“Folate (as L-5-methyltetrahydrofolate calcium salt)?”Here!Folate / vitamin B9 (as L-5-MTHF, sometimes called methylfolate)
Appears in 4 scanned products.
As a supplement
Talk to your doctor or pharmacist.
Roll Call does not check drug interactions or assess personal safety.
This is a form of folate, the B vitamin involved in DNA synthesis and cell division. L-5-methyltetrahydrofolate is the active form the body normally converts folic acid into; some supplements use it directly, including for people whose bodies convert folic acid less efficiently.
Why it’s used
Taken to meet daily folate needs, including during pregnancy planning, when adequate folate status is associated with reduced risk of neural tube defects.
What the evidence is for
reducing neural tube defect risk when folate status is adequate before and during early pregnancy.
What the evidence says
NIH ODS describes folate as essential and folic acid supplementation before and during early pregnancy as strongly supported for reducing neural tube defect risk. Evidence specifically comparing L-5-methyltetrahydrofolate to folic acid suggests it raises blood folate levels comparably, though long-term outcome data specific to this form are less extensive than for folic acid itself.
Dose studied
400–1000 mcg — adult RDA up to the tolerable upper intake level for synthetic folate forms, per NIH ODS.
Context
The adult RDA is 400 mcg dietary folate equivalents per day, rising to 600 mcg during pregnancy, with a tolerable upper intake level of 1,000 mcg/day for synthetic folate forms, per NIH ODS.
Rumors
Reducing neural tube defect risk when folate status is adequate before and during early pregnancy.
Not gradedhealth and safety evidence
Sources cited — no verdict reached.
Studied in: women of childbearing age / 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.