The word folate comes from the Latin word for foliage, so there are no surprises that green leafy vegetables are great sources of this very important nutrient.

Folate vs Folic Acid

Folate is the natural, safe and beneficial form of this vitamin. You may also have heard of folic acid, which is the more stable form of the vitamin. Folic acid is generally used in foods that have added in nutrients (also called fortified), e.g. breads and cereals; and also the form found in supplements. Whilst this synthetic folic acid has the capacity to be absorbed at almost twice the rate of naturally occurring folate from foods, the body often needs to convert this to a form that can utilised by the body. In the case of folic acid, it requires conversion by a special enzyme called MTHFR (methylenetetrahydrofolate reductase – quite the mouthful!) before it can be used by the body. What we know is that 40% of Caucasians have some genetic deficiency in the function of this enzyme so they cannot or have a greatly reduced capacity to convert folic acid to its active form; folate.

Sources of Folate

There are many great sources of folate including green leafy vegetables of all descriptions, beans and lentils, particularly pinto beans, black beans, and chickpeas, oranges, almonds, asparagus, avocado, beets and cashews. Sprouting grains and seeds almost doubles folate levels. Choose steaming over boiling when cooking vegetables containing folate, as it can be easily destroyed through the cooking process. The fortification, or the adding in of nutrients in food based products became mandatory in Australia in 2009 for wheat flour, so many breakfast cereals, pasta and flour products contain synthetic folic acid.

Health benefits of Folate

Folate is a DNA champion and is involved in the synthesis and repair of healthy DNA, and therefore healthy cells in the body. It also metabolizes amino acids such as serine and glycine. Folate, together with B6 and B12, can help to remove excess build-up of a potentially toxic amino acid, homocysteine, which can cause oxidative stress that damages blood vessel walls and creates inflammation in the body. High levels of homocysteine have been linked as a risk factor to a number of chronic disease states such as; cardiovascular disease (CVD), Alzheimers and Parkinsons disease. Folate is also involved in the synthesis of SAMe (S-adenosylmethionine), a compound involved in the methylation of DNA and the synthesis of proteins, phospholipids and neurotransmitters. A deficiency in SAMe has been associated with congenital abnormalities, certain types of cancer, neural tube defects, depression and osteoarthritis. Folate is probably most widely known for its role in protecting the foetus against neural tube defects, cleft palate and congenital heart disease. It can also aid in the development of healthy sperm. Recommended supplementation of folic acid prior to pregnancy is 400mcg daily, with an increase to 600mcg throughout pregnancy. It is important to note that when supplementing folic acid there is an Upper Limit of consumption, set at 1000mcg (1g) per day. There is no upper limit when consuming folate from food sources. Certain periods throughout life may increase our demand for folate and include high growth periods (pregnancy or childhood/puberty), heavy alcohol consumption, smoking/drug consumption, insufficiency of Vit C, B12 or Zinc, poor dietary intake and certain malabsorption diseases. Symptoms which may indicate insufficiency of folate include weight loss, sleepiness, stomatitis (inflamed and sore mouth), dermatitis, chelitis (red swollen patches at the corner of your mouth) and pigmentation spots on your skin.