Folic Acid - Cancer Link?

Research links too much Folic Acid, a staple in multivitamins, as well as cereal and bread to colon, lung and prostate cancers.

For more than a decade, the government has required enriched grains, most notably white flour and white rice to be fortified with folic acid, the synthetic form of the B vitamin folate.  Many food manufacturers take it further, giving breakfast cereals, nutrition bars and beverages a folic acid boost too.

Originally, the addition of this nutrient was added to protect fetuses from developing rare but tragic birth defects, and appears successful.  But for women past the years of having children as well as for men of any age, unnatural dosages of this nutrient don't seem to be helpful and may even be harmful. Many scientists have grown increasingly concerned about mounting research, including a study published last winter in the Journal of the American Medical Association, suggesting that all the extra folic acid might increase your odds of developing cancer.

We all need the natural folate found in leafy greens, orange juice and other foods and diets high in these foods are perfectly healthy. Many researchers believe that folic acid may be both friend and foe.  When cells in the body are healthy, folate helps encourage the normal replication of DNA.  But when cells are malignant or in danger of becoming so, Studies suggest excess folate in the form of folic acid may act like a cancer accelerant. As many as half of adults older than 60 could already have precancerous colon polyps, plus most middle-aged men have precancerous cells in their prostates. Animal studies suggest excess folate in the form of folic acid may act like a cancer accelerator.

One study in which men took either folic acid or a placebo, showed those consuming 1,000 mcg of folic acid daily had more than twice the risk of prostate cancer. 

Stay in the safe range by:

• Continue to eat as many foods as you want that contain natural folate (leafy greens, citrus fruits, lentils and dried beans).  You won't get too much that way.
• Read labels.  Cereals vary in the amounts of folic acid they contain.  One study of the 29 most popular cereals found that the actual level of folic acid and iron was up to 3 times higher than the amount listed!
• Switch to non-instant oatmeal which usually is not fortified, instead of other breakfast cereals.
• Choose whole grain flour, bread, cereal, pasta and rice.  Whole grain foods aren't required to be fortified.
• Rethink that multivitamin. A recent CDC study discovered that half of supplement users who took supplements with more than 400 mcg of folic acid exceeded 1,000 mcg per day of folic acid when also eating products supplemented with folic acid.