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Folate catabolism in normal subjects.

H McNulty¹, J M McPartlin, D G Weir

¹Department of Clinical Medicine, Trinity College Medical School, St James' Hospital, Dublin.

Human Nutrition. Applied Nutrition

|October 1, 1987

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Current folate recommendations may be too high. This study suggests the body only metabolizes about 100 micrograms of folate daily, even with high supplementation, indicating current dietary intake is likely sufficient.

Area of Science:

Nutrition Science
Biochemistry

Background:

Official recommendations for folate (Vitamins) often exceed estimated population intakes.
Recent studies indicate adequate folate status in populations consuming less than recommended amounts.

Purpose of the Study:

To critically evaluate current Recommended Dietary Allowances (RDAs) for folate.
To establish a more scientific basis for setting folate RDAs using a novel assay.

Main Methods:

Development of a new assay to measure the end product of folate catabolism in urine.
Quantification of daily folate catabolism under normal dietary conditions.
Assessment of folate catabolism in response to high-dose folic acid supplementation.

Main Results:

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The human body catabolizes approximately 100 micrograms of total folate per day under normal dietary conditions.
This rate of folate catabolism remained largely unchanged even when participants received high doses (5 mg) of folic acid supplements over several days.

Conclusions:

Current RDAs for folate may be set significantly higher than physiologically necessary.
Evidence suggests that typical dietary folate intake is unlikely to be deficient as implied by current RDAs.