Not the same molecule. The synthetic form needs a reduction step many people run slowly, and it can mask a B12 deficiency while the nerves keep going.
Filed under NutrientConstellation MicronutrientsStatus Upcoming
Not yet investigated
What we have so far
Not the same molecule. The synthetic form needs a reduction step many people run slowly, and it can mask a B12 deficiency while the nerves keep going.
This star is on the map because the show intends to take the question apart properly — the trials, how it is actually tested, whether the thing sold is the thing studied. That work is not done yet, and nothing here should be read as a conclusion. When the investigation is published it will appear on this page.
What we are reading
Gathered for the investigation and not yet written up. Each note says what the paper does and does not show.
Ismail S, Eljazzar S, Ganji V. Intended and unintended benefits of folic acid fortification — a narrative review.Foods · 2023 · 12(8):161210.3390/foods12081612 · PMID 37107407
Narrative review of ~60 reports since US mandatory fortification began in 1998. It names BOTH halves without flinching. Intended benefit: fewer neural tube defects. Unintended benefits: less anaemia, lower homocysteine, lower cardiovascular risk. And the potential harms, in the authors' own list — unmetabolised folic acid circulating in the blood, increased cancer risk, and MASKING OF VITAMIN B12 DEFICIENCY. That last one is the clinically dangerous one: the anaemia resolves while the neurological damage continues. Note this is about the synthetic form specifically, which is the distinction the episode turns on.
