Folic acid for memory - health issues?

[chickalittle]

I posted a thread in the over 50's section which is where I saw a post earlier this year about 800mg Folic acid a day ( being the optimum dose) could help improve the memory for those over 50 years of age. Someone suggested I put in here for more response.

Anyway, yesterday in the daily mail there was an article about adding folic acid to bread and how it might be a health time bomb. The article stated that the max limit a person should take is 200mg a day and that it can actually accelerate memory decline in the elderly!

I don't know now whether I should continue to take it......is there anybody in the know about supplements?

[Ted_Hutchinson]

The TimesTelegraph article did also quote
The FSA Board would not have recommended mandatory fortification if the scientific evidence suggested that there were unacceptable health risks for some groups. (http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/main.jhtml?xml=/news/2007/10/31/nabort531.xml)

The association of betaine, homocysteine and related metabolites with cognitive function in Dutch elderly people (http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/sites/entrez?Db=pubmed&Cmd=ShowDetailView&TermToSearch=17537289). Daily combined supplementation with cobalamin plus folic acid decreased total homocysteine concentrations by 36 %, and increased betaine concentrations by 38 %. Participants with the largest increases in betaine concentrations showed a borderline significant (P = 0.07) higher memory performance compared to those without it.

You will note the article was talking about synthetic folate and not the natural folate that is present in foods. It may be worth trying the improve the amount of folate in your diet.

folate: foodsources (http://www.whfoods.com/genpage.php?tname=nutrient&dbid=63#foodsources)

What foods are best for enhancing memory?: discussion (http://www.whfoods.com/genpage.php?tname=fightdz&dbid=21#discussion)

Wiki folic acid (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Folic_acid)

[chickalittle]

thanks Ted - I do take a folic and vit b complex supplement but will look at switching to more natural food sources. Good job I like spinach!