After reading the recent Protein Debate, I decided that it’d be a good idea to pick up some folic acid. Each pill I have is 400 mg, and I was curious what dosage might be good for someone consuming at least 1 gram of protein per pound of bodyweight? Thanks for your help.
-Greg
[quote]novamcglone wrote:
After reading the recent Protein Debate, I decided that it’d be a good idea to pick up some folic acid. Each pill I have is 400 mg, and I was curious what dosage might be good for someone consuming at least 1 gram of protein per pound of bodyweight? Thanks for your help.
-Greg[/quote]
Greg,
This really isn’t my area, but I’ll pass on what I do know.
First, are you sure each capsule/tablet is 400 mg, or 400 mcg?
Now, in terms of an amount to reduce homocysteine, I have read a paper which was a meta-analysis of 12 studies, which evaluated folate intake and the effect upon homocysteine, and it was concluded that 500-5,000 mcg/day could reduce blood levels of homocysteine by 25-33%.
Now, in terms of which end of the range to go with, unless it was documented several times that I had a consistently high homocysteine level (i.e., hyperhomocysteinemia), I’d personally go with around 400-800 or maybe 1,000 mcg/day. I don’t feel that any more than that is probably necessary, but I could be wrong as this isn’t an area I’ve invested much time in to researching. I think it’s also important to note that if you’re a person who follows much of what is preached on T-Nation and consumes plenty of vegetables and fruits, you’re already getting a fair amount of folate, so the extra 400-800 mcg/day of supplemental folate on top of that, will be plenty.
Hope this helped.
Thanks Cy, I appreciate it.
-Greg