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Sign the White House Petition to end Mandatory Flour Fortification with Folic Acid

Ripley

Senior Member
Messages
402
Just got wind of this, and it seems important.

Sign the White House Petition to End Mandatory Fortification with Folic Acid

>>>> http://1.usa.gov/1wlovWv <<<<

Please help spread the word. Tweet it. Share it on Facebook!

Folic acid fortification is intended to prevent rare NTD birth defects that ONLY affected 0.05% of US births before fortification began. Meanwhile, the majority of the population has difficulty utilizing that supplement. It's a ridiculous policy that should be ended.

https://petitions.whitehouse.gov/pe...iched-flour-folic-acid-linked-cancer/ZbGt2Lvh

Note: Only 150 signatures are required for this to become a National issue. Please sign it.
 
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Jonathan Edwards

"Gibberish"
Messages
5,256
Just got wind of this, and it seems important.

Sign the White House Petition to end Mandatory Flour Fortification with Folic Acid

http://1.usa.gov/1wlovWv

Please help spread the word. Tweet it. Share it on Facebook!

This seems to be nonsense. Folic acid is hydrogen folate and in body fluids free folate ions and folic acid will equilibrate automatically. The petition may have oversimplified things but as it stands it is absurd.
 

Jonathan Edwards

"Gibberish"
Messages
5,256
@Jonathan Edwards Maybe your comment is strictly about the petition and it's wording. If it's about folic acid more generally, you might be interested in what Ben Lynch has to say about it.

http://mthfr.net/folic-acid-awareness-week-2014-want-awareness-here-you-go/2014/01/08/

More articles here: http://mthfr.net/?s=folic acid

I have no idea who Ben Lynch is and I am not too impressed by that site but it confirms the fact that the petition has got it wrong. Folate and folic acid are the same thing in practice. Neither are the same as the various active metabolic derivatives.

Not much point in sending a petition to the White House if it gets the basic chemistry wrong to my mind. And I am not sure what it has to do with PR and ME to be honest.
 

sregan

Senior Member
Messages
703
Location
Southeast
I'd like to see them reverse whatever rule put that in place. Smacks of them adding fluoride to drinking water everywhere. Our freedom of choice was further eroded in the land of the supposed free.

Whoever started the petition might not have his facts straight though...

"Human clinical trials have shown that folic acid fortification has resulted in population wide increases breast, prostate and colorectal cancers."

Where is the data on these trials?
 

alex3619

Senior Member
Messages
13,810
Location
Logan, Queensland, Australia
Folate researchers in the UK recently (last year I think) went public with wanting to prevent folic acid supplementation in foods. As the evidence accrues, and this is a new area of research, it looks like folic acid in many people acts more like a poison than a vitamin. Indeed some of the recent research implies that just two slices of folic acid fortified bread is poisonous. Folic acid is tentatively linked to dementia, cancer, and natural killer cell dysfunction ... the same kind of dysfunction found in most ME patients.

We have long known that folic acid can be poisonous. What mitigated this was the presumption that it is rapidly converted by the liver to biologically active folate. It turns out the liver is easily overwhelmed, and folic acid often gets through into the blood stream. Some genetic problems, notably with MTHFR, seem to increase risk.

There is no question this requires more research. Since folic acid is used as a mandatory additive in many counties, I regard this research as urgent. How much damage might we be doing? We need more studies, and more careful studies, which means more funding and more political will from health authorities.
 

Sushi

Moderation Resource Albuquerque
Messages
19,935
Location
Albuquerque
Some genetic problems, notably with MTHFR, seem to increase risk.

Yes, I was thinking of the MTHFR SNPs too, as many of us have one of the important two. Researchers have told us that, even if we don't have one of these SNPs, that folic acid can "grab the receptors" and block active folate from being taken up. Sorry for the inexact language!

Sushi
 

Ripley

Senior Member
Messages
402
This seems to be nonsense. Folic acid is hydrogen folate and in body fluids free folate ions and folic acid will equilibrate automatically. The petition may have oversimplified things but as it stands it is absurd...Folate and folic acid are the same thing in practice. Neither are the same as the various active metabolic derivatives.

