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Women Taking a Folic Acid Supplement in Countries with Mandatory Food Fortification Programs May Be Exceeding the Upper Tolerable Limit of Folic Acid: A Systematic Review

Background: In preconception and pregnancy, women are encouraged to take folic acid-based supplements over and above food intake. The upper tolerable limit of folic acid is 1000 mcg per day; however, this level was determined to avoid masking a vitamin B12 deficiency and not based on folic acid bioa...

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Autores principales: Ledowsky, Carolyn, Mahimbo, Abela, Scarf, Vanessa, Steel, Amie
Formato: Online Artículo Texto
Lenguaje:English
Publicado: MDPI 2022
Materias:
Acceso en línea:https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC9268323/
https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/35807899
http://dx.doi.org/10.3390/nu14132715
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author Ledowsky, Carolyn
Mahimbo, Abela
Scarf, Vanessa
Steel, Amie
author_facet Ledowsky, Carolyn
Mahimbo, Abela
Scarf, Vanessa
Steel, Amie
author_sort Ledowsky, Carolyn
collection PubMed
description Background: In preconception and pregnancy, women are encouraged to take folic acid-based supplements over and above food intake. The upper tolerable limit of folic acid is 1000 mcg per day; however, this level was determined to avoid masking a vitamin B12 deficiency and not based on folic acid bioavailability and metabolism. This review’s aim is to assess the total all-source intake of folate in women of childbearing age and in pregnancy in high-income countries with folate food fortification programs. Methods: A systematic search was conducted in five databases to find studies published since 1998 that reported folate and folic acid intake in countries with a mandatory fortification policy. Results: Women of childbearing age do not receive sufficient folate intake from food sources alone even when consuming fortified food products; however, almost all women taking a folic acid-based supplement exceed the upper tolerable limit of folic acid intake. Conclusions: Folic acid supplement recommendations and the upper tolerable limit of 1000 mcg set by policy makers warrant careful review in light of potential adverse effects of exceeding the upper tolerable limit on folic acid absorption and metabolism, and subsequent impacts on women’s health during their childbearing years.
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spelling pubmed-92683232022-07-09 Women Taking a Folic Acid Supplement in Countries with Mandatory Food Fortification Programs May Be Exceeding the Upper Tolerable Limit of Folic Acid: A Systematic Review Ledowsky, Carolyn Mahimbo, Abela Scarf, Vanessa Steel, Amie Nutrients Review Background: In preconception and pregnancy, women are encouraged to take folic acid-based supplements over and above food intake. The upper tolerable limit of folic acid is 1000 mcg per day; however, this level was determined to avoid masking a vitamin B12 deficiency and not based on folic acid bioavailability and metabolism. This review’s aim is to assess the total all-source intake of folate in women of childbearing age and in pregnancy in high-income countries with folate food fortification programs. Methods: A systematic search was conducted in five databases to find studies published since 1998 that reported folate and folic acid intake in countries with a mandatory fortification policy. Results: Women of childbearing age do not receive sufficient folate intake from food sources alone even when consuming fortified food products; however, almost all women taking a folic acid-based supplement exceed the upper tolerable limit of folic acid intake. Conclusions: Folic acid supplement recommendations and the upper tolerable limit of 1000 mcg set by policy makers warrant careful review in light of potential adverse effects of exceeding the upper tolerable limit on folic acid absorption and metabolism, and subsequent impacts on women’s health during their childbearing years. MDPI 2022-06-29 /pmc/articles/PMC9268323/ /pubmed/35807899 http://dx.doi.org/10.3390/nu14132715 Text en © 2022 by the authors. https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/Licensee MDPI, Basel, Switzerland. This article is an open access article distributed under the terms and conditions of the Creative Commons Attribution (CC BY) license (https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/).
spellingShingle Review
Ledowsky, Carolyn
Mahimbo, Abela
Scarf, Vanessa
Steel, Amie
Women Taking a Folic Acid Supplement in Countries with Mandatory Food Fortification Programs May Be Exceeding the Upper Tolerable Limit of Folic Acid: A Systematic Review
title Women Taking a Folic Acid Supplement in Countries with Mandatory Food Fortification Programs May Be Exceeding the Upper Tolerable Limit of Folic Acid: A Systematic Review
title_full Women Taking a Folic Acid Supplement in Countries with Mandatory Food Fortification Programs May Be Exceeding the Upper Tolerable Limit of Folic Acid: A Systematic Review
title_fullStr Women Taking a Folic Acid Supplement in Countries with Mandatory Food Fortification Programs May Be Exceeding the Upper Tolerable Limit of Folic Acid: A Systematic Review
title_full_unstemmed Women Taking a Folic Acid Supplement in Countries with Mandatory Food Fortification Programs May Be Exceeding the Upper Tolerable Limit of Folic Acid: A Systematic Review
title_short Women Taking a Folic Acid Supplement in Countries with Mandatory Food Fortification Programs May Be Exceeding the Upper Tolerable Limit of Folic Acid: A Systematic Review
title_sort women taking a folic acid supplement in countries with mandatory food fortification programs may be exceeding the upper tolerable limit of folic acid: a systematic review
topic Review
url https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC9268323/
https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/35807899
http://dx.doi.org/10.3390/nu14132715
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