DIY METHYLFOLATE FACTORY

[Malachy]

Did you know that it's possible to make your own low cost methylfolate supplements at home?

All you need are a few simple ingredients, some chickens and 5 minutes per day.

Step 1: Gather all your unused FOLIC ACID tablets or visit everyone you know and confiscate all their bottles of folic acid and promise to return with fresh methylfolate soon.

Step 2: Buy a chicken or three (preferably point of lay pullets). Make sure you have a fox-proof hen-house with nesting boxes and a vermin proof feeder.

Step 3: Grind up all your reclaimed folic acid tablets into powder or crumbs. Mix 16g of folic acid powder with 1kg of quality organic layer pellets and fill your chicken feeder. Ensure ample food and water are available at all times.

Step 4: Wait a few days while your chickens convert 90% of that nasty synthetic folic acid into 5-methyltetrahydrofolate and deposit it inside your eggs. A large egg will contain about 75mcg of methylfolate which is twice the amount of a regular egg. WARNING: Eggs produced using this method may still contain about 7.5 mcg of folic acid.


Step 5: Collect your eggs, cook and and enjoy.


References:
Br J Nutr. 2009 Jan;101(2):206-12. doi: 10.1017/S0007114508995647. Epub 2008 Jun 23.
Laying hens can convert high doses of folic acid added to the feed into natural folates in eggs providing a novel source of food folate.

Int J Vitam Nutr Res. 2007 Jul;77(4):297-301.
Fortification of eggs with folic acid as a possible contribution to enhance the folic acid status of populations.

Physiology, Endocrinology, and Reproduction - Poultry Science
www.poultryscience.org/psa09/abstracts/09PSA018.pdf

 

[Adster]

Hah, this is awesome. Can we feed them ALL of our supps and have them convert them in tasty compounded supplement eggs? ;-)

 

[Malachy]

I know of other ways to pimp your eggs to increase the quantity of calcium, carotenoids, vitamin D, vitamin E, (DHA's) omega-3 and omega 6, and PUFA's, iodine, fluorine, manganese, selenium, vitamins-B, ginseng and Conjugated Linoleic Acids, however I'm really interested in finding ways of recycling unwanted synthetic supplements into their natural isomers using biological processes. I met a guy in New-zealand who does it using a vat of microbes in his garage, but I already had the chickens at home myself. (CAVEAT: Feeding chickens excessive quantities of supplements in the wrong ratio could harm them.) Low cholesterol eggs can be produced by letting your chickens loose in your herb garden or incorporating allicin, betaine, eugenol, lumiflavin, lutein, sulforaphane, or taurine from a variety of naturally occurring organic sources. With St Patricks day comming up , I could also tell you how to grow your own green eggs at home if you're interested.

 

[Asklipia]

In Japan or Thailand you can buy from supermarkets all kind of eggs treated in such a way, at least 10 different types if I recall well.

 

[Little Bluestem]

. With St Patricks day comming up , I could also tell you how to grow your own green eggs at home if you're interested.

Ooh, yes, definitely want to know how to produce green eggs. Since I do not currently have the chickens, I think it would take more than 15 minutes a day, so it will have to wait, though.