For what it's worth, here's what I found with a little Googling on the subject. The references below are mainly copied from two articles [1][2]:

Folic acid refers to the oxidized synthetic compound used in dietary supplements and food fortification, whereas folate refers to the various tetrahydrofolate derivatives naturally found in food.
http://blog.designsforhealth.com/blog/bid/115121/Folic-Acid-vs-Folate-Part-I

The form of folate that can enter the main folate metabolic cycle is tetrahydrofolate (THF). Unlike natural folates, which are metabolized to THF in the mucosa of the small intestine, folic acid undergoes initial reduction and methylation in the liver, where conversion to the THF form requires dihydrofolate reductase. The low activity of this enzyme in the human liver, combined with a high intake of folic acid, may result in unnatural levels of unmetabolized folic acid entering the systemic circulation.
http://journals.cambridge.org/action/displayAbstract?fromPage=online&aid=1343280

The human gut appears to have a very efficient capacity to convert reduced dietary folates to 5-MTHF but limited ability to reduce folic acid...Chronic liver exposure to folic acid in humans may induce saturation, which would possibly explain reports of systemic circulation of unmetabolized folic acid.
http://ajcn.nutrition.org/content/100/2/593

One of the major risks associated with excessive intake of folic acid is the development of cancer.
http://www.prevention.com/food/healthy-eating-tips/your-breakfast-giving-you-cancer
http://blog.designsforhealth.com/blog/bid/115121/Folic-Acid-vs-Folate-Part-I
http://www.nbcnews.com/id/35874922/ns/health-diet_and_nutrition/t/your-breakfast-giving-you-cancer/

High doses of folic acid 'promotes growth of cancerous cells'
http://www.medicalnewstoday.com/articles/271601.php
http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2014/01/140121183414.htm

Our data suggest that folic acid supplementation may promote the progression of established mammary tumors. The potential tumor-promoting effect of folic acid supplementation in breast cancer patients and survivors needs further clarification
http://journals.plos.org/plosone/article?id=10.1371/journal.pone.0084635

Several studies have reported the presence of unmetabolized folic acid in the blood following the consumption of folic acid supplements or fortified foods.
http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/17697404

Human exposure to folic acid was non-existent until its chemical synthesis in 1943, and was introduced as a mandatory food fortification in 1998.
http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/18038944

A randomized control trial found that that daily supplementation with 1 mg of folic acid was associated with an increased risk of prostate cancer.
http://jnci.oxfordjournals.org/content/101/6/432.full

In the United States, Canada, and Chile, the institution of a folic acid supplementation program was associated with an increased prevalence of colon cancer.
http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/19190501
http://cebp.aacrjournals.org/content/16/7/1325.abstract

The presence of unmetabolized folic acid in the blood is associated with decreased natural killer cytotoxicity.
http://jn.nutrition.org/content/136/1/189.short

Since natural killer cells play a role in tumor cell destruction, this would suggest another way in which excess folic acid might promote existing premalignant and malignant lesions.

In one study, consumption of folic acid in excess of 400 micrograms per day among older adults resulted in significantly faster rate of cognitive decline than supplement nonusers.
http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/15824266

Folic acid supplementation might increase the risk of colorectal neoplasia
http://jama.jamanetwork.com/article.aspx?articleid=207344

Higher folate levels may be associated with faster progression of localized prostate cancer
http://cebp.aacrjournals.org/content/19/11/2833.short

Treatment with folic acid plus vitamin B(12) was associated with increased cancer outcomes and all-cause mortality in patients with ischemic heart disease in Norway, where there is no folic acid fortification of foods.
http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/19920236

Baseline dietary folate intake and plasma folate in nonmultivitamin users were inversely associated with risk of prostate cancer, although these associations did not attain statistical significance in adjusted analyses:
http://jnci.oxfordjournals.org/content/101/6/432

Our data suggest that folic acid supplementation may promote the progression of ACF to colorectal tumors.
http://paperity.org/p/42511851/effe...progression-of-colorectal-aberrant-crypt-foci

There continues to be concern that folic acid fortification may have adverse effects in subpopulation groups not originally targeted for fortification...Over the past few years, the US population has been exposed to a significant increase in folate intake, for which essentially no data on safety exist. The potential cancer-promoting effect of folic acid supplementation needs to be considered...on the vast majority of the US population, who are not at risk of NTDs.
http://ajcn.nutrition.org/content/80/5/1123.full

