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Methylmate B and metafolin?

Messages
66
Are methylmate B from the SMP and metafolin from the active protocol essentially the same chemical? Are they equally reduced forms of folate?

What are the pros and cons of each if they differ? Does anyone prefer one over the other?

I'm not a fan of the methylmate drops as it's hard to tell if you have dropped 1 or 2 drops in your mouth - or is this just me?

Thanks.
 

maddietod

Senior Member
Messages
2,859
I put the drops into a small spoon after I realized I was going through the bottles at almost double speed.
 
Messages
66
Thanks Madietodd, I'll do that - great idea! Not such a good idea with the hydroxyb12 though i'm guessing... its such fragile stuff isn't it?
 

richvank

Senior Member
Messages
2,732
Hi, harrycat.

Yes, MethylMate B, Metafolin, FolaPro, and Deplin all contain 5L-methyltetrahydrofolate as the active ingredient. There are other products on the market, usually called "5-MTHF" that are half the 5L form and half the inactive 5R form. These two forms are called "enantiomers." They have differing "chirality," which means that their molecules have the same chemical formula, but some of the atoms in the inactive form are arranged in sort of a mirror image of their arrangement in the active form. This is called a "racemic mixture." It is less expensive to produce a racemic mixture than the pure active form. This is also true of folinic acid. There is now a folinic acid product that contains only the active form, but the commonly sold folinic acid is a racemic mixture. This is the same situation as in alpha lipoic acid. There is now R-lipoic acid, which contains only the active form, but costs more.

Sorry about the problem with the drops. I switched to drops in the most recent revision of the protocol, because I thought it would be more convenient than having to split tablets. Also, Amy Yasko's site claims that the drops are less expensive than FolaPro, but I understand that Metafolin is cheaper than FolaPro, too. I think that any of the 5L products should be fine. All except the MethylMate B are made by Merck. The 5L-methylTHF in MethylMate B is made by Gnosis.

Hydroxocobalamin is fairly stable, chemically. Methylcobalamin is the form that is very sensitive to light, and can break down to form hydroxocobalamin.

Best regards,

Rich
 

drex13

Senior Member
Messages
186
Location
Columbus, Ohio
Hi Rich,
I read your recent comments about folic acid / folinic acid / methylfolate competing for absorption in the gut in one of the other threads ( I can't find it now so I'm posting here). Is the gut the only place where this competition takes place ? If so, then couldn't/wouldn't this issue be avoided or side stepped by using the MethylMate B drops sublingually, provided the drops are indeed sublingual and the molecule is small enough to be absorbed sublingually ? Or if someone developed a sublingual Methylfolate tablet ? Thanks, Drex
 

richvank

Senior Member
Messages
2,732
Hi Rich,
I read your recent comments about folic acid / folinic acid / methylfolate competing for absorption in the gut in one of the other threads ( I can't find it now so I'm posting here). Is the gut the only place where this competition takes place ? If so, then couldn't/wouldn't this issue be avoided or side stepped by using the MethylMate B drops sublingually, provided the drops are indeed sublingual and the molecule is small enough to be absorbed sublingually ? Or if someone developed a sublingual Methylfolate tablet ? Thanks, Drex

Hi, Drex.

As I understand it, there is also competition for absorption of the folates from the blood into the cells.

Rich