Vitamin B-12 function may be diminished by excess...(S III which was conducted between 1991 a...)

The authors intentionally used one NHANES survey conducted prior to 1998, the year the Food and Drug Administration required that all enriched cereal-grain products be fortified with folic acid, the synthetic form of folate, in order to help prevent birth defects in infants. It is important to note that these adverse interactions between high folate blood levels and vitamin B12 deficiency were seen only in the study participants from the NHANES conducted between 1999 and 2002, after the fortification of flour and other cereals with folic acid, says Selhub, who is also a professor at the Friedman School of Nutrition Science and Policy at Tufts University.

Folic acid is a synthetic form of the vitamin, which requires specific processing by the body for incorporation into the folate pool of the body. Naturally occurring folates, found in leafy vegetables, legumes and in many other fruits and vegetables, can be readily incorporated into the bodys folate pool and are believed to be beneficial even at higher intakes. There is no reason to avoid foods with naturally occurring folate and it essential to consume B12 containing products such as eggs, meat, milk and poultry and even supplements if necessary, says Selhub. The combination of high blood folate and normal vitamin B12 status is actually beneficial to health.

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