Folate has a dual effect on cancer, protecting against cancer initiation but facilitating progression and growth of preneoplastic cells and subclinical cancers, which are common in the population. Thus, a high folic acid intake may be harmful for some people. Nations considering fortification should be cautious and stimulate further research to identify the effects, good and bad, caused by a high intake of folic acid from fortified food or dietary supplements. Only then can authorities develop the right strategies for the population as a whole.
http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/18326588

In a double blind, placebo controlled randomized trial of 1021 men and women carried out over a 10 year period, “Folic acid was associated with higher risks of having 3 or more adenomas and of noncolorectal cancers.
http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/17551129

And I am not sure what it has to do with PR and ME to be honest.

Well, if methylation is important to ME/CFS, then I would think that eating an enriched-flour product or fortified rice with fake folates would be counterproductive for someone with the MTHFR C677T mutation who had ME/CFS and would therefore have difficulty metabolizing folic acid. Is that not correct?
 
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South

Senior Member
Messages
466
Location
Southeastern United States
The petition is being run by a real .gov site, and is non-registration if people simply want to sign a petition. It does require an email address to sign a petition on this site, but no password or any registration tedium. And since it's run directly by the gov, not by a third party petition management company, I don't think the email address gets sold.

It states "When you sign this petition, your initials, city, and state may be publicly displayed on the petition page". Just initials though, not your name.

I just signed the petition; a minute later it emailed me a confirmation email with a link in that email to confirm that I did want to sign that petition. I clicked that link and got a simple page that said basically, ok, it worked. Seemed legit.

This is the page where I found the "how this petition site works" info:
http://www.whitehouse.gov/blog/2014/06/24/making-we-people-more-user-friendly-ever
 
Messages
18
Here is it explained rather well: OPPOSING ROLES OF FOLATE IN PROSTATE CANCER

"It has been postulated then that folate may play a dual role in tumorigenesis, depending on the amount of available folate and whether or not the cell has already become neoplastic. Indeed, animal studies have shown that folate supplementation is protective prior to initiation of carcinogenesis. After neoplastic transformation, however, folate depletion inhibits tumor growth.14,15 These findings are consistent with both a protective role for folate via maintenance of nucleotide pools and proper epigenetic regulation, as well as a detrimental role via enhanced cellular proliferation post-transformation."

and

"As reviewed by Mason et al,40 there was an increase in colorectal cancer incidence in both the U.S. and Canada that coincided with mandatory folic acid fortification in the mid 90’s. It has been postulated that the increased folate levels seen at this time may have allowed previously existing, however otherwise clinically indolent, tumors to proliferate. With the evidence just discussed regarding increasing tumorigenicity and proliferation rates of prostate cancer cells occurring in high folate environments,3739 it is tantalizing to suggest the same phenomenon could explain the increase in prostate cancer incidence seen in North America from 1998–2002.1,3 In a recent case report, a patient with GS 3+4=7 prostate cancer had been managed successfully, PSA < 3ng/mL, for 10 years with intermittent androgen deprivation therapy using leuprolide, flutamide, and finasteride. He subsequently developed biochemical progression with a rising PSA to 21.3ng/mL, despite attempts at anti-androgen withdrawal, adding other anti-androgens, and eventually continuing leuprolide while adding docetaxel for over 18 weeks.41 It was then discovered that the patient had begun taking high dose supplements containing a total of 8mg of mixed folates and 5mg of Vitamin B12 (a folate coenzyme) at the beginning of his PSA rise. His serum folate at the time of his PSA peak was 303.6 nM. After stopping the supplementation and discontinuing his consumption of fortified foods, his serum folate level dropped to 9.06 nM. Remarkably, his PSA started to decline within two weeks, nadiring at 2.08 ng/mL.41
 

Gondwanaland

Senior Member
Messages
5,092
Interestingly, folate is listed as a possible protective factor that may decrease the risk of prostate cancer, while folic acid, the synthetic version of folate used to fortify foods and contained in supplements, is listed as a nutrient that may increase the risk of prostate cancer.6

6. National Cancer Institute. PDQ Prostate Cancer Prevention. Bethesda, MD: National Cancer Institute; [Accessed 09/24/2012]. Date last modified 03/29/2012. Available at:http://www.cancer.gov/cancertopics/pdq/prevention/prostate/healthprofessional.
 

