Thanks again, MrsD. Perhaps I'll just start with B12. I'll see how that goes. Perhaps I can get my folate and B12 tested (though the latter was tested in the summer and said to be 'normal', whatever that means).
I don't eat any fortified foods, preparing everything from scratch myself and eating a very basic paleo diet, so no folic acid for me. However, I do eat some very folate rich foods like spinach, avocado and asparagus.
I looked into the genetic testing, but I'm not too keen on a for profit company having so much genetic info on me. And also, I wrote them and responded accordingly:
"Thank you for contacting the 23andMe Team. While our platform does include a small number of SNPs on the MTHFR gene, 23andMe does not report on all variants on this gene nor do we provide an interpretation of these SNPs. This information would be available only in the raw genotype data...If receiving information about MTHFR is your primary goal, we cannot recommend that you participate in 23andMe."
Plus, I'm not sure I want to know everything they can find out about me! But it does sound very cool and got me excited initially at least. A part of me does want to know.
Quote:
Originally Posted by mrsD
If one has the DNA mutation, called, MTHFR, then the use of BOTH methylfolate and methycobalamin is necessary.
If one does not have this mutation, then the folate is not as necessary. The American diet has many fortified foods, with folic acid in them. The MTHFR mutation cannot methylate (activate) folic acid properly.
Commonly when people have B12 testing, the folate measured then is usually high. This is called the methyl trap. This happens when B12 tests low.
Products with methylfolate are a bit more expensive than methylB12 products. One such is called Metafolin by Solgar.
But there are others, now too.
I wouldn't go over 800mcg a day.
The testing for MTHFR can be done thru 23andme.
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