A Common Cereal Ingredient Linked to Cancer
The food industry introduced the synthetic B-vitamin, Folic acid, to consumers in 1998….Unfortunately, much research suggests that this essential nutrient, in the wrong chemical form, is promoting cancer. It’s found in many foods, including cereal, grains, nutritional supplements, and even pre-natal vitamins.
Folic acid was first man-made around 1943 from spinach. Spinach and other foods including leafy greens, legumes, fruits, orange juice, and liver (ugh) contain the natural form of folic acid called Folates. Folic acid and Folates are chemically different than nature intended which leads us to our problem: Folic acid takes longer to digest and , consequentially, undigested/unmetabolized amounts of it are left in the blood stream to create unwanted chemical side-affects. Folates, on the other hand, have been found to be cancer-preventing and digest/metabolize easily.
For several years, many nutritional companies have been taking steps to convert their supplement formulations to the safer form of this popular B-vitamin. The most common safe-formulation is 5-MTHF (5 Methyl-tetrahydrofolate) Unfortunately, things take time to change. In 1998, the U.S. government required cereal-grain manufacturers to add folic acid to their food in order to prevent certain birth defects and development disorders, such as neural-tube defects in the fetus. The question is whether or not the benefits outweigh the risks. Presently, many food and supplement manufacturers do not want to change their folic acid supplements because it is too costly for them, despite consumer safety. As long as other companies are not willing to change their formulations, and the government doesn’t mandate a change, does this relinquish them of the responsibility? Historically, the FDA hasn’t protected consumers as much as pro-active patients/physicians.
Does this mean that folic acid should be completely avoided? Technically, no, but folic acid levels of 400 micrograms or greater per day are highly suspect for cancer promotion, especially of the colon and rectum. Given the amount of folic acid in multiple food sources, including grains, cereals, and supplements/dietary drinks, 400 micrograms could be easily surpassed.
What valuable information can be taken away from this article?
Whole-foods (not the store) are still the best source of vitamins and minerals that can be safely consumed. Synthetic vitamins and man-made supplements often bypass necessary chemical pathways that nature intended and produce unwanted side-affects. Supplements derived as close to the food source as possible are recommend above ones that are man-made.
To learn more, you may research whole food supplement companies like Standard Process. www.standardprocess.com