Jonathan Edwards

"Gibberish"
Messages
5,256
I cannot see what potential effect of folate on prostate cancer has to do with PR and ME. My original point was that folate and folic acid are the same thing - which is confirmed by the fact that many of the papers cited above use the words interchangeably (as in 'folate may play a dual role in tumorigenesis). I don't know of any evidence that folate or methylation are relevant to ME but even if they were I do not see what it has to do with all the papers about cancer to be honest.
 
Messages
18
Fortunately there are beneficial bacteria living - hopefully - in our guts that can produce some folate and the human host can benefit.

Folate Production by Probiotic Bacteria (2011)

Folates represent an essential nutrition component in the human diet, being involved in many metabolic pathways. The daily recommended intake as approved in the European Union is 400 μg/day for adults [1,2]. Efficiency of DNA replication, repair and methylation are affected by folate, therefore high amounts of folate are required by fast proliferating cells such as leucocytes, erythrocytes and enterocytes [3].

...the colon represents a major depot of folate and the vitamin produced by the colonic bacteria exceeds dietary intake and affects the folate status of the host. It is produced in large quantities by the colonic microbiota, mainly as monoglutamylated folate, the form that is absorbed at the highest rate [17], intestinal bacteria being one source of this vitamin. Many studies assessed the contribution of intestinal microbiota to the folate intake of animal hosts [17,18,19,20], and it has been demonstrated that the folate synthesized by intestinal bacteria can be absorbed and used by the host [18,21,22,23,24]. Recently, direct evidence of absorption of folate across the colon has been irrefutably provided [25]. The apparent rate of absorption in the colon is considerably lower than that in the small intestine. However, in the distal portion of the gastrointestinal tract the transit time is longer than in the small intestine, and the supply of folates by the colonic microbiota is constant and continuous, whereas their availability in the upper tract is discontinuous and mostly affected by food intake.
 

Ripley

Senior Member
Messages
402
My original point was that folate and folic acid are the same thing.

This is patently false and an overgeneralization. Folate is often used interchangeably with folic acid (and in fact the FDA is intentionally confusing this issue), but folic acid is not a natural form of folate and is difficult for many people to reduce into the active form of folate.

Supplement manufacturers have even published the explanations on the difference between folic acid and the reduced forms of folate, and the mechanisms of why many people cannot tolerate folic acid:

Pure Encapsulations News Release said:
Metafolin® for optimal folate assimilation
By Kelly C. Heim, Ph.D.

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Folate is a general term referring to folic acid (pteroylglutamic acid) and its reduced derivatives. Reduced, or activated folate is the coenzyme that participates in numerous methylation reactions, which include biosynthesis of nucleic acids, neuronal membrane components and neurotransmitters. Importantly, methylation of chromatin and DNA by reduced folate is an important aspect of the maintenance of healthy gene expression.*

Folic acid is a synthetic, oxidized folate that requires enzymatic reduction in order to function as a methyl donor. Reductive activation of folic acid is a multi-step process. Recent evidence indicates that the efficiency of this conversion may be low and variable, possibly explaining the high plasma levels of oxidized folic acid observed in subjects receiving supplemental folic acid 1,2. The long-term effects of sustained tissue exposure to oxidized folic acid are unknown 3.

In food, folate naturally occurs primarily in the activated form, (L)-5-methyl-THF (5-MTHF). While synthetic folic acid can be converted to 5-MTHF in the body, this process requires the enzyme 5,10-methylene tetrahydrofolate reductase (MTHFR). Highly prevalent genetic variations in MTHFR compromise the efficiency of 5-MTHF synthesis 4,5. MTHFR comprises a pivotal node in folate biochemistry, transferring methyl groups to maintain essential biosynthetic and genomic regulatory processes.

