While I encourage discussion, I would ask that topics specific only to ingredients like food dyes, pesticides and other ingredients that I also care about remain in those specific discussions so we can stay focus on this topic specific to enriched foods and not get too detoured off topic.
35% of people cannot methylate the synthetic vitamins that are being added to our food and beverages. Folic acid is especially hard to methylate, hard on the organs to filter.
The body responds with side effects like a histamine response, anxiety, brain fog, and other mood and neurological related responses.
Most of these 35% don’t realize enriched grains and other fortified foods are the cause of this response. Some may even be resorting to anti depressants to off set how they are feeling, not realizing it’s actually enriched and fortified food and drink causing this.
A way to test if this is something that could be affecting you is to get tested for the MTHFR gene mutation. Of the 4 mthfr genes most in the 35% have 1-2 gene mutations, more severe cases has 3-4 and therefore a more severe response to enriched foods.
Supplementing with methylated vitamins, b12 and vitamin d for absorption can help.
We don’t need to the government to enrich our foods when it could be causing adverse effects to our health.
While I care about discussions on other harmful ingredients, you may find the specific forum topic of food dyes and pesticides to be a better outlet of discussion. This discussion topic is about synthetic vitamin enriched and fortified foods.
Correction: The biggest offender (toxin) for those with MTHFR is folic acid, not folate, as they are not the same. Folic Acid should be removed from ALL foods as up to 35% of the population, as stated, cannot process it and it blocks the methylation pathways and causes detrimental affects to health.
Removing B vitamins that were added to grains is a big one for me! Most people are clueless about this and how it effects our health… instead of adding these vitamins, nutrition should be taught in health class especially the importance of natural folate for young womens reproductive health!
I personally sufferred multiple micarriages and struggled to get pregnant as a result of having a gene mutation called MTHFR. My doctor told me to eliminate folic acid and replace with folate and Methylated vitamins and afterwards I had 2 healthy children. Dr Ben Lynch in his book Dirty Genes estimates 40% of the population has MTHFR including men, as a result our bodies cannot process synthetic folic acid.Its like poison and can cause many serious health effects including cardiovascular disease and cancer as our bodies cannot detox. The FDA required that folic acid be added to flour in 1997 to prevent spinal bifida in babies. Why not instead have expecting mothers take a prenatal vitamin with folate(the natural form of folic acid) instead of mass poisioning everyone in our food. Men that have MTHFR are sufferring heart attacks and cardiovascular disease at an alarming rate from the added synthetic folic acid as well.
It is very hard to avoid all enriched products (flour) with it added, including baby formula and I would like to have a choice about what is in my families food. France and Italy do not have this added to their food and report much less bloating and symptoms when eating carbs or flour products and dont have an influx of spinal bifida.
One example is all cereals in the US have been enriched with folic acid and children are sufferring with adhd, brain fog and cant sit still, then we medicate them to “fix” the problem…I believe it starts with correcting the diet.
Even with all the research I have personally done as a person affected by MTHFR, I am no expert, but can clearly see there is a need here for more research to be done on this topic. My gut is telling me the studies may uncover even more side effects and health issues this may cause or uncover the key to mysterious diseases like autoimmune disease.
These mandates on the companies need to be removed or at least require they use the natural form of folate instead.
I think the administration could greatly benefit from creating a team of people who have been fighting and campaigning for this for decades!!
If someone in the Trump administration reads this, please research & look for Sally Pacholok and get her involved with RFK. She is a champion on these issues.
The testing for B12 is seriously flawed, fortified foods skew testing even more and the range for what is considered deficient in America is about 3 x below some other countries. The pharmaceutical company treats the symptoms but not the cause.
Mental health & depression are from nutritional deficiencies. Nerve damage too. Doctors do not test or even treat until it’s too late most of the time.
B12, B9, Vitamin D all of it should be monitored throughout our lives and we should be treated based on symptoms.
And could we rename Vitamin D for what it is. It’s a hormone, an essential hormone that most of American is lacking.