Vitamin D is at least 100 X better than Folic Acid

Summary Vitamin D vs Folic Acid

SupplementNumber needed to treat
(Eliminate one birth problem)		Lifetime cost
of each problem		Total costs saved
for 2,000 pregnancies
Folic acid NNT = 2000 - Spina bifida $700,000$700,000
Vitamin D NNT = 20 - Premature birth$700,000,    Ref2 70,000,000
just preterm births

100 X fewer people need to take Vitamin D than Folic acid to eliminate a $700,000 lifetime risk
And, Vitamin D eliminates far more risks/costs than just preterm birth

Note: Vitamin D results in many benefits but Folic acid results in many problems

Problem
Vit D
Reduces		Vit D
Evidence		Folic Acid
Evidence
Premature birth 1 in 20 births RCT no change
Spina Bifida birth defectno data no datareduction by
1 in 2,000 births
Other birth defects Increase if gene
problem (1 in 4 women)
Chance of not conceiving3.4 X Observe perhaps helps if
the man takes Folic
Miscarriage 2.5 X Observe? ?
Pre-eclampsia 3.6 XRCT 2 X trend
Gestational Diabetes 3 X RCT 2.5 X increase
C-section - unplanned 1.6 XObserve no data
Depression AFTER pregnancy 1.4 X RCT
Small for Gestational Age 1.6 X meta-analysis1.2 X reduction
Childhood Wheezing 1.3 X RCT
Additional child is Autistic 4 X Intervention Reduces
4 X increase if gene problem
Young adult Multiple Sclerosis 1.9 XObserve no data
Preeclampsia 3.5 XRCT
Childhood Respiratory Tract visits 2.5 X RCT

See also VitaminDWiki

Recommendation (Folate NOT FOLIC ACID) - starting 12 weeks before conception

1) Take 400 ug of FOLATE (not folic acid) daily thru 8th week of pregnancy
     Do not continue taking Folate after 8th week, there is a 3.2X risk of breast cancer if high Folate in blood
2) Take at least 4,000 IU of Vitamin D daily for the rest of life, but especially thru breastfeeding
   (Use a vitamin D loading dose if had not supplemented before pregnancy)

31+ VitaminDWiki pages with FOLATE or FOLIC in the title

This list is automatically updated

Items found: 33
Title Modified
Vitamin D inside of a folate nanoball, Cancer cells attract folate – April 2024 02 Aug, 2025
Dementia (vascular) risk increase 60% if take Folate with other B vitamins - Dec 2023 16 Dec, 2023
Folate in VitaminDWiki - many studies 08 Jul, 2023
High dose vitamin D fights Folate gene changes by COVID, autoimmune, CVD, ALZ – Oct 2022 06 Oct, 2022
Folate and Vitamin B6 decrease mortality – May 2022 27 May, 2022
Important Role of Micronutrients during COVID-19 (Zinc, Vitamin D, C, Folate) – May 5, 2021 06 May, 2021
Higher vitamin D is associated with higher Folate or higher Vitamin B-12 – June 2020 13 Jul, 2020
Sweat types, folate, binding protein, lighter skin in females and Vitamin D – Jan 2020 19 Jan, 2020
Glyphosate (Roundup) kills both weeds and the microbes in your gut that produce Folate – July 2019 11 Jul, 2019
Autism risk reduced 2X by prenatal vitamins (Vitamin D or Folic) – Feb 2019 28 Feb, 2019
Dr. Coimbra discusses Vitamin D, Magnesium, Folic Acid, B12, Autism, Depression, etc – Sept 2018 24 Nov, 2018
Dr. Coimbra interview covering Vitamin D, Magnesium, Folate, Vaccines - Oct 2018 24 Nov, 2018
Neural tube defects more likely due to low vitamin D than low Folate – April 2017 15 Sep, 2018
Vitamin D is at least 100 X better than Folic Acid 01 Sep, 2018
Vitamin D is 100X better than folic acid during pregnancy 31 Aug, 2018
Autism 17 times more likely with excessive Folic Acid and B-12 (now added to bread) – May 2016 02 Aug, 2018
Off topic – Folate can be produced by micro-organisms, can avoid synthetic Folic Acid – Aug 2018 02 Aug, 2018
Off topic: Folic Acid - the horror story (for a small percentage of people) - Sept 2013 19 Apr, 2018
Omega-3, Vitamin D, Folic acid etc. during pregnancy and subsequent mental illness of child – March 2018 29 Mar, 2018
First-Episode Psychosis associated with low Vitamin D, Vitamin C and Folate – meta-analysis Nov 2017 22 Dec, 2017
Increased cows milk allergy if Folic acid or Folate added to vitamin D during pregnancy – June 2016 05 Apr, 2017
Folic acid reduces both premature births and neural tube defects – March 2017 05 Apr, 2017
Autism 17 times more likely with excessive Folate and B-12 (now added to bread) – May 2016 09 Jun, 2016
Autism 17X more likely when have excessive levels of Folate and B-12 – May 2016 12 May, 2016
Schizophrenia might be treated by folic acid, vitamin B12 and vitamin D – May 2014 02 Dec, 2015
Vitamin D, DHA, Folic, Iodine benefits during pregnancy – July 2012 14 Oct, 2015
Vitamin D and Folate fortification of foods - April 2012 25 Apr, 2015
Neural tube defects of pregnant mice reduced by Vitamin D (perhaps less Folate needed) – April 2015 25 Apr, 2015
Health professionals: about 10X more were using Vitamin D, fish oil, folic acid by 2006 – March 2014 13 Jun, 2014
Off topic – Making birth defects ‘preventable’ Folic acid and the politics of risk reduction - Nov 2013 21 Dec, 2013
Vitamin D is not a cardiovascular fad like Vitamins C, E, Folic Acid, selenium, beta-caroteen, etc. – Circulation Nov 2013 26 Nov, 2013
Hypothesis – Increasing Folate or vitamin D decreases probability of skin cancer – July 2012 02 Aug, 2012
Birth control pills could contain Folic acid and vitamin D - Sept 2010 13 Nov, 2010
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