Metafolin® ((L)-5-MTHF) is stereochemically identical to naturally occurring 5-MTHF. Metafolin® does not require modification and can therefore execute the beneficial effects of folate regardless of MTHFR genotype. Metafolin® is also efficiently absorbed and assimilated. In a double-blind, randomized, placebo-controlled intervention study of 144 women, 5-MTHF supplementation resulted in a greater accumulation of 5-MTHF in red blood cells than equimolar doses of folic acid 6. Another advantage of Metafolin® is that 5-MTHF is the sole substrate for methionine synthase, which converts homocysteine to methionine to maintain vascular and neuronal health. In a placebo-controlled study of 30 women, 5-MTHF supplementation supported healthy homocysteine levels over a 3-week period 7. Contrary to folic acid, 5-MTHF readily traverses the blood-brain barrier to support neurological health. In a placebo-controlled trial of 123 individuals, 5-MTHF administered over 6 months promoted emotional well-being. 8 *

Over the past three decades, epidemiologic evidence has demonstrated positive associations between folate-rich diets and cellular and cardiovascular health. As an active coenzyme, 5-MTHF circumvents rate-limiting enzymatic steps to directly participate in life-sustaining methyl transfer reactions. Optimizing the efficiency of these reactions is an important dimension of diverse nutritional strategies for the maintenance of cardiovascular, hematopoietic and neurological health.*

References
  1. Bailey SW, Ayling JE. The extremely slow and variable activity of dihydrofolate reductase in human liver and its implications for high folic acid intake. Proc Natl Acad Sci U S A. 2009;106(36):15424-9.
  2. Kelly P, McPartlin J, Goggins M, et al. Unmetabolized folic acid in serum: Acute studies in subjects consuming fortified food and supplements. Am J Clin Nutr. 1997;65:1790-95.
  3. Troen AM, Mitchell B, Sorensen B, et al. Unmetabolized folic acid in plasma is associated with reduced natural killer cell cytotoxicity among postmenopausal women. J Nutr. 2006;136(1):189-94.
  4. Sharp L, Little J. Polymorphisms in genes involved in folate metabolism and colorectal neoplasia: a HuGE review. Am J Epidemiol. 2004; 159(5):423-43.
  5. Meshkin B, Blum K. Folate nutrigenomics: a convergence of dietary folate metabolism, folic acid supplementation, and folate antagonist pharmacogenetics. Drug Metab Lett. 2007;1(1):55-60.
  6. Lamers Y, Prinz-Langenohl R, Brämswig S, et al. Red blood cell folate concentrations increase more after supplementation with [6S]-5-methyltetrahydrofolate than with folic acid in women of childbearing age. Am J Clin Nutr. 2006;84(1):156-61.
  7. Cagnacci A, Cannoletta M, Volpe A. High-dose short-term folate administration modifies ambulatory blood pressure in postmenopausal women. A placebo-controlled study. Eur J Clin Nutr. 2009;1-3.
  8. Godfrey PS, Toone BK, Carney MW, et al. Enhancement of recovery from psychiatric illness by methylfolate. Lancet. 1990; 336(8712):392-5.
Metafolin® is a registered trademark of Merck KGaA, Darmstadt, Germany.
 
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Jonathan Edwards

"Gibberish"
Messages
5,256
This is patently false and an overgeneralization. Folate is often used interchangeably with folic acid (and in fact the FDA is intentionally confusing this issue), but folic acid is not a natural form of folate and is difficult for many people to reduce into the active form of folate. Supplement manufacturers have even published the explanations on the difference between folic acid and the reduced forms of folate, and the mechanisms of why many people cannot tolerate folic acid:

Sorry, but it's right. Folate is not 'reduced forms of folate', it is folate. And I cannot see what it has to do with ME!!!
 

Ripley

Senior Member
Messages
402
I don't know of any evidence that folate or methylation are relevant to ME

Well, I honestly don't know how you can be a member of the PR forum and not know how methylation is relevant to ME/CFS. Just look around!:

Google Search: site: phoenixrising.me "folic acid"

And I think @Fredd would be disappointed to hear you say that! :)

...but even if they were I do not see what it has to do with all the papers about cancer to be honest.

The relationship with ME/CS obviously has nothing to do with cancer. You sign the petition so that you can reverse a dumb policy that messes around with your methylation cycle, which is likely related to ME/CFS.