Abstract
Folate, a B vitamin found almost ubiquitously in foods, is required for de novo nucleotide synthesis and methylation reactions in our body. A shortage of folate can lead to macrocytic anemia, however, extra folic acid, the synthetic form of folate, is considered to be a modern day panacea for a variety of diseases, specifically vascular disease. This review summarizes the evidence from randomized controlled trials and illustrates the weak foundation on which health claims regarding the possible beneficial effect of extra folic acid for vascular disease are based. It is prudent for public health policy makers to await trials--the conventional golden standard by which to test causality--before deciding on folic acid fortification for the general population.
Keywords: folic acid, b vitamin, natural foods, antioxidant, amino acid
Call for Papers in Thematic Issues
Functional Foods in Human Health and Beyond
Foods are important source of nutrients including carbohydrates, proteins, lipids and other minerals. Furthermore, the functional foods are those agents that have additional components that are essential supports to the body in terms of antioxidant and pharmacologically active agents. The predominant functional foods are of plant in origin, whereas some ...read more
Harnessing Bioactive Compounds from Food Waste: Sustainable Extraction Strategies and Health Applications
Food waste presents a significant challenge across the postharvest cycle, from agricultural production to distribution. However, within this waste lies a treasure trove of bioactive chemicals that hold immense potential for nutraceuticals, functional foods, and postharvest additives, including antimicrobials. Various extraction methods, such as solvent extraction (SE), supercritical fluid extraction ...read more
Natural Bioactive Compounds Derivatives in Nutraceutical and Food Science
In the last years, plants have been widely used for their numerous properties and now there is growing interest in the study of classes of compounds obtained from plant species or derived from them. The importance of these natural compounds lies in their important therapeutic purposes, and in their capability ...read more
Related Books
Functional Foods for Health Maintenance: Understanding their Role in Cancer Prevention
Green Extraction Techniques in Food Analysis
Algal Functional Foods and Nutraceuticals: Benefits, Opportunities, and Challenges
Micronutrients: The Key to Good Health
Capillary Electrophoresis in Food Analysis
Nutritional Biochemistry: From the Classroom to the Research Bench
Hypersensitivity to Vitamins
Foods for Special Dietary Regimens
15