I would say that it isn't so much a ratio as what amount of folate is optimal for an individual. We have found that over 1 mg of folate draws too much B6 into the SHMT enzyme, at least that is what I think is happening. This decreases B6 availability for other reactions, even when the person takes 100 mg of P5P a day. The amount of B3 doesn't seem to have any effect on this. So for us, we limit folate to 1 mg, but that might not be true for people who have more problems in the folate cycle. My sons each have either one copy of C677T (depression) or one copy of A1298C (schizophrenia), but I don't think their mutations have any direct effect on their illnesses. Double mutations might do more.Would you say that it's a good idea to increase even folate when increasing B3? I am wondering which ratio between B3 and folate is optimal. How much folate would you need to take when taking, say 500mg B3?
I just experimented with higher folate yesterday, 1.6 mg extra over the 1 mg, and it caused a return of depressive symptoms in my son who has depression. This doesn't mean that someone else will get depression from folate, it just means that B6 is being used excessively by folate, and the SHMT enzyme is the only folate enzyme that uses B6. It would be pretty complicated to tell you how I came to that conclusion, but if you want to know I can tell you in another post.
So in answer to your question, I would say that 1 mg of folate might be the right amount, but it depends on if that works for you. We use that amount even with higher amounts of niacinamide.
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