“5-methyltetrahydrofolate glucosamine?”Here!L-5-MTHF (active folate)
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As a supplement
Talk to your doctor or pharmacist.
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A form of folate (vitamin B9) bound to glucosamine as a stabilizing salt; L-5-methyltetrahydrofolate is the naturally circulating, already-activated form of folate that the body normally produces from dietary folate or folic acid.
Why it’s used
Taken to maintain folate status, support red blood cell formation and DNA synthesis, and in particular to meet folate needs before and during pregnancy; marketed as an alternative for people who prefer or are thought to process this active form differently than folic acid.
What the evidence is for
raising folate status and reducing neural tube defect risk when adequate intake is maintained before and during early pregnancy.
What the evidence says
NIH ODS documents folate as essential, with adequate intake before and during early pregnancy established as reducing the risk of neural tube defects. L-5-MTHF itself is recognized as an effective way to raise folate status; whether it offers meaningful advantages over folic acid for most people is less settled and still debated.
Dose studied
400–1000 mcg — adult RDA (as dietary folate equivalents) up to the tolerable upper intake level, per NIH ODS.
Context
Folate adequacy research generally centers on reaching the recommended daily intake, especially in women who may become pregnant; the glucosamine salt form is a delivery format rather than a change to the folate dose itself.
Rumors
Raising folate status and reducing neural tube defect risk when adequate intake is maintained before and during early pregnancy.
Supports — suggestivehealth and safety evidence
Studied in: women of childbearing age and pregnant women.
Measured as an outcome.
- Folate - Health Professional Fact Sheet (Regulatory) · Funding not checked
How much is a reference amount
- 400 mcg DFE a dayfor adults 19 and over · Recommended Dietary Allowance
Upper limit 1,000 mcg a day, from supplements and fortified foods — it does not apply to the nutrient as it occurs in food and only to synthetic folic acid — not to folate as it occurs in food.
The RDA is in dietary folate equivalents; the UL is in mcg of SYNTHETIC folic acid from supplements and fortified foods only — the FNB set no UL for folate from food. A label stating plain mcg cannot be compared to the DFE figure without knowing the form.
Every applicable line is shown because we don’t know which one is yours, and a reference intake is a target for a population, not a threshold for harm.