Can Autism Be Caused by Too Much Folic Acid?

Pregnant women and those trying to conceive want the best for their baby. In today's modern society, there is little reason for pregnant women to not receive the best care for their unborn child. Even underprivileged women can take advantage of government programs that strive to provide prenatal care and proper nutrition to pregnant mothers.

For many women, the desire to provide the ideal environment for their baby starts with prenatal vitamins and eating a balanced diet. Prenatal vitamins contain essential nutrients known to reduce the risk of certain birth defects. Eating a balanced diet rich in fruits, vegetables and proteins simply makes good nutritional sense.

Folic acid, a synthetic version of naturally occurring folate, has become a buzzword among expectant mothers. Insufficient levels of folate have been linked with neural tube defects such as spina bifida. As a precautionary measure, folic acid is one ingredient found in prenatal vitamins. In addition, folic acid aids in oocyte maturation, implantation, and placentation.

Folate occurs naturally in leafy vegetables such as spinach leaves and turnip greens, broccoli, okra, asparagus, dried beans and peas, yeast, mushrooms, tomato juice, certain fruits (bananas, melons, lemons, orange juice), and organ meats such as kidney and liver. Most Americans do not consume enough of the proper foods to provide them with adequate levels of folate. The recommended daily allowance for adults is 400 micrograms.

It is widely known and accepted that Americans typically do not eat properly balanced meals. This is evident in the increasing levels of obesity among adults and children. Most meals contain larger amounts of carbohydrates and not enough fresh fruits, vegetables and meats. Therefore, it would make the most sense to add nutritional supplements to the foods that Americans eat the most of: breads, pastas, rice and other baked goods, which is exactly what the United States government did in 1998.

Among growing concerns that Americans were not consuming enough foods naturally high in folate, the United States Food and Drug Administration (FDA) mandated that folic acid be added to enriched breads, cereals, flours, corn meals, pasta, rice, and other grain products. The mandate went into effect in 1998 and is still in effect today. The ruling specifically targeted the reduction of neural tube defects in infants, and studies have shown a 25% rate drop in neural tube defects in the United States since the addition of folic acid to the food supply.

Nutritional supplements do not fall under the same scrutiny as new drugs by the FDA. Because folic acid is a nutritional supplement and not a drug, scientists worry that the FDA has not done enough research to fully understand the potential side effects of increasing folic acid levels in the food supply. The effects of insufficient levels of folic acid have been researched much more than the effects of too much folic acid.

Increased diagnosed cases of autism began appearing a few years after folic acid was required to be added to certain foods and autism has been on the rise ever since. Research has established a link between folic acid and genetic influence. Folic acid is critical to the making of chemicals called methyl groups. These methyl groups influence whether certain genes are turned on or shut off, and can affect a person's resistance or susceptibleness to disease. Since the scientific community agrees that there is a genetic susceptibility to autism, the argument arises over whether the condition is genetically predetermined, or if environmental influences act as a trigger. The introduction of folic acid to the mainstream food supply and the coincidental increased rise in autism cases provide a strong argument for environmental influences as a possible trigger.

Although the FDA had good intentions by adding folic acid to the food supply, perhaps the nutritional habits of pregnant women was underestimated. Many women do not pay attention to their diet until they become pregnant. As much as 50% of births in the United States are unplanned. Suddenly, the natural desire to protect and nurture their developing baby kicks in, and women begin eating properly balanced meals. Although the FDA has mandated a certain level of folic acid be added to certain foods, some companies add more than the minimum requirement. Some ensure that 100% of the recommended daily allowance of folic acid is contained in a single serving (such as certain cereals). Pregnant women concerned with eating properly could easily consume more than the recommended amount of folic acid, simply between eating a bowl of cereal, taking their prenatal vitamins, and then eating balanced meals throughout the rest of the day. Going on the theory that autism is caused by an environmental influence, the inadvertent consumption of too much folic acid could put an unborn child at greater risk of developing autism.

Scientists are questioning the coincidental increase in autism cases with the introduction of folic acid in the mainstream food supply, but more research must be done to determine if the two occurrences are indeed linked.