Folic Acid, Folate, or L-Methylfolate?

Dr. Chapa’s Clinical Pearls.

On some current social media channels, there is a hot debate as to why professional medical societies still recommend prenatal folic acid compared to the more “biologically, active” L-methylfolate. Are they onto something here? Published data has shown that anywhere from 40-60% of the general population may have an MTHFR mutation leading to the inability to process folic acid. Should we be screening for this mutation? What about screening for homocystine levels? Are these medical societies incorrect in still recommending folic acid rather than L-methylfolate? We are going to tackle these questions and provide a very simple take home message at the end of this episode. We’ll set the record straight regarding “Folic acid, folate, or L-methylfolate”.