Natural Medicines Newsletter

Volume 2, Issue 20, 05/18/2010

Question

Is the folic acid found in dietary supplements the active form used by the body for DNA and RNA synthesis and erythropoiesis?

Answer

Folates are normally synthesized in bacteria and plants where humans ingest them since humans do not synthesize folic acid.  As such, folic acid is by definition a vitamin (i.e., "vital for life") and is a member of the B-complex family known as vitamin B9.(2)

Folates differ mainly in their oxidation state of the...

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