tablets every day. Yikes! If this is correct I would be inviting colon cancer.
Not necessarily. Folic acid and methylfolate are different substances, even though they are related. I haven't read the study you linked to, so I don't know what was said about mechanism, but Deplin and folic acid supplements are not the same.
I don't blame you for being conservative about it, though. I just wanted to point out that they're not the same thing, so the same results may not apply.
Posted by Abby Cunningham on January 29, 2008, at 13:45:27
In reply to Re: Why I would not consider taking Deplin » Abby Cunningham, posted by Racer on January 29, 2008, at 10:43:03
Racer,
See #2 under Deplin vs. folic acid here:http://www.pamlab.com/Products,Deplin
it looks the same to me according to this from the manufacturer. they are calling it "equal" to.
I don't want to take a chance!
> > # One Deplin® 7.5mg tablet is bioequivalent to taking fifty-three 1,000 mcg folic acid tablets every day. Yikes! If this is correct I would be inviting colon cancer.
>
> Not necessarily. Folic acid and methylfolate are different substances, even though they are related. I haven't read the study you linked to, so I don't know what was said about mechanism, but Deplin and folic acid supplements are not the same.
>
> I don't blame you for being conservative about it, though. I just wanted to point out that they're not the same thing, so the same results may not apply.
Posted by Abby Cunningham on January 29, 2008, at 13:49:26
In reply to Re: Why I would not consider taking Deplin, posted by Abby Cunningham on January 29, 2008, at 13:45:27
also see # 3.
Here is the info from the drug company's web site:
1. Folic acid is a man-made product that needs to be broken down through a lengthy 4-step process. Folate that comes from your diet (e.g. green vegetables) needs to undergo a 3-step transformation. Deplin® is able to be used immediately upon absorption.
2. One Deplin® 7.5mg tablet is bioequivalent to taking fifty-three 1,000 mcg folic acid tablets every day.
3. Deplin® is unaffected by a common genetic polymorphism that compromises the breakdown of folic acid into L-methylfolate. This polymorphism is common in over half of the general population.
Posted by Darwin on January 29, 2008, at 16:16:22
In reply to Re: Why I would not consider taking Deplin, posted by Abby Cunningham on January 29, 2008, at 13:49:26
> also see # 3.
>
> Here is the info from the drug company's web site:
>
> 1. Folic acid is a man-made product that needs to be broken down through a lengthy 4-step process. Folate that comes from your diet (e.g. green vegetables) needs to undergo a 3-step transformation. Deplin® is able to be used immediately upon absorption.
> 2. One Deplin® 7.5mg tablet is bioequivalent to taking fifty-three 1,000 mcg folic acid tablets every day.
> 3. Deplin® is unaffected by a common genetic polymorphism that compromises the breakdown of folic acid into L-methylfolate. This polymorphism is common in over half of the general population.
>Actually, this is a bit misleading. Although taking 53 1,000 mcg folic acid tablets may result in 7.5 mg of l-methylfolate (one Deplin tablet) the opposite is not true ... l-methylfolate is not converted to folic acid. So, you could take 1000 Deplin tables yet not 1 mg of folic acid would be produced. This is significant because folic acid and l-methylfolate have different effects and it could be that the increased colon cancer rates are due to folic acid and not l-methylfolate.
Posted by bleauberry on January 29, 2008, at 16:55:52
In reply to Why I would not consider taking Deplin, posted by Abby Cunningham on January 29, 2008, at 9:51:24
The article's title and its disclaimer at the bottom indicate the entire thing is a hypothesis and the authors say further research is needed.
As pointed out, folic acid and l-methylfolate are not the same. Mega amounts of folic acid might indeed be harmful, as anything in mega amounts probably is, including milk for pete's sake.
Commonly used amounts of folic acid for healing gut disorders from gluten damage are 5000mcg per day for 3 months. No reported cases of cancer from that.
If it is true that 50% of the population cannot metabolize folic acid properly, then the improperly metabolized byproducts might be related to cancer. Who knows.
To say one would need to take X amount of folic acid to get 7.5mg of methylfolate could lead someone to the wrong conclusions. Not reading the article properly could lead to wrong conclusions. Reading abstracts of articles but not the entire article can lead to wrong conclusions.
Posted by Racer on January 29, 2008, at 20:33:52
In reply to Re: Why I would not consider taking Deplin, posted by Darwin on January 29, 2008, at 16:16:22
> >
> Actually, this is a bit misleading. Although taking 53 1,000 mcg folic acid tablets may result in 7.5 mg of l-methylfolate (one Deplin tablet) the opposite is not true ... l-methylfolate is not converted to folic acid. So, you could take 1000 Deplin tables yet not 1 mg of folic acid would be produced. This is significant because folic acid and l-methylfolate have different effects and it could be that the increased colon cancer rates are due to folic acid and not l-methylfolate.Thank you so much for posting that. It's the point I was hoping to make, and you did a much better job than I could have.
Good job on that explanation. Thank you for it.
Posted by Darwin on January 30, 2008, at 13:04:30
In reply to Thank you! » Darwin, posted by Racer on January 29, 2008, at 20:33:52
This is the end of the thread.
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