I take Metho, 1000 mcg of folic acid, because metho depletes it from the body, also I take a multi-vitamin that gives me more folic acid, for a total of 1,400mcg daily. I recently read an article that said that reports suggest that, that amount could be harmful. Am I taking too much with the multi- vitamin?
10/ 9/09 1:46pm
Hmmmm? Did the article you read say what was the norm for supplementing folic acid? I also am on Methotrexate and Plaquinil and I take 2000 Folic Acid a day. Three 400 in the morning and two 400 in the evening. I'm really interested to find out how much we should be taking as supplemental folic acid. Let me know if you find out more in your research. Others in the group, any ideas???
Charlotte
Apache Jones
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By mej— Last Modified: 08/07/11, First Published: 10/09/09
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here's the article I spoke of:
A FOLIC ACID MEASURE
In no way does this diminish the importance of an abundance of folate, says Dr. Mason, describing it as "healthful and in no way harmful." Dietary folate is available in a variety of foods, including dark green leafy vegetables, legumes, citrus fruits and berries.
And folic acid, for the most part, also is healthful and relatively few people are at risk for getting too much. Dr. Mason says supplementation adds a "fairly modest amount" to typical intake, about 100 mcg to 200 mcg per day. He noted that the situation only gets worrisome for those who routinely exceed 1 mg a day (1,000 mcg) of folic acid through supplementation in a variety of forms. This would describe a person who takes a multivitamin (400 mcg of folic acid), a B complex (another 400 mcg), and then eats fortified breakfast cereal (typically containing 100 to 400 mcg). It's still morning and we already are at the ceiling of 1,000 mcg folic acid -- but then for lunch there is a sandwich with fortified bread (50 to 120 mcg for two slices), maybe a pasta dinner (another 100 to 200 mcg) and the total is nearly 1,400 mcg, clearly topping the upper limit of safety. For those who snack on vitamin-packed energy bars and sip vitamin-infused water all day, the folic acid intake goes even higher.
There isn't enough data yet to make an absolute statement about folic acid intake, but the current recommendation regarding the uppermost safe intake level (1,000 mcg/day) continues to be an excellent guideline, Dr. Mason said. Vitamin labels clearly identify how much folic acid they contain, but it's harder to figure out how much is in fortified foods. The law says that all wheat flour, rice and several other uncooked cereal grains labeled as "fortified" must have added folic acid... but there are a few nonfortified examples of these foods on the market. You can look for these, but it might be easier to just be aware of how much folic acid you are ingesting in vitamin supplements, because these appear to be the major source of excessive intake.
Source(s):
Joel Mason, MD, director of the Vitamins and Carcinogenesis Laboratory at the Jean Mayer USDA Human Nutrition Research Center on Aging at Tufts University, Boston.