Folinic Acid: A Natural Way To Boost Your Levels Of Seratonin And Overcome Depression

You'll probably be familiar with the benefits of folic acid. In the past, HSI Panellists have brought you reports on how this vital nutrient can help you maintain good health - most recently we told you about its ability to lower levels of a chemical called homocysteine, which is associated with heart disease.

Numerous studies have also confirmed the important role it plays in pregnancy too, in preventing neural tube defects such as spina bifida in unborn children and in protecting against pregnancy-related anaemia.

So, HSI Panellists were intrigued to learn about the latest discovery relating to this essential nutrient. Recent research has uncovered a new activated form of folic acid - folinic acid - which may help fight neuropsychiatric illnesses such as depression, memory loss and even dementia.1

Is your health suffering from a folic acid deficiency?
Folic acid occurs naturally as a complex of related substances called folates, found in sprouts, Brewers' yeast, liver and kidney.

However, levels are soon diminished following cooking and processing. And since most of us do not consume enough folate-rich foods, experts believe that many of us are suffering from a folic acid deficiency.

Furthermore, studies in healthy human participants show that folic acid is poorly absorbed from the diet anyway, which results in very little of the metabolically active form, methylfolate, being produced.

Folic acid undergoes a series of complicated vitamin and energy-dependent changes in your body, between your intestine and liver, before it is converted to its active form, methylfolate.

A break in any one of these processes resulting from dietary deficiency, malabsorption, liver disease or pregnancy, can soon lead to low levels of methylfolate in your brain.

Now, new research suggests that neuropsychiatric symptoms like dementia, insomnia, irritability, forgetfulness, depression, and even schizophrenia may result.
Folinic acid, taken as calcium folinate, is a far more potent form of folic acid
Once a folic acid deficiency has precipated mental illness, then it may remain unresponsive to regular oral supplementation with folic acid. Injections are often the only alternative, but intravenous administration has its limitations because the body often eliminates the vitamin in this form very quickly.

The new form of dietary folate is about to change all that. Folinic acid, available supplementally as oral calcium folinate, supplies a ready-made precursor to areas of the brain where it is lacking, for rapid conversion to methylfolate.

Studies show that, when combined with conventional drugs, folinic acid significantly improves the clinical recovery of depressed patients with low folate levels.2

In a study of 123 patients with acute psychiatric disorders, such as depression and schizophrenia with borderline folate deficiency, six months of adjunctive treatment with folinic acid resulted in a significant clinical improvement when compared with conventional drugs alone.3

Folinic acid's antidepressant effect is due to its ability to regenerate a brain chemical called SAMe. This in turn directly bolsters the brain's 'sunshine chemical' serotonin, which increases your feelings of overall well-being and lifts your mood.

Epileptic patients may also benefit from supplementing with folinic acid. German studies show that those patients with low folate levels are more likely to have an abnormal mental status, but that folinic acid administration can improve mental well-being, cognitive ability and even reduce the duration of epileptic seizures.4

Therapeutic dosages vary between 400 and 800mcg per day. Side-effects are rare but at high doses it can cause flatulence and nausea.

1. Folates: Supplemental Forms and Therpeutic Applications by Gregory S. Kelly N.D
2. Wesson VA, Levitt AJ, Joffe RT. Change in folate status with antidepressant treatment. Psychiatry Res 1994;53:313-322.
3. Godfrey PS, Toone BK, Carney MW, et al. Enhancement of recovery from psychiatric illness by methylfolate. Lancet 1990;336:392-395.
4. Froscher W, Maier V, Laage M, Wolfersdorf M, Straub R, Rothmeier J,
Steinert T, Fiaux A, Frank U, Grupp D. Folate deficiency, anticonvulsant drugs, and psychiatric morbidity. Clin Neuropharmacol 1995 Apr;18(2